Interactionism

• In a nutshell

  Interactionists focus on the social construction of crime, whereby an act only becomes deviant when labelled as such, through societal reaction. However, not every deviant act or criminal is labelled, and labelling theory is selectively enforced against some groups. Some sociologists believe labelling may cause an individual to be defined a master status.
• Becker - The social construction of crime


  a deviant is someone who the label has been successfully applied, and deviant behaviour is simply behaviour that people so label. Those who are labelled are labelled based on gender, class and ethnicity.
• Cicourel - typifications


  Officers typifications (stereotypes) of the typical criminal lead to them concentrate on types of people that are more likely to offend - for instance, by patrolling working class areas
• Lemert - 2 types of deviance


  Distinguishes between two types of deviance:

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  Primary deviance - deviant acts that have not been publicly labelled as criminal.

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  Secondary deviance - deviant acts and individuals that are labelled. Once an individual has been labelled, people may only see him according to his master status (whereby a criminal is defined by their deviant act), which may lead to a deviant career because they struggle to find employment.
• Braithwaite - types of shaming


  Distinguish between types of shaming:

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  Reintegrative shaming - punishes them in a way that strengthens their bonds with society.

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  Disintegrative shaming - punishment which isolates the individual and causes secondary deviance.
• Douglas - vs. Durkheim's Suicide Study


  Rejects the use of official statistics when examining suicide. Whether a death is labelled as a suicide depends on the interactions and negotiations between social actors (doctors, the coroner, family). Statistics therefore tell us nothing about the meaning behind an individual’s decision to commit suicide.
• Four Key concepts associated with Interactionist theories of deviance

  Crime is Socially Constructed

  Not everyone who is deviant gets labelled as such – negative labels are generally (deviant/ criminal) are generally given to the powerless by the powerful.

  Labelling has real consequences – it can lead to deviancy amplification, the self-fulfilling prophecy and deviant careers.

  Labelling theory has a clear ‘value position’ – it should aim to promote policies that prevent labelling minor acts as deviant.
• Crime is Socially Constructed

  As Howard Becker* (1963) puts it – “Deviancy is not a quality of the act a person commits, but rather a consequences of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an ‘offender’. Deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label.”