Interactionalsim

• what is the labelling theory?


  it states that people decide on the characters of others and treat them accordingly, whether the label is fair or not
• what characters tend to come from the MC according to Becker?


  ‘ideal type' - who are conscientious, disciplined and hard-working, people who showed this characters were said to be the most able
• what can labelling create? - Give an example


  ③ it can created self-fulfilling prophecy which is where the student internalises the label they've been given as part of their identity and acts up to the label - for example 'trouble makers might behave poorly because that is how they thinks their teacher experts them to behave
• what was rosenthal and jacobsons' field experiment?

  And what was the outcome?

  to show they could make rapid academic progress in one year for 20 primary school students in California. In which students performed better in tests had had made progress throughout the year due to the teachers believing in the students so they started to believe in themselves.
• what did Hargreaves find about labelling within secondary schools?


  Boys in lower streams were triple failures as they had failed the 11+ so labelled as ‘worthless louts’ causing them to form anti-school subcultures
• What did Lacy suggest the label of failure pushes people to do and how is failure created?

  It pushes them to find new ways of gaining status. Normally involves forming an anti-school subculture to gain status from peers. He also suggested that labelling and streaming created failure - many of the boys in accepting their low positions suffered extreme physical reactions e.g. bed wetting
• what did Lacy suggest pupils in low streams suffered with?


  Low self esteem, undermining of their self worth by schools placing them into positions of inferior status
• what are some strengths?

  • This theory shows the negative impact labelling can have on pupils which is a problem that cannot be solved unless recognised.
• what are some weaknesses?

  • However Margret fuller argued that labelling can have the opposite effect. For example she studied a group of black girls in a London comprehensive school, and their negative labelling lead them to knuckle down and study harder.
  • However Some critics would argue that Rosenthal and Jacobsons research is unreliable