C+D Interactionism And Labelling Theory

Front 1

The social construction of crime

Back 1

Deviance is in the eye of the beholder; as Becker argues, a deviant is simply someone to whom the label has been successfully applied.

Front 2

Moral entrepreneurs

Back 2

Moral entrepreneurs are people who lead a moral 'crusade' to change the law - this has two effects:

- Creation of 'outsiders' (deviants) - Platt argued that 'juvenile delinquency' was created by a campaign by upper class Victorian moral entrepreneurs to protect young people at risk.

- Creation or expansion of social control agency (police, courts) to impose labels on offenders - they may campaign to increase their power e.g. US Bureau of Narcotics passed Marijuana Tax Act 1937 (to extend stretch of influence)

Front 3

Who gets labelled?

Back 3

A person can be arrested based on:

-their interactions with agencies of social control

- their appearance, background and personal biography (Piliavin and Briar found that police arrested youth based on appearance and character)

- their situation and circumstance of offence

Front 4

Cicourel: the negotiation of justice

Back 4

Police officers and other social agents had 'typifications' (stereotypes of a delinquent) which made them focus on certain types of people (w-c, black, men). Cicourel argued that justice is not fixed but negotiable.

Front 5

Topic vs resource

Back 5

Statistics are not valid but give facts about crime and can be used as a resource; as a result they are topic to investigate, revealing the activities of social agents and how labelling occurs.

Front 6

The social construction of crime

Back 6

Official crime statistics are socially constructed and it is the decisions of social agents that influence the figure; creating the dark figure of crime = difference between actual and reported figure;

- Alternative statistics = victim surveys (ask public whether they have committed or have been victim to crimes) to give a valid answer but people may conceal or exaggerate and the surveys may not give a full range of crimes.

Front 7

Effects of labelling

Back 7

Lemert - primary deviance = deviants acts that are not publicly labelled and it is widespread so victims are hard to pinpoint.

Secondary deviance is the result of labelling e.g. a criminal (master status) is not a deviant until they are labelled for their crime and are then stigmatised. Once the criminal is released they may find comfort in deviant subcultures due to shared experiences creating a deviant career.

Young - Drug users in Notting Hill (the police (control culture) labelled them and they further deviated from society (SFP)); Downes and Rock note that we cannot predict a deviant career because there is a choice

Front 8

Deviance amplification spiral

Back 8

The concept where attempting to control deviance leads to an increase in deviance e.g. Mods and Rockers

Front 9

Folk Devils vs Dark Figures

Back 9

The crimes of folk Devils are exaggerated and the pursuit of these crimes deter the police away from the crimes causing the dark figure e.g. crimes of the powerful.

Front 10

Labelling and the criminal justice policy

Back 10

Triplett - CJS re-labelled offences such as truancy as more serious resulting in harsher sentences for youth (Lemert's secondary deviance).

Front 11

Reintegrative shaming

Back 11

Braithwaite: (negative labelling)

Disintegrative shaming = the crime and the criminal is labelled bad and excluded from society

Reintegrative shaming = the crime is labelled bad but not the criminal, allowing them to rehabilitate and rejoin society (crime rate decreases)

Front 12

Suicide and sociology

Back 12

Suicide:

Douglas (interactionist) = crime is a social construct; deaths labelled as suicide is based on interactions and negotiations between social actors (coroners, relatives) e.g. guilty relative may rule it as an accident - use of qualitative data such as suicide notes or unstructured interviews with family/friends (validity)

Atkinson = official stats are a record of labels coroners attach to deaths. Coroners had a 'typical suicide' based on certain modes of death, location and circumstances if death and life history. (C: his theory is an interpretation)

Front 13

Mental illness and sociology

Back 13

Crime, suicide and mental illnesses are artefacts not objective social facts.

Rosenhan's 'pseudo patient' experiment of schizophrenia (refer to experiments ppt)

institutionalisation - Goffman: on admission, patient goes through 'mortification of self' (old identity is replaced by 'inmate' status; achieved by 'degredation rituals' (confiscation of personal items)) some reject while some internalise it (SFP)

Front 14

Evaluation of labelling theory

Back 14

Criticisms:

- deterministic

- emphasis on negative effects of labels

- focuses on less serious crimes

- ignores that individuals may actively choose deviance

- fails to explain why people commit primary deviance before they are labelled

- implies that without labelling, deviance would not exist

- focuses on 'middle range officials' such as police and ignores origin of labels (law)