 Durkheim’s study of suicide showed how the

seemingly individualistic decision to take one’s

own life was due to social and economic issues
 In this way Durkheim was able to show how social
factors explained individual and group action
such as crime
 Durkheim’s ideas were significant because they
moved the emphasis away from factors with the
individual as Lombroso suggested to the social
 Durkheim suggested as external social forces
caused suicide, then external forces could also
cause recidivism
 Durkheim viewed crime as a social fact-a
feature of societies, not of individuals
 Durkheim noted that crime was endemic in

all societies and therefore saw crime as

having positive social function
 This he reasoned was because society

needed positive deviation and therefore

negative deviation was inevitable
 Crime is a positive aspect of society as it helps
produce a moral consensus in society
 Therefore crime helps establish a
social consensus about what is right
and wrong in society
 Crime establishes a ‘collective

conscience’ about what is and isn’t

criminal/deviant behaviour
 Therefore crime has a positive

function as it establishes
and maintains a social consensus
 By CThompson christhomp@aol.com