symbolic interactionalist (labelling theory)
who gets labelled?
whether a person is arrested and charged depends on factors such as their appearance, their background, their interactions with police, circumstances of the offence
Briar- police more likely to arrest a youth based on manners, dress, gender, class, ethnicity, time, place
CICOUREL- class bias- more likely to patrol working class areas leading to more working class arrests, thus confirming their stereotypes
middle class youth arrested, less likely to be charged as his background does not fit the idea of policies typical delinquent
implications fro official crime stats
effects of labelling-
primary deviance- acts that have not been publicly labelled- LEMERT argus such acts do not have much significance on individuals self concept
however is deviant is caught and subsequently labelling takes place, the societal reaction can result in secondary deviance. may lead to a deviant career, deviant becomes seen as an outsider, finds it difficult to get work. support may come from joining a deviant subculture
deviance amplification-
labelling theorists argue that the media may amplify deviant acts which can lead to a moral panic, this in turn van lead to labelling of certain groups, resulting in a self fulfilling prophecy and further deviance.
Stanley Cohen illustrated this in his study of the mods and rockers disturbances involving groups of youths in 1964.
labelling and criminal justice policy
an increase in the attempt to control and punish offenders can have the opposite effect. Triplett claims that in the USA there has been an increasing tendency to see young offenders as evil and offences such as truancy have been relabelled as more serious- led to increase of offending
to reduce crime, we should make and enforce fewer rules for people to break. we should avoid publically naming and shaming offenders as this may push them into deviant further.
two types of shaming
disintegrative shaming- labels the crime and criminal as bad- offender excluded from society
reintergrative shaming- the act, not offender labelled as bad- avoids offender being stigmatised and avoids pushing into secondary deviance
Braithwaite argues that crime rates tend to be lower in societies where reintegrative shaming predominates.
EVALUATION- labelling shows us that the law is enforced in discriminatory ways and this can be reflected in crime stats
deterministic- once someone is labelled, a deviant career is inevitable
makes criminals seem the victims of labelling and ignores real victims of crime.
MORAL PANICS
exaggerated over reaction by society to a a perceived problem, usually driven or inspired by the media- where the reaction enlarges the problem out of all proportion to its real seriousness
leads to crackdown on the group, leads to self fulfilling prophecy that can make problem worse, deviance amplification spiral
mods and rockers
minor disturbance was exaggerated and distorted through dramatic reporting and sensationalisation
moral panic created, public called for increased control and mods and rockers stigmatised even further.
this escalated conflict as youths acted out to the roles assigned to them by the media
critisisms- assume society's reaction is disproportionate, however the public have a right to panic