2.3.2.9 - Becker

• Becker shows how the law is enforced in a discriminatory way
• Becker's theory highlights the downsides of labelling
• Becker highlights weaknesses in official statistics which allow bias in law enforcement
• Becker highlights the role of the media in defining and creating deviance and for producing moral panics
• Becker fails to explain why deviant behaviour happens in the first place, before they get labelled
• Becker fails to explain why labels are applied to certain groups
• Becker wrongly implies that once someone is labelled, a deviant career is inevitable