This essay seeks to critically evaluate the functionalist perspective on crime and deviance with to its impact on criminology. Functionalists believe that a society is held together by its institutions working in harmony; social consensus, and through common and agreed upon values and beliefs, to produce stability and order. To begin, it is important to analyse the meaning and understanding of crime and deviance and to understand that not all criminals are deviant and not all deviant individuals are criminals which I will further explain during this essay. In other words, to comprehend where such terms as crime and deviance came from, it is essential to further evaluate the definition of criminology and what makes it so important. Émile Durkheim was a French sociologist that was most famous for his views on society and how modern and traditional societies functioned and evolved. I will explore Durkheim’s key ideas and theories of crime and deviance and compare his perspective of social facts and how they varied from other sociologists from his era. In addition, I will examine Durkheim’s three key ideas about crime which he states as; a limited amount of crime is necessary, crime has positive functions and finally, that too much crime can be bad for society. I will also explore Robert Merton’s work on strain theory and anomie. Finally, I will have successfully appraised the functionalist perspective on crime and deviance through a critical evaluation of criminology and various theorists.

According to the ‘Sage Dictionary of Criminology’, criminology is defined as “the study of crime, of attempts to control it, and attitudes to it. Crime is interpreted in its widest sense, so as to include minor as well as major law-breaking, and also conduct which, but for the special status or role of those involved, would be regarded as law breaking; e.g. excessive punishment of children by parents, antisocial practices of commercial undertakings.” (Mclaughlin & Muncie, 2013) In short, criminology studies crimes and criminals from a social perspective including causes of crimes and prevention methods, including many more factors. It is evident that the study of criminology dates back as far as the eight