labelling theory

• what does becker 'defining deviance' argue?

  argues that an act only becomes deviant when we label it as such
• evaluation of becker

  does not give a useful way of how to tackle crime effectively or reduce it
• what is typifications?

  argues that the police had stereotypical images of what criminals were like and based decisions of whether or not to arrest on 'physical cues' based on these stereotypes. based on manner, dress, ethnicity, social class and gender
• evaluation of typifications

  deterministic - assume that all officers have inbuilt prejudice which bases their decisions of arrest or stop and search - very negative view of the criminal justice system
• what is negotiation of justice?

  argues that the middle class are able to negotiate their justice and are often not prosecuted for the crimes they commit.

  E.g lavinia woodward - stabbed boyfriend with bread knife - let off because she was 'too clever' for prison. Two wc men jailed for 4 years for inciting a riot on facebook that did not happen
• two reasons why middle class able to negotiate their justice?

  they have elaborated code compared to the restricted code of the working class

  they have cultural capital and know what to do in those situations (e.g don't be defensive, apologise)
• evaluation of negotiation of justice?

  study was not a representative sample as conducted only in two cities - this limits the usefulness of the findings so cannot apply to whole of cjs
• what is primary deviance?

  deviant acts which have not been publicly labelled as deviant
• what is secondary deviance?

  both the act and the person are labelled as deviant
• what happens as a result of secondary deviance?

  the deviant gains a master status
• what is master status?

  an over-riding identity which cannot be removed and becomes your permanent label in society and what you are known by e.g jimmy savile + michael jackson
• what is a result of a master status?

  can push you into a deviant career - forced to live a life of crime and deviance and will not be able to live legitimately again
• evaluation of labelling theory

  cannot explain acts of primary deviance

  deterministic - not all deviants given a master status will go on to live a deviant career

  gives offenders a victim status
• what is disintegrative and reintegrative shaming?

  disintegrative shaming - both the crime and the criminal are negatively labelled and cannot reintegrate back into society

  reintegrative shaming - the crime is labelled but not the criminal. This avoids stigmatisation and separates the offence from the person thus allowing them to reintegrate back into society
• mental illness as a self-fulfilling prophecy


  mental illness is socially constructed and has four fundamental steps:

  person acts differently, a label is given, self-fulfilling prophecy, master status created

  support from rosenhan study - sent 8 fake mental illness patients to mental hospitals - started showing symptoms of being mentally ill e.g hearing voices - started acting normally - still treated as schizophrenics by the hospitals and staff
• Goffman and asylums


  spent several months in a mental asylum working as an assistant athletic director

  worked closely with the patients

  states that what looks insane to an outside observer is not irrational when seen in the context of the hospital

  patients personal belongings taken, given institutional clothing, have very little privacy and treated as children.

  developed patterns of behaviour that seemed bizarre to an outsider but were understandable attempts to cope with the unusual demands of their environment
• evaluation of mental illness

  paints the picture that diagnosing mental illness is a negative thing however some patients may need a diagnosis in order to be helped