Functionalist and Marxist Explanations of Crime - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

10 original exam-style questions - 4 pages of questions with a full mark scheme - free printable PDF.

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This topic is chapter 2 of GCSE Sociology: Crime and deviance Practice Book.

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5.2 Functionalist and Marxist Explanations of Crime

AQA 8192 · about 55 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Use sociological vocabulary and name sociologists where you can.

A large manufacturing company is found to have broken health and safety regulations, putting workers at risk, but receives only a small fine and no criminal prosecution. In the same month, a person is sent to prison for shoplifting goods worth £50.

Using your knowledge of Marxist explanations of crime, explain what this scenario might illustrate about the criminal justice system.

(Total for Question 1 is 6 marks)

Functionalists argue crime and deviance mainly benefit society as a whole. Marxists argue crime and deviance mainly reflect, and serve the interests of, a capitalist ruling class.

Evaluate the view that crime and deviance mainly benefit society as a whole (a functionalist view), rather than mainly serving the interests of the ruling class (a Marxist view). In your answer you should refer to sociologists' views and consider more than one perspective.

(Total for Question 2 is 12 marks)

Merton's strain theory relies on a distinction between goals and the ways of reaching them.

(Total for Question 3 is 2 marks)

State one similarity between the functionalist and Marxist explanations of crime.

(Total for Question 4 is 2 marks)

Durkheim used the concept of 'anomie' when discussing periods of rapid social change.

(Total for Question 5 is 2 marks)

The functionalist sociologist Robert Merton offered a different explanation of why crime occurs.

(Total for Question 6 is 4 marks)

Merton described 'innovation' as one possible response to strain.

(Total for Question 7 is 4 marks)

State and briefly explain one other response to strain identified by Merton, other than innovation.

(Total for Question 8 is 4 marks)

Marxist sociologists offer a very different explanation of crime from functionalists.

(Total for Question 9 is 4 marks)

Marxists also refer to 'selective law enforcement' when explaining patterns in recorded crime.

(Total for Question 10 is 4 marks)

Mark scheme · 5.2 Functionalist and Marxist Explanations of Crime

Question 1

B1 identifies selective law enforcement or differential treatment of corporate versus street crime as relevant
B1 links the company's lenient fine to the harsher treatment of street crime described in the scenario
B1 explains the individual's prison sentence for a relatively low-value offence as evidence of harsher treatment for working-class or street crime
B1 explains this pattern could disguise or underrepresent the true extent and seriousness of crime committed by the powerful
B1 development referencing the Marxist argument that law can serve capitalist or business interests
B1 clear, accurate use of Marxist terminology throughout
Answer: The company's small fine compared with the individual's prison sentence for a much smaller-value offence is consistent with the Marxist argument of selective law enforcement, where street crime is treated more harshly than corporate crime, disguising the true scale of harm caused by the powerful.

Question 2

Level 4 (10-12): A detailed, well-balanced evaluation that accurately explains BOTH the functionalist case AND the Marxist case, supported by accurate reference to named sociologists where appropriate. Strengths and weaknesses of each view are analysed, and a reasoned, supported judgement is reached. Sociological terminology is used accurately and consistently throughout.
Level 3 (7-9): A clear evaluation that explains both the functionalist case and the Marxist case, with some accurate detail. Some analysis of strengths/weaknesses. An attempt at a conclusion, which may be only partly supported.
Level 2 (4-6): Some relevant explanation of the functionalist and/or Marxist case, with limited development or accuracy. Little clear evaluation or comparison between perspectives.
Level 1 (1-3): One or two isolated, undeveloped points about crime benefiting society or the ruling class, with little or no sociological terminology or accurate detail.
Level 0 (0): No relevant content.
Indicative content:
- Functionalist case: Durkheim argued crime performs boundary maintenance, reaffirming shared values when society reacts to it, and allows for adaptation and change as some deviance introduces new ideas that later become accepted.
- Functionalist case continued: Merton's strain theory explains crime as a response to a gap between culturally approved goals, such as wealth, and the legitimate means of achieving them, e.g. through innovation.
- Marxist case: capitalism is criminogenic, with poverty and inequality pushing some people towards crime, while crime by the wealthy (fraud, corporate crime) is also extensive but comparatively underpoliced.
- Marxist case continued: selective law enforcement means laws are enforced more strictly against working-class crime than against crime by the powerful, which Marxists argue serves and protects ruling-class interests.
- Evaluation of the functionalist case: critics argue it is too optimistic about how functional crime really is, given the real harm caused to victims, and does not fully explain who benefits from crime and who does not.
- Evaluation of the Marxist case: critics argue it can be too deterministic and focuses heavily on capitalism and social class, saying comparatively little about other patterns in crime such as gender or age.
- A balanced conclusion should weigh Durkheim and Merton's claims that crime serves genuine functions for society as a whole against the Marxist argument that recorded crime and its enforcement still systematically favour the already-powerful, without presenting either side as simply correct.

