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INTERACTIONISM AND LABELLING THEORY (Mental illness and suicide: the…
INTERACTIONISM AND LABELLING THEORY
The social construction of crime
The effects of labelling
Evaluation
Mental illness and suicide: the sociology of deviance
Mental illness
Interactionists see this as a social construct, where the powerful attach labels
Paranoia as a self-fulfilling prophecy
:silhouette: Lemer's study of paranoia
Some individuals don't fit easily into groups which is primary deviance, others label the person as 'odd'
:silhouette: Rosenhan's (1973) 'pseudo-patient' experiment
Researchers had themselves admitted to a number of hospitals claiming they were hearing voices
Labelled as Schizophrenic which became their mater status and were treated as such
Institutionalisation
:silhouette: Goffman's (1961) study of Asylums
Show some of the possible effects of being admitted to a 'total institution'
Some internalised new identities, other adopt various forms of resistance or accommodation
:silhouette: Branginski et al's (1969) long term psychiatric patients study
Inmates manipulated their symptoms so they were able to achieve their aim of free movement
Suicide
:silhouette: Durkheim (1897)
Claimed to have discovered causes of suicide and social integration with individuals and regulated behaviour
Interactionists reject
In order to understand suicide, we must study meanings for those who choose to kill themselves
:silhouette: Douglas: the meaning of suicide
Interactionist approach
Doesn't trust crime statistics or suicide statistics - both are socially constructed
:silhouette: Atkinson (1978): coroners' commonsense knowledge
Agrees that official stats will be flawed
Says it is impossible to know for sure the meaning the dead gave to their deaths
Instead focuses on assumptions of coroners and found that certain circumstances would help lead them to a verdict of suicide