Labelling Theory

• Becker says acts are only deviant because society labels them as such, and they are contextual too
• Becker says that once an act is labelled as deviant, the label is attached to the individual too
• A label could become someone's master status, taking precedence over all other labels they have, both for the individual and those around them
• Being labelled as deviant could lead to blocked opportunities, eg job applications get rejected, leading someone further into crime and creating a self fulfilling prophecy
• Becker's ideas are helpful for looking at the 'underdogs' and examining how crime and criminals are stigmatised
• However Becker does not explain initial acts of deviance, and often neglects genuine victims of crime
• Cicourel looked at two cities and differences in reactions to deviant behaviour between classes
• Cicourel found that the middle class found it easier to navigate the justice system and were less likely to be charged
• Despite similar rates of delinquency across both cities, deviants were more commonly charged in 'bad areas' with people in the lowest classes
• Cicourel suggested the justice system had pre-conceived idea of a 'typical delinquent' which fitted people from low-income areas
• Middle class parents were able to vouch for their children, and the cjs was more likely to drop charges against them - thus making it seem like the middle class had lower rates of delinquency
• Brock Turner sexually assaulted a girl at Stanford University - his parents said he should not have his life ruined for only '20 minutes of action' - he was given 6 months, served 3, when the maximum was 14 years
• Cicourel assumes everyone in the cjs labels delinquents the same way and not on a case by case basis
• Lemert said it was important to look at the reactions to deviance to understand why people continued a career of crime
• Primary deviance - an initial act of deviance not influenced by others
• Secondary deviance - deviance committed due to the reactions of others to primary deviance
• Lemert argues that focusing on secondary deviance allows better understanding of reoffenders and helps to find solutions for rehabilitation and destigmatisation
• Some argue deviancy is a temporary phase that is eventually overcome
• Cohen's work on Folk Devils and Moral Panics is another example of interactionism
• Cohen found that media coverage of small scuffles between youth subcultures Mods and Rockers reported them as riots
• Cohen found the media was drumming up a moral panic for sales, rather than reporting the reality - instead spinning it as the degradation of society
• The media and other agencies may act as moral entrepreneurs - trying to reaffirm their generation's moral values onto the next to preserve the status quo
• Moral panics result in folk devils, generalised and vilified versions of the groups in question
• Governments respond to folk devils with harsher policing, amplifying the deviant behaviour in response to policing, thus creating a deviancy amplification spiral
• McRobbie and Thornton say moral panics have diminished due to increasing diversity of media
• Moral panics are often temporary and subjects may eventually become mainstream