Durkheim, Marx, and strain theory: competing explanations for crime

¶ … Crime

For many years, sociologists, criminologists, and other scientists have been examining crime and what deviant behavior to help understand and gain control on society and prevent potential victims and fairly treat offenders who do commit crimes. However, many experts like Emile Durkheim feel there is a lot to be considered besides what is deemed as wrong. Durkheim, a French sociology expert from the late 1800s, who felt that deviance was a typical part of a society in order for it to function normally because it sets the moral margins of a society that lets people know what is and what is not tolerated (Henry, Lanier 1-80). Theories and conflicts of crimes and the assumptions and contrasting arguments of what influences and provokes deviance within a given culture have caused people to develop different views and beliefs.

People, like Stuart Henry and Mark Lanier, who examine crime and the subsets of it to determine their own beliefs about criminals and their behaviors which usually results in inconsistencies with other investigators who are studying similar aspects. In criminology the scientists collects and scrutinizes information on many aspect related to crime because they want to study the features that are deemed when looking for the reasons behind the criminal's actions and thoughts (Walsh 1-19). Karl Marx was a sociologist from the 19th century who compromised Henry and Lanier by looking at offenses as a basic structural element which was a conflicting

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view because it regard all past and present civilians to unfairness of power known as his positivist theory ("National Social Science Press").

Karl Marx was very complex and realistic in his work, according to the Marx theory he felt societies across the globe had people who control and possess the essential needs in human life he called means of production such as land, labor, and tools and the ones who do not possess these. In manufacturing, the economic side, the needs and desires of a population are the foundation of common existence and can be defined as the sub-foundation. Marx noted that people fell in to either a non-owner or owner affiliation in the economy that can be flattering but at the same time have differences ("National Social Science Press"). Many theorists, including Cohen, Agnew, and Ohlin, related to the strain of monetary success with the Strain General Strain Theory because it occurs when a person cannot achieve financial accomplishment such as school, work, and money they feel too pressured and are liable to act out defiantly. However, assumptions may vary among economic aspects; for example, scientists may look at the lack of authority in a short-handed community compared to another community which may increase illegal activity ("Essential Readings").

Due to the changes of society throughout history and from a modern standpoint, there are more theories and outlooks on society affecting crime where we live and it has changed the researcher's way of thinking. Between Adler, Daly, Chesney-Lind, and other crime examiners, feminism is popular in modern societies, and has been looked in more recent years because they feel crime cannot be fully understood without looking at the criminal's gender. A feminist approach would be for researchers to look at male criminals who use their strength against

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women they want to overpower to commit a crime. Another more recent viewpoint others have considered is through a peacemaking theory where crime is initiated by the agony that comes from a person treated unfairly and for a given amount of time. Sampson and Laub supported the Developmental Life Course viewpoint of civilization and doing wrong begins at birth and continues throughout a person's life and depending on other social factors and if a person will ever give up their criminal lifestyle ("Essential readings").

Stuart Henry and Mark Lanier wrote the book "What is Crime? Controversies over the Nature of Crime and What to Do about it?" And it was a scholarly journal that discussed defining crime and why people commit the crimes they do commit to find they have a very thorough view with a strong consensus approach to crime in our society. In their book, there are two approaches in the two sciences at hand, the consensus and conflict approaches to criminal activity from the impact of a culture. The two authors support the consensus outlook which reveals the significance of the people in a culture as a whole, rather than criminals being looked at in smaller competing individuals and groups. According to Henry and Lanier, if one supports the consensus approach to crime they may feel that a crime is a mere act that shocks any normal minded individual with principles, and it leads to powerful and upright fury among a community or specific region of people. Basically, from a consensus standpoint when certain crimes are committed, many logicians and onlookers will blame the society in which the offender lives in as the main influence rather than singling out the specific criminal's group they live in that particular culture (1-80).

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According to Currie's analysis exposed in "Social Crime Prevention Strategies in a Market Society" he felt that the market society promoted crime through other sources of economics. He theorized that when neighborhoods and younger generation were damaged they endured tough times with a limited amount of resources. In his view, strain it put on families by diminishing services and the quality of life, and if they struggle to make ends meet with limited or no help they may turn to illegal activity to help them overcome the stress and pay their bills. However, many theorists view society differently like the conflict and consensus theorists who would look at individual groups or an entire population's financial realm to determine what causes more crime.

In conclusion, an expert who studies crime, its nature, and assumptions to acting defiantly, do so from many stand points and believe it is from an individual decision or an entire society that influences such behaviors. There are many theories that provide detailed evidence on crime in our society, yet the truths vary and a lot of indications are left unexamined or are unable to be explained. There are numerous presumptions rather than proven research on crime, and investigators will try an answer the doubts and gaps and figure out why misdeeds occur and how to appropriately handle the offenses people carry out. While Marx supported the conflict theory and how inequality in specific groups is required to have a normal functioning society, opposing professionals like Henry and Lanier disagreed that a society should be deemed as whole. Other criminologists and specialists like Currie felt other subsets of a society should be considered like the economy rather than individual groups or an entire culture. Today, people are constantly trying to determine why people act out violently and commit crimes to present facts not assumptions yet it is hard to do so when there are so many factors to consider.

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Work Cited

Walsh. "Introduction and Overview of Crime and Criminology." Sagepub.

(2008): 1-19. Web. 7 May 2011

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"Criminological Theory: Past to Present." Essential readings (2002): n.

pag. Web. 7 May 2011 .

"Theories of Crime Involving Social Conflict." National Social Science

Press n. pag. Web. 7 May 2011

8/chap8.htm>.

Henry, Stuart, and Mark Lanier. "What is crime?: Controversies Over the Nature of Crime and What to Do About It." Google Scholar (2001):

1-80. Web. 7 May 2011

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about+it&ots=bD3cSsWSq6&sig=ITm6DxOerqzQHy80SeumkUsSJM

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#v=onepage&q&f=false>.

Currie, Elliot. "Social Crime Prevention Strategies in a Market Society."

MJV Websites. 2007. Web. 7 May 2011 .

Robertson, Ian. Sociology. 3rd ed. New York: Worth Publishers, Inc.

1988. 1-713. Print.