interactionism on crime

• labelling theory


  -behaviours are only deviant when they are labelled as such
• social construction of crime & deviance


  -moral entrepreneurs decide what is and is not criminal, for example the ruling class, government and law makers
• process of labelling


  -if an act is witnessed, it will be labelled which becomes a master status and then a self-fulfilling prophecy

  -if an act is not witnessed, no label is given
• Becker


  -developed in 1960s

  -crimes are socially constructed

  -there are moral entrepreneurs & agencies of social control

  -police have stereotypes so some people get labelled more than others
• Lemert


  Primary deviance: deviance that has not been labelled as such; secondary deviance: deviance that has been labelled
• Young


  -1970s - Notting Hill 'hippie' marijuana smokers

  -labelled as deviant due to it being a gateway drug

  -became a self-fulfilling prophecy & more deviant
• Cicourel


  -typifications: stereotypes which mean some people get labelled more than others

  -bias to some people

  -males; ethnic minorities; youths; working-class; poorly educated
• Cohen


  -Deviance amplification spiral: media is involved in crimes which means more acts are labelled as deviant and more deviant acts are committed

  -Moral panic: folk devils are identified and are heavily portrayed in the media, the public then begin to panic due to the over-reporting, they think the crime is a bigger issue than it is, this is a moral panic

  -Mods & Rockers: case study - fight happened in a town, media over reported on this and exaggerated the events making them seem like a bigger issue. Public then started to worry and fear the folk devil (1964)
• AO3


  -hard to generalise Cicourel's typifications as he only studied in California

  -Cicourel = ethnographic research

  -outdated

  -deterministic - ignores the SRP

  -doesn't explain why the original deviance was committed

  -doesn't explain where stereotypes come from

  -disintegrative shaming is temporary, people can be reintegrated into society e.g., Caroline Flack, Gypsy Rose Blanchard
• Braithwaite


  -two types of shaming - happen after labelling

  -reintegrative shaming: the act is labelled as deviant, not the person e.g., Ant McPartlin: drink-driving, crashed into cars which could've caused harm, wasn't on TV for a while & was in rehab then was allowed back into society

  -disintegrative shaming: the act and the person are labelled as deviant e.g., Philip Schofield - an affair with a young male colleague (15 y/o), banned from TV and rejected by society