labelling theories and crime - 30 marker plan

• master status?


  identity assumed when a controversy becomes more notable than any other labels (eg. parent, colleague, neighbour etc)
• deviant career?

  suggests the labelling process and societal reaction to deviance creates a self-fulfilling prophecy
• who theorised the master status/deviant career?


  becker
• maliowski?


  studied incestual islanders to support becker's point on labelling
• evaluation of the 'deviant career / master status' theory?


  too deterministic - some people ' beat the odds' as they do not accept their label, it assumes offenders are passive. Doesn't recognise the personal choice in committing crime which may be a more useful explanation for cime and deviance
• selective law enforcement?


  labelling theorists argue agencies of social control use considerable discretion and selective judgement in deciding whether and how to deal with illegal/deviant behaviour
• law enforcement - becker?


  suggest the police operate with pre-existing conceptions

  leads highly patrolled areas to feel targeted, and thus become hostile to these agencies, and become deviant
• law enforcement - cicourel?


  police arrest people on their view of the 'typical delinquent', fails to explain where this stereotypical view of a criminal has come from. NR suggests they may have reasoning behind this image
• primary and secondary deviance?


  if acting in an isolated deviant way, this is primary deviance. the societal reaction can cause secondary deviance. if a person is labelled as deviant and internalises that label, then subsequent deviant acts are secondary deviance: the result of the societal reaction to primary deviance
• Lemert?


  studied stuttering in Native American communities. Stuttering proved to be an act of secondary deviance - the emphasis on it not happening caused it to happen
• cohen?


  deviance is a sign that an institution is failing
• interactionist view on media?


  media labels through symbols (eg race, leather jackets) and chooses what to report on. exaggeration and distortions and predications are used to make more interesting news reports
• cohen - moral panics?


  mods and rockers case study - level of unrest blown way out of proportion and caused more crime
• moral panics/interactionists and the media evaluation?


  mcrobbie and thornton
• mcrobbie and thornton - argue that we are in an age of late modernity and argue moral panics are now routine and have less impact. there is now little consensus about what is actually deviant eg. single motherhood
• interactionist policy?


  labelling theorists assume that rule-breaking is widespread and on the whole insignificant unless it leafs to labelling. when labelling occurs, offending is likely to become more harmful. thus, interactionists propose reducing labelling - less strict laws, decriminalise certain acts - reduce secondary deviance
• braithwaite?


  suggested distinguishing between 2 types of shaming: disintegrative and reintegrative shaming
• what do interactionists think in relation to braithwaite's work?


  policy should aim for reintegrative shaming (rehabilitation)
• How is reintegrative shaming criticised?


  suggests the effectiveness of reintegrative shaming may vary based on cultural and individual factors and that it might not be applicable in all contexts
• social construction of crime statistics?


  agents of social control (eg. police offers) decide to proceed at each stage of the justice system - the outcome depends on the label attached to the suspect through their interactions. Thus, statistics explain the actions of police/prosecutors rather than crime
• dark figure of crime?


  the difference between the official statistics and the 'real' rate of crime, because it is impossible to know how much crime goes unreported
• paragraph one?

  • deviant career / master status
  • becker, maliowski
  • too deterministic
  • rational choice theory
• paragraph two?

  • selective law enforcement
  • becker - police prejudice
  • cicourel - typical delinquent
  • NR - stereotypes come from somewhere
• paragraph three?

  • primary and secondary deviance
  • lemert study
  • cohen - deviance is a warning
• paragraph four?

  • interactionist view on media
  • use of symbols
  • moral panics - cohen study
  • mcrobbie and thornton - late modernity
• paragraph five?

  • interactionist policy
  • labelling makes it worse, reduce labelling
  • braithwaite - types of shaming
  • reintegrative shaming / rehabilitation not always effective