functionalists find that deviance is produced by society. Fundamentally, society needs a small number of deviant acts to ensure its survival. What is also evident is that the functionalists' approach to deviance is focused on the preservation of the welfare of the society. Functionalists are not interested in the more intimate interaction between deviants and members of the society (Douglas, 1973, p. 541).
However, the functional theory has tremendous weaknesses. Most of the functionalists based their studies on official statistics. In recent decades, it has been found that official statistics reflect the reality of deviance poorly. Furthermore, they tend to encompass the bias of the police officers who target individuals they
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