Essay on Defining Deviancy Down by Daniel Patrick Moynihan

INTRODUCTION

It is known that the issue concerning crime has always been discussed by the specialists of different levels including criminologists, sociologists and psychologists. It is interesting to notice that different people have different relation to the issue concerning crime in our society and express absolutely different opinions. For example, classic sociologist Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) theorizes in his essay the Rules of Sociological Method that crime exists in all societies because it reaffirms moral boundaries and at times assists needed social changes. However, the Former US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan argues in his essay Defining Deviancy Down that “modern crime has gone way beyond the point of being functional”. My goal in this paper is to summarize and discuss the major points given in Moynihan’s essay Defining Deviancy Down.

DISCUSSION

Emile Durkheim, who believes that crime is beneficial, writes from the discipline of sociology. According to Emile Durkheim, “crime is normal” and our society cannot exist without crime. Moreover, the criminals are not “utterly unsociable creatures”.

They play a normal role in our society. According to Durkheim, one reason why crime is normal is that it’s an essential part of our society. Durkheim is sure that it is very important to understand the function of crime. As any crime requires punishment, punishment ceremonies can help to create social solidarity. One more important Durkheim’s thought is that the number of deviant offenders which are recognized by the society remains stable over time. This fact is true as despite occasional crime rates the amount of deviation in the community remains fairly constant.

As part of his view of crime, Durkheim discusses the individual’s consciousness and sense of dignity, which are factors of whether or not a particular act is labeled a crime or is viewed as a simple moral fault. Emile Durkheim considers that there will be no need for congratulation if the amount of crime drops “too noticeably below the normal level”. He is sure that the society will find other reasons to punish and judge. In any case, some venial faults will be defined as criminal acts.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan is sure that the number of deviancies in the society depends on the size and complexity of its social control apparatus. In other words, in order to handle deviance in a proper way, the community should have enough prisons, and it is easy to evaluate the community’s capacity to control deviance if to count the number of hospital beds and prison cells, the number of courts, prisons and policemen. According to Moynihan, the main task of controlling agencies is to keep deviance within certain boundaries.