Question 3

B1 the socially approved, legitimate ways of achieving a culturally valued goal (oe)
B1 a correct example, e.g. education and work as legitimate routes to financial success
Answer: The socially approved, legitimate ways of achieving a culturally valued goal; for example, education and work as legitimate routes to financial success.

Question 4

B1 identifies a genuine similarity, e.g. both are structural, macro perspectives explaining crime through the wider structure of society rather than individual choice
B1 development, e.g. both link crime to economic factors, though they interpret this relationship very differently
Answer: Both are structural, macro perspectives that explain crime through the wider structure of society; both also link crime to economic factors, even though they interpret this relationship very differently.

Question 5

B1 a state of normlessness, when social norms are weak, unclear or breaking down (oe)
B1 development, e.g. this can occur during periods of rapid social change, when established norms lose their grip on behaviour
Answer: A state of normlessness, when social norms are weak, unclear or breaking down; this can occur during periods of rapid social change, when established norms lose their grip.

Question 6

B1 identifies that strain arises from a gap, or disjunction, between culturally approved goals, e.g. financial success, and the legitimate institutionalised means available to achieve them
B1 explains that individuals who are unable to achieve the approved goals through legitimate means experience strain
B1 development, e.g. this strain can push some people towards crime as an alternative route to the goal
B1 correctly and specifically attributes this theory to Merton's strain theory
Answer: Merton's strain theory argues strain arises from a gap between culturally approved goals, such as financial success, and the legitimate means available to achieve them; people unable to achieve these goals legitimately may turn to crime as an alternative route.

Question 7

B1 identifies innovation as accepting the culturally approved goal, e.g. wealth
B1 identifies that the individual rejects or lacks access to the legitimate means of achieving it
B1 development, e.g. instead using illegitimate or criminal means to pursue the same goal
B1 a correct example, e.g. theft or fraud as a way of acquiring money when legitimate routes seem blocked
Answer: Innovation means accepting the culturally approved goal, such as wealth, but rejecting or lacking access to the legitimate means of achieving it, and instead using illegitimate means such as theft or fraud to pursue the same goal.

Question 8

B1 names a genuine second response, e.g. retreatism, ritualism or rebellion
B1 brief accurate description, e.g. retreatism: rejecting both the goal and the legitimate means, e.g. some drug users or people who drop out of mainstream society
B1 development consistent with the response named
B1 correctly distinguishes it from innovation, explained in Q5
Answer: Retreatism: rejecting both the culturally approved goal (e.g. wealth) and the legitimate means of achieving it, as with some drug users or people who drop out of mainstream society altogether, unlike innovation, which still pursues the goal by illegitimate means.

Question 9

B1 identifies the Marxist claim that capitalism can be 'criminogenic', meaning it creates conditions that encourage crime
B1 development, e.g. poverty and inequality produced by capitalism can push some poorer people towards crime as a means of survival or of acquiring the goods capitalism encourages everyone to want
B1 further point, e.g. Marxists also argue crime is not confined to the poor, pointing to extensive crime by the wealthy, such as fraud or tax evasion
B1 clear, accurate use of Marxist terminology
Answer: Marxists argue capitalism is criminogenic: poverty and inequality it produces can push poorer people towards crime as a means of survival or of acquiring the goods capitalism encourages everyone to want, while crime by the wealthy, such as fraud or tax evasion, is also extensive.

Question 10

B1 identifies selective law enforcement as the claim that laws are enforced more strictly against, and more likely to target, working-class crime than crime committed by the wealthy or powerful
B1 development, e.g. street crime attracts more police resources and media attention than white-collar or corporate crime, even though the latter can cause greater financial harm
B1 further point, e.g. Marxists argue this makes crime appear to be mainly a working-class problem, disguising the true extent of crime among the wealthy
B1 clear, accurate use of Marxist terminology
Answer: Selective law enforcement is the Marxist claim that laws are enforced more strictly against working-class crime than crime by the wealthy or powerful, e.g. street crime attracts more policing than white-collar crime, which Marxists argue disguises the true extent of crime among the wealthy.

Functionalist and Marxist Explanations of Crime - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

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5.2 Functionalist and Marxist Explanations of Crime

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