The social construction of crime

• Howard Becker's Labeling Theory


  people become deviant because certain labels are attached to their behavior by authorities
• Moral Entrepreneurs (Becker)


  individuals who lead a moral crusade to change the law which has two effects:

  -creates a new group of outsides/ deviants

  -creates or expands a social agency to enforce the law
• Cicourel - negotiation of justice


  Found officers have a 'typification' (stereotypes of what a typical delinquent is like)

  led to WC areas being patrolled more intensely and more WC people being arrested, continuing the bias
• Social construction of crime statistics


  agents of socialisation make decisions about whether to continue to the next stage, based on labels and typification.

  stats only tell us about activity of police and prosecutors
• Alternative crime statistics

  victim surveys or self-report studies

  Can improve our picture of crime, but some may forget, conceal or exaggerate.
• Primary Deviance (Lemert)


  initial deviant act that has not been labelled
• Secondary Deviance (Lemert)


  deviance that results from the reaction of labeling.
• Master status


  A status that overrides any other roles of the individual. They come to see themselves as the label.
• Deviance amplification spiral (Cohen)


  Attempts to control deviance leads to an increase in deviance and a self-fulfilling prophecy
• Fold devils


  over labelled or over-exposed to the public and authorities. The focus on them draws attention and resources away from crimes of the dark figure.
• Braithwaite's disintegrative shaming


  the criminal and the act of the crime are labelled as bad, presnting the offender as an 'outsider
• Braithwaite's reintegrative shaming


  labels only the criminal act as bad, not the offender. This avoids stigmatising the offender, preventing re-offending
• Rosenhan's 'pseudo-patient experiment'


  Researchers admitted to hospitals claiming to 'hear voices'. Schizophrenic became their master status and despite acting normal, they were treated as mentally ill.