Interactionism - Labelling Theory

• 2 Strengths of Interactionism

  Strength - Highlights role of media creating deviance and producing moral panic.

  Strength - Highlights weaknesses in official statistics; allows bias in law enforcement.
• 2 Limitations of Interactionism

  Limitation - Doesn't explain why deviant behaviour happens in first place. No acceptance that some people may choose deviance.

  Limitation - Ignores victim of crime and focuses on the criminal. Potentially romanticises crime.
• What did Becker and Lemert suggest about labelling?

  Becker - Crime is subjective concept, authorities label certain acts as criminal or deviant and then behaviour will be punished accordingly.

  Lemert - Labelling is a cause of crime and deviance. Labelling certain people as deviant, society encourages them to become more so. Distinguishes between primary and secondary deviance.
• Primary Deviance 


  Act that has not been publicly labelled, mostly uncaught and often trivial e.g. smoking and drinking underage, downloading music illegally.
• Secondary Deviance


  Results from labelling. People treat offenders in terms of their label, becomes their master status and can lead to self-fulfilling prophecy.
• What happens as a result of labelling?

  Self-fulfilling prophecy is complete, offender may be rejected by society and forced into company of other offenders.