Compare and contrast Marxist, Functionalist and Interactionist perspective on crime.

Marxist:
Functionalist: The functionalist views on crime argues that certain acts are defined as criminal or
deviant because they violate the moral beliefs which were created by society for individuals to
follow. Emile Durkheim viewed as essential to the proper functioning of society. He argued that
deviant behaviour was understood only in relation to the codes of conduct violated. Deviance
within groups functions to teach the wider society what is right from wrong, hence maintaining
social order. In the mind of functionalists crime makes people more aware of their surroundings
and illustrates that the people in society have something in common. For example, people in a
community would mourn together after the death of someone loved within that community. This
shows that they share a similar interest. Acts in society are only labelled so when abnormal
behaviour,
Interactionist: The interactionists view crime as socially negotiated. They also believe that there
is a social process that takes certain individuals down a road that eventually leads to rejection by
society. Interactionist theorists are interested on the impact that the social institutions (e.g.
family) that may cause a person to engage in criminal activity.