1.4 Interactionist

• The Interactionist approach to crime and deviance revolves around the concept of social construction and the way society labels and reacts to behaviour.

  EVAL - Plummer (2011) asserts that the Labelling theory is influential in contemporary sociology, particularly in the portrayal of crime in media.
• Becker – Once a person is labelled a deviant, they take on the label and begin to act in the way that they have been labelled, this is called a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.

  EVAL – Deterministic, as it assumes labels automatically lead to deviant identity, but many resist labels.
• Cicourel - claimed that police officers and judges use typification’s or stereotypes to influence their judgment of an offender. If the offender fits their expectations of a typical criminal, they are more likely to arrest them.

  EVAL – Usually the case with W/C people and especially if they are from a ethnic minority.
• Lemert – Primary Deviance is when the criminal label isn’t attached, and it doesn’t affect the ‘self-concept’ of the individual and no labelling takes place. Secondary Deviance is an act that generates a strong response and results in a label being attached to the offender and causes deviance amplification spiral.

  EVAL - Focuses too much on the societal reaction and not enough on the causes of the initial deviant act.
• Cohen Deviancy Amplification - An attempt to control deviance leads to greater amounts of that deviance, like Cohens Mods and Rockers study.
• Moral Entrepreneurs are the people who decide what is morally acceptable within society, like the government and ruling class.
• Agencies of Control : Formal – Police and Court , Informal – Peers and Society.