← Chapter 7
Sociology · Chapter 7

Functionalism: Durkheim & Merton

Functionalists ask an odd question about deviance: not what is wrong with these people, but what is deviance doing for the group. Émile Durkheim answered that crime is normal, inevitable, and useful — try expelling it below and watch it grow back. Robert Merton answered that deviance is manufactured by the gap between what a society tells everyone to want and what it lets everyone reach. Build all five of his adaptations on the grid.

A village of 24

Functionalist viewschoose a theorist

Where this sits — and who objects