Brothel Book Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Brothel Book - Essay Example A critical analysis of this book shows that Durkheim’s functionalist perspective to deviance as well as Merton’s social structure and anomie theory can be applied to the groups of characters which include the prostitutes and the men who visit the brothel in the above mentioned book. Emile Durkeim suggests that crime is inevitable and he argues that crime is â€Å"an integral part of all healthy societies,† (as cited in Haralambos & Holborn, 1990, p.586). From this perspective, it can be noted that not all individuals are committed to the shared values and moral beliefs of the society. It may be impossible for all the members of the society to be similar and in Durkeim’s words, crime is not only inevitable, but it is functional. He argues that social change begins with some form of deviance and as noted in the definition of deviance above, deviant behaviour can be normal in other societies. In this given book, it can be seen that prostitution is not conside red as deviant behaviour especially by those involved in this practice. It is seen as normal just like any other form of employment. This view is supported by Cohen who developed Durkeim’s ideas when he analyses two functions of crime in a society. Firstly, deviance can be a safety valve providing a relatively harmless expression of discontent while protecting social order (Haralambos & Holborn, 1990). He suggests that prostitution can perform a safety valve function without threatening the fabric of the family. Prostitutes interviewed in this book state that the majority of their clients are married men who will be seeking to relieve their stress and pressure from the demands of their families. The institution of the family is not threatened in this case since the relationship between prostitutes and clients is not binding. On the other hand, Cohen suggests that certain deviant acts are useful in warning that certain aspects of the society are not functioning. For instance, a lot of married couples reveal that their sexual relationship is not satisfactory, the reason why they seek the services of commercial workers to satisfy their sexual desires. In some cases, unsatisfactory sexual relationships among married couples can lead to divorce and the ladies in most cases opt to venture into prostitution. As is the case in this book, a notable number of prostitutes at Mustang brothel are divorcees as a result of unfriendly sexual relationships in their previous marriages. Men on the other hand will solicit for sex from the prostitutes after the marriage has broken down. It can be seen that the element of prostitution is inevitable as long as these negative social trends affecting the institution of the family persist. The other theory that can be applied to the behaviour of the characters in this book is Merton’s social structure and anomie. He argues that deviance results from the culture and structure of society itself (Haralambos & Holborn, 1990). Since members are placed in different class positions in the social structure, it can be noted that they do not have the same opportunity of realising the shared values which leads to deviance. In the given case, many prostitutes interviewed by the author such as Eva revealed that they joined the profession in order to earn a living. Some