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What does Durkheim mean when he says that crime is “normal”?
When the sociologist Emile Durkheim states that crime is normal, he does not mean that crime should be accepted by society. However, he does advocate the point-of-view that the conditions necessary for crime are, in effect, hardwired into the human animal. The reason that societal laws and institutions have developed are to contain those impulses. Human beings in a state of nature, without such constraints, would not be virtuous beings. Crime is to some degree necessary, though, Durkheim believed, because without it, society would, in effect, not exist. In other words, human beings would not consign their freedoms to a general institution without the fear of losing their life or property to crime. People are willing to concede some of their freedoms and thus enable society to exist, in exchange for the freedom from fear and the security which social boundaries offer, as people rally together in opposition to crime.
This perspective is very problematic. First and foremost, it suggests that society has its origins in negative rather than positive impulses. Rather than wishing to bond with one another out of empathy or higher impulses, people instead come together solely out of fear of one another. It also raises the question as to why people who are more effective criminals, in other words, people who are more naturally adept at being violent, do not overthrow governments more often and gain power. This would seem to be the natural state of affairs, yet overall the vast majority of people seem to find that functioning as law-abiding citizens are more effective as a way to pursue personal happiness. It also does not fully explain why other institutions arise such as cultural and social institutions, which do not have obvious crime-fighting functions. This perspective gives little allowance for the desire for human empathy or the desire to form connections for reasons other than fear.
Reference
Durkheim, E. (1938). The rules of sociological method. Florence, MA: Free Press.
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