Interactionism/Labelling Theory

• Why does Crime and Deviance Happen:

  > the social construction of deviance

  > differential enforcement

  > typifications

  > crime statistics
• Effects of Labelling:

  > primary and secondary deviance

  > self-fulfilling prophecy

  > deviance amplification spiral
• The Social Construction of Deviance:

  > Becker - social groups create deviance by creating rules and applying them to particular people whom they label as 'outsiders' - deviance is in the eye of the beholder

  > moral entrepreneurs - people who lead a moral crusade to change the law, but this leads to:

  > a new group of outsiders (deviants who break the new rule) and a social control agency to enforce the rule and impose labels on outsiders
• Differential Enforcement:

  > whether a person is arrested, charged and convicted depends on certain factors - social control agencies tend to label certain groups as criminal

  > Pilliavin and Briar - police decisions to arrest were based on stereotypical ideas about gender, class and ethnicity
• Typifications (Negotiation of Justice):

  > Cicourel - police use stereotypes of the 'typical deviant'

  > individuals fitting the typifications are more likely to be stopped, arrested and charged

  > WC and ethic minority juveniles are more likely to be arrested, and those from broken homes are more likely to be charged

  > MC juveniles are less likely to fit the typification so are less likely to be charged, and have parents who can negotiate justice on their behalf
• Crime Statistics:

  > WC people fit police typifications, so police patrol WC areas, which leads to more WC arrests - crime statistics do not give a valid picture of crime patterns

  > Cicourel - we should not use stats as a source of facts because they a product of differential enforcement, but we should instead investigate the processes by which they are constructed
• Effects of Labelling:

  > Lemert - by labelling certain people as deviant, society actually encourages them to become more so

  > societal reaction causes secondary deviance
• Effects of Labelling - Primary Deviance:

  > deviant acts that have not yet been publicly labelled - they have many causes, are often trivial and mostly go uncaught

  > examples - fare dodging, driving 32mph in a 30mph zone

  > these acts are not part of an organised deviant way of life, so people can easily rationalise them away

  > people do not see themselves as deviant
• Effects of Labelling - Secondary Deviance:

  > secondary deviance results from societal reaction - labelling someone as an offender involves excluding them from society, so others may only see them in terms of their label, which becomes a master status

  > this can provoke a crisis for the individual's sense of identity
• Effects of Labelling - Self-Fulfilling Prophecy:

  > being labelled may provoke a crisis for the individual's sense of identity - one way to resolve this crisis is to accept the deviant label and see themselves as the world sees them

  > further societal reaction may reinforce the outsider status and lead them to join a deviant subculture that offers support, role models and a deviant career

  > Jock Young - study of hippy marijuana smokers
• Effects of Labelling - Deviance Amplification Spiral:

  > the attempt to control deviance leads to it increasing rather than decreasing, resulting in greater attempts to control it, which creates more deviance in an escalating spiral

  > Cohen's study of mods and rockers - media exaggeration and distortion began a moral panic, with growing public concern so police responded by arresting more youths

  > demonising mods and rockers as 'folk devils' marginalised them further, resulting in more deviance