Durkheim's view of punishment is entirely positive, but many people have pointed out that it can be dysfunctional. The most famous statement of the dysfunctions of punishment probably remains that of the social psychologist George Herbert Mead. Mead (1918) shows that the very passion that Durkheim identifies can prevent dispassionate attention to the causes of crime, and can lead to society's energies being directed towards denouncing individuals rather than doing anything to ameliorate the social conditions which give rise to crime. This is, of course, an argument which continues unabated to this day!