Durkheim was attracted to the question of what holds society apart, given the increasing importance and responsibility of each individual in society. Durkheim developed a theoretical framework to explain the relationship between social solidarity and systems of legality. Societies that rely on mechanical solidarity are often small and emphasize religious duty. The commonality of jobs and responsibilities indicates low labor division. They are not complex societies, but they are built on shared beliefs and obligations. However, those societies that are marked by organic solidarity are more secularist and individualist because we specialize in our jobs. Organic solidarity has a more complex structure and a greater division. Durkheim regards the examination of law systems as a key agency for understanding morality. This paper will examine how Durkheim might answer the question of whether criminal sanctions are less oppressive in modern society.

Durkheim says that when we switch from mechanical to organ solidary, we see a shift in crime and moral sentiments. Mechanical solidarity defines a crime as an act that offends a strong and clearly defined collective conscience. The collective consciousness of a society that is more complex and has more differences in the division of labor becomes weaker. This explains why there are fewer crimes with a collective object as their primary focus. These crimes against public figures are violently repressed because they violate the collective conscience. This shift in solidarity reduces the prominence of collective sentiments. Therefore, crime is defined more individually and penalities for crimes are more lenient. In traditional societies, violence against the person was considered to be damaging to the collective mind. For this reason, punishment for such crimes would include physical punishment or even capital punishment. Restitutional sanctions are gradually replacing violent crimes against the victim by offenders in modern society. Durkheim believes that punishment in modern society is less oppressive if compensation replaces any physical coercion. This was true whether it’s in religious or traditional societies. Durkheim also believed that imprisonment, with its duration varying depending on the severity and nature of the crime is the most effective form of punishment. Durkheim argues that confinement has become progressively less effective as a punishment for criminals. Canadian justice, for instance, is not focused on retribution and focuses more upon rehabilitation, imprisonment, and deterrence. Even though rehabilitation programs have a lower recidivism rate than punishment, it is still quite high for many offenders. In Canada, many offenders who have committed violent crimes like homicide or assault get a less severe sentence than those in traditional societies. Durkheim made an interesting comment about prisons only being created when society has reached an adequate level of material development. Durkheim’s only disagreement is that advanced societies often have severe punishments and more collective crimes. The American system of justice is, for example, much more strict than the Canadian one. So, it is unlikely that the number sanctioned individual crimes correlates to the development of the social fabric.

Durkheim might respond to my argument that criminal sanctions in contemporary society are less repressive due to the shift from mechanic to organic solidarity. This shift in solidarity has led to a decline of collective sentiments. Crime has become more individualistic, so punishments for crimes are more lenient. While most justice systems now include incarceration, many complex societies still suffer from severe punishment and more collective crimes. Durkheim’s theory has one flaw. It does not account for the plurality in culture and individual traits of mechanical solidarity. Durkheim only imagines two types or extreme solidarity in society, but each society is made up many types.

Reference Listing

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Edles and Laura Desfor. Scott Appelrouth. Sociological Theory: Text and Readings. Los Angeles: Sage, 2015.