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Labelling Theory of Crime - Coggle Diagram
Labelling Theory of Crime
Interactionists
-
Deviant
Folk aren't that
Different
Interactionist (interpretivist) study of crime and deviance says that deviants
aren't characteristically different
from the rest of the population
They stress that
deviance varies
over time and place because it's
socially constructed
Becker
(1963)
challenged
the
assumption
that sociologists should focus on what
causes
people to act in deviant ways
Instead, they studied how an act or behaviour comes to be
labelled as deviant
by the rest of society, and the consequences of that label or reaction
The
same behaviour
gets
different reactions
depending on the social situation,
Becker
thought there's therefore nothing
intrinsically deviant
about the act itself
The
reaction
of those around you is what makes you
recognise
it's deviant
Being
Labelled
as
Deviant
Can Affect
Future Behaviour
Interactionists argue that we form our identity by
interpreting
how others respond to us
A
label
can have a
positive
or
negative
effect and helps us define ourselves in our
own eyes
as well as in others' eyes
Becker
calls this a
'self-concept'
Becker
argued that a
self concept
of being deviant can
increase deviant behaviour
If a person is
shamed
by the reaction of others who know they have been in trouble with the police, they may
return
to criminal activity to
escape
the feeling of rejection
This
reinforces
the label of criminal, he called this process the
deviant career
The
label
of
criminal
isn't
easily removed
by society - it becomes an individual's
master status
On release from prison many individuals find it hard to obtain work, because of their
status
as an ex-offender
Young
(1971) studied
drug users
in Notting Hill
They developed a
deviant self concept
, which became their
master status
Society responded
negatively
, their drug-taking became more
significant
to them, and the drug-taking
increased
Goffman
(1961) wrote about a deviant career in
mental illness
Said the
negative label
of being
mad
is
imposed
on the patient by society and psychiatry, and the patient must eventually
conform
to it
Braithwaite
(1989) argued that the effects of
negative labelling
actually depend on
how
the label is applied
Disintegrative shaming
labels both the
crime
and the
person
as deviant - this. causes
social exclusion
Reintegrative shaming
only labels the
crime itself
as deviant, so the
person
has a chance to
rejoin society
Lemert
(1951) -
Primary
and
Secondary
Deviance
Argued that
most people
commit some acts of
primary deviance
in their lives, but that this is of little
significance
Initial
deviant act
However. when there's a
societal reaction
to an act (from society as a whole or groups within society), the individual is
labelled
as
deviant
Argues when an individual
feels the weight
of the label 'deviant' or 'criminal', they sometimes commit
more
of the deviant behaviour
He called this
secondary deviance
Similar to this is the idea of
'deviance amplification'
, which says that
social control
can
cause
more
deviance
A common
response
to deviance is to
increase
social control
This can lead to
more deviance
, which provokes
more extensive
social control
The result is
even more deviance
, and the
cycle
continues
The
media
often play a role in deviance amplification, as they can influence
reaction
to deviant acts