He saw society as a social body, an organism which could be healthy or sick, in other words, normal or pathological. To Durkheim, crime is like pregnancy, a special event that changes a body, but a healthy normal event, not a disease or illness. The functionalist mechanical model views society as a machine made of parts. To fix this machine, we repair or replace distinct parts of this social machinery which never grows. Durkheim also argued that primitive societies have mechanical solidarity and repressive law, while advanced societies have organic solidarity and resistutive law.
Mechanical solidarity is togetherness based on similarities.
Organic solidarity is togetherness based on differences. In primitive societies, everybody tends to do the same one or two things, such as hunt, farm, or raise kids. In primitive societies, people punish those who deviate because their similarities hold them together. So, people in primitive societies often use repressive laws which try to control or repress deviance. In advanced societies, folks punish those who disrupt society because their cooperation holds them together.