Interactionism (labelling theory)

• Interactionism

  -Howard Becker and Edwin Lembert (Chicago school)

  -focuses on society‘s effect upon our behaviour (more time we spend in society the more our behaviour will adapt)

  -see interactions as based on meanings or labels

  -e.g a ‘criminal’ is a label that some people (police) may attach to others (young people) in their interaction with each others

  -crime and criminals are social constructs
• what does it mean for crime to be a social construct?

  -people in power decide what ‘crime’ and ‘deviance’ are- acts aren’t criminal until society says they are.

  -when someone commits deviant acts, they are labelled.

  -labelling means society and the person themselves see them as deviant.

  -this can lead to a self fulfilling prophecy
• Labelling theory.


  -A labelled person is more likely to be marginalised and then join a sub-culture that possibly engages in deviant behaviour

  -Stereotypes play a role in labelling (certain groups are more likely to be stopped by police)
• What does Lembert say on the labelling theory?

  He says labelling causes crime- a person engages in ‘primary deviance’ and follows the stops of a deviance amplification spiral until they commit ‘secondary deviance‘ which is when the label will become the persons ’master status’
• What is a Master Status?

  when a label becomes their main identity (thief, rapist, etc)
• Self- fulfilling prophecy and Master Status


  -Becker argues that the labelling process and societies reaction to criminals can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, thus a ‘deviant career’

  -‘Criminal’ becomes master status (instead of mother, father, bf)

  -those labelled will go on to face rejection from many social groups and become an ‘outsider’ (good jobs become limited to them because of their label, resort to crime)

  -May join other delinquents who they can identify with, support and understand)
• Selective/Differential Law Enforcement 


  -Becker argues that state force (police) use considerable discretion and selective judgement in deciding whether and how to deal with illegal behaviour- label groups as criminal

  -Becker suggests that police operate with prejudice and stereotypes, this influences how they deal with crimes they encounter and thus results in differential enforcement (where the law is more enforced on one group than another)

  -Piliavin and Briar found police decisions to arrest were based on stereotypes (dress, gender, class, ethnicity)
• Effects of the DAS


  -Attempts to control deviance through ‘Crackdown’ leads to it increasing rather than decreasing (greater attempts to control = more deviance= escalating spiral e.g. Mods and Rockers)

  -Media Exaggeration (increased public concern)

  -Moral Entrepreneurs (calls for crackdown, police arrest more youth= more concern)

  -Negative Labelling (Mods & Rockets = ‘Folk Devils’ marginalised further= more deviance)
• Interactionists reject crime states compiled by police = these measure what police do rather than what criminals do. (Statistics are a social construction, not a true measure of the amount of crime)
• Strengths of Becker and Lembert


  -Shows that the law is not a fixed set of rules by socially constructed -Shifts focus onto how police create crime by applying labels- may explain why some groups are overrepresented in crime statistics.

  -Shows how attempts to control can create more deviance
• Weaknesses of Becker and Lembert

  -Deterministic, assumes we have no choice but to live up to labels

  -Gives offenders a victim status

  -Fails to explain primary deviance, doesn’t say where power to apply label comes from

  -Fails to explain why labels are applied to some groups but not others.