interactionism

• Crime is socially constructed

  Becker: there is no such thing as an inherently deviant act, certain acts only become deviant in certain situations when others label them as deviant.

  The acts are the same, but the meanings given to them by the audience differ, those who have the power to make the label stick, create deviance/the criminal & this is known as selective law enforcement.

  Official criminal statistics are a social construction based on offenders who have been targeted, caught & publicly labelled with a criminal record as a result of the stereotypes police form with the 'typical criminal from experience/the media.
• Strengths of Crime is socially constructed

  Malinowski: study of culture of Kiriwana, case study of 16yr old male who threw himself from a 60ft palm tree in ritual suicide, as a result of incest with a maternal cousin, this was outside the custom of exogamy which was the norm & incest was publicly very taboo, it became apparent that incest was not uncommon on the island nor frowned upon, provided it was discreet — demonstrates that crime can be socially constructed through public labelling
• Weaknesses of Crime is socially constructed

  Labelling theory fails to explain the pre-labelling deviance & how/why that happens, meaning labelling theory is unable to explain the causes of criminal behaviour, blame is taken away from the deviant & places on those who apply the label this removes a degree of responsibility for the individual who commits the crime
• Primary & secondary deviance

  Lemert: primary deviance refers to the act of breaking a rule before it is public ally labelled, supported by 'secret deviants'- those who commit deviant/ criminal acts but 'get away with it'-Secondary deviance is the response to the rule breaking which usually has greater consequences.

  The societal reaction towards the individual/group is the most powerful & as a result, secondary deviance should be the focus as secret deviants can continue living their life of crime without any change to their circumstances.

  Secondary deviance can have the most damaging effect on a person's moral character & status which may lead to rejection from severe social groups.

  Primary deviance: crimes committed before the act is made public.

  Secondary deviance: crimes made public & labelled
• Strengths of Primary & secondary deviance

  Box: selected for jury duty, jury found a defendant guilty on a minor theft charge, however after duty had finished, members of the jury began discussing how they would fiddle their travelling expenses by claiming inflated amounts
• Weaknesses of Primary & secondary deviance

  Labelling can have a positive outcome, eg. formal sanctions may change a person's future behaviour rather than leading to self-fulfilling prophecy, however crime statistics show a very high level of recidivism rates for adult males — escaping the label of being a criminal may be extremely difficult
• Consequences of labelling


  If someone is labelled a junkie, they may be rejected by their family & receive a criminal record, this label may encourage further deviance - self filling prophecy.

  The official treatment of deviance by the CJS may have similar effects.

  The label may become a master status overriding all other forms of relationship outside the deviant group.

  Whether a person is arrested, charged & convicted depends on their interactions with agencies of social control, their appearance, backgrounds & the circumstances of the offence.

  Becker: police operate with pre-existing conceptions & stereotypical categories of what constitutes 'trouble' criminal types areas, this affects how they respond when faced with these situations.
• Strengths of Consequences of labelling

  Cicourel: study of juveniles in 2 US cities, crime rates were higher in working class areas compared to middle class areas due to police viewing behaviour of the middle & working classes differently even when the acts were the same — police viewed middle class children as coming from good homes with family support so less formal intervention was needed
• Weaknesses of Consequences of labelling

  labelling theory is seen as too determinist, may people reject their labels & use it as motivation — demonstrates the label doesn't always cause an individual to continue to commit acts of crime & deviance — suggests it's only a risk factor in further criminality