Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
interactionism and labelling theory (Lemert: distinguishes between primary…
interactionism and labelling theory
Becker - a deviant is simply someone to whom the label has been successfully applied, and deviant behaviour is behaviour that people label
moral entrepreneurs
people who lead a moral crusade to change the law
the new law created as two effects:
the creation of a new group of outsiders
the creation or expansion of a social control agency
Becker notes that social control agencies may also campaign for changes in the law
for example, the US Federal Bureau of Narcotics successfully campaigned for the passing of the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937
evaluations of labelling theory:
deterministic
emphasises the negative effects
focuses on less serious crime
fails to explain why people commit primary deviance
whether a person is arrested, charged and convicted is based on:
their interactions with social agents of control
their appearance, background and personal biography
the situation/circumstances of the offence
Cicourel: officers' typifications led to police to concentrate on certain types
resulting in law enforcement showing a class bias
led to patrolling working-class areas more intensively, resulting in more arrests and confirming their stereotypes
justice is negotiable - middle-class youths are less likely to be arrested and charged as they do not fit the police stereotypes of a typical delinquent and their parents are more likely to be able to negotiate successfully on his behalf
Pilivan and Briar: police decisions to make arrests were based on physical cues from which they make judgements about the youth's character
decisions were also influenced by gender, class and ethnicity
interactionists see official crime statistics as socially constructed as the outcome depends on the label attached to the individual by the CJS
as a result, statistics provided only tell us about the activities of the police and prosecutors
dark figure of crime - the difference between the OS and the real rate of crime
alternative statistics - victim surveys produce a more accurate view of the amount of crime
Cicourel: official crime statistics do not provide a valid picture of the patterns of crime and can not be used as a resource
Braitwaite identifies a more positive role for the labelling process
disintegration shaming - where not only the crime but the criminal is labelled as bad and is excluded from society
reintegrative shaming - where the act is labelled as bad but the actor isnt
the policy of reintegrative shaming avoids stigmatisation whilst also making them aware of the negative impact of their actions and avoids secondary deviance
interactionists are concerned with how a person comes to be labelled as mentally ill and the effects of this labelling
Lemert's study of paranoia:
some individuals do not fit easily into groups and this leads to labelling and exclusion
negative responses to this results in further deviance and more reason to be excluded
discussions confirm suspicions and the reaction s justifies fears of mental health and so psychiatric intervention is needed
ss a result, the mental patient becomes the master status
Goffman's study of asylums
Rosenhan's pseudo-patient experiment
deviance amplification spiral - a process where attempts to control deviance leads to an increase in the level of deviance, leading to greater attempts to control it and in turn produces more deviance
Cohen - Folk Devils and Moral Panics study: a study of societal reaction to the mods and rockers
press exaggeration led to a moral panic with growing public concerns and desire for a "crackdown"
the police responded by arresting more youths, while the courts imposed harsher penalties
the demonising of the mods and rockers as 'folk devils' led to their further marginalisation, resulting in further deviance
Lemert: distinguishes between primary and secondary deviance
primary deviance - deviant acts that have not been publicly labelled
secondary deviance - the result of societal reaction (labelling)
bring publicly labelled can result in stigmatisation, shaming, humiliation, shunning and exclusion from society
once labelled, the individual is only seen in terms of their label which becomes their
master status
a master status can provoke a sense of crisis for the individual and the only resolution is to accept the label, which could result in a self-fulfilling prophecy
deviant career - secondary deviance is likely to provoke hostile reactions from society and reinforce the deviant's 'outsider' status, resulting in more deviance
Jock Young - study of hippy marijuana users: illustrates that it is not the act itself, but the hostile reaction to it that creates deviance