Interactionist Explanations

• Interactionist explanations


  Focus more on the social reactions to crime and deviance then the causes of crime and deviance
• Labelling theory


  What makes something deviant is the fact that other people say it is deviant
• An example to explain labelling theory could be the ultimate deviant or illegal act: killing someone. For soldiers in a war, killing someone is part of their job: it is normal
• Some anti-social behaviour might be seen as "high jinks" when carried out by white, middle-class students and as deviant and unacceptable behaviour when carried out by other youths
• Master status


  The way someone sees themselves after being labelled as a deviant, which can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy where people end up living up to their label, starting a deviant career and ending up part of a deviant subculture