Edwin Lemert also contributed a great deal to the labeling theory by incorporating the relationships between primary and secondary deviance. He theorized that primary deviance is the first deviant act that a person initiates that lands them in the situation of being labeled. To some, the act that they commit may not even seem deviant and they could be unaware of the legal and social consequences that come along with it. The secondary deviance is when the person ends up conforming to this deviant identity and committing more deviant acts instead of attempting to regain their own identity (Gove, 2002). Because people already view them as “deviant” they do not see a reason to change or to better themselves because they do not think other peoples’
