Crime 2 - Interactionism & labelling theory

Question 1

Core ideas

For interactionists and labelling theorists what do they believe about deviance?

Answer 1

Deviance is a social construct. No act is inherently deviant. Deviance emerges through social interaction and the application of labels.

Question 2

The Social Construction of Crime

Becker

Answer 2

Social groups create deviance by establishing rules and applying them to specific individuals, whom they then label as ‘outsiders’. An act/person becomes deviant only through this labelling process.

Question 3

Typifications

Cicourel

Answer 3

Police use typifications of the ‘typical delinquent’:
-Working-class and ethnic minority juveniles, more likely to be arrested
-Middle-class juveniles, less likely to fit the typification

Question 4

The dark figure of crime

What is this concept?

Answer 4

-the difference between the statistics and the real rate of crime - we don’t know how much crime goes
-some sociologists may therefore refer to victim surveys or self-reported crimes

Question 5

The effects of labelling

Lemert

Answer 5

Society, by labelling individuals as deviant, can inadvertently encourage them to become more deviant, leading to ‘secondary deviance.’ Societal reaction → secondary deviance.

Question 6

The effects of labelling

What is Primary Deviance?

Answer 6

Deviant acts that are not publicly labelled. Often trivial, with many causes, and mostly uncaught. Individuals committing these acts typically don’t see themselves as deviant.

Question 7

The effects of labelling

What is Secondary Deviance?

Answer 7

Results from societal reaction and labelling. Labelling can stigmatize and exclude individuals. The label can become a “master status”, defining how others perceive the individual.

Question 8

Self-fulfilling prophecy

What is the perceived ‘life-cycle’ of crime?

Answer 8

Labelled → Self-fulfilling prophecy → Live up to the label → Secondary deviance → Societal reaction reinforces outsider status → They join deviant subculture → Find role models within these subcultures → Deviant career

Question 9

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

What did Young’s study of hippy marijuana users illustrate?

Answer 9

-hippies initially used drugs as it was part of their lifestyle (primary deviance), but then police began to criminalse them (created societal reaction), which then led to a negative self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 10

Deviance Amplification Spiral

What occurs in the ‘deviance amplification spiral’?

Answer 10

where attempts to control deviance can lead to an increase in deviance, e.g: Mods and rockers. Media exaggeration and labelling led to increased marginalization and further deviance

Question 11

Functionalism vs. Labelling Theory

What do they each believe about the relationship between social control and deviance?

Answer 11

Functionalists see deviance producing social control, while labelling theorists see control producing further deviance.

Question 12

Mental Illness and Suicide

Douglas - the meaning of suicide

Answer 12

-Argues that to understand suicide, we must discover its meanings for the deceased.
-Rejects official suicide statistics as social constructs reflecting coroners’ labels.
-Advocates for qualitative methods like suicide note analysis or interviews with relatives.

Question 13

Mental Illness and Suicide:

Atkinson

Answer 13

-Coroners’ commonsense knowledge
-coroners use taken-for-granted assumptions to construct reality
-their ideas about a ‘typical suicide’ affected their verdict

Question 14

Paranoia as a self-fulfilling prophecy

Lemert

Answer 14

-socially awkward individuals could be labelled and excluded from groups
-may lead to a medical label of paranoia, so their ‘master status’ becomes the label of the ‘mental patient’

Question 15

Institutionalisation

Goffman

Answer 15

-shows the possible effects of being admitted to a ‘total institution’
-patients undergo a ‘mortification of the self’, their old identity is ‘killed off’ and replaced by that of the ‘inmate’
-this is achieved by ‘degradation rituals’

Question 16

S. Cohen’s concepts?

Answer 16

-moral panics
-folk devils
-deviance amplification spiral

Question 17

Criticisms

What are some criticisms of these ideas?

Answer 17

-Fails to explain primary deviance (why people commit deviant acts before being labelled).
-Can be overly deterministic, assuming that labelling inevitably leads to further deviance (SFP).
-Marxists argue that labelling theory fails to address the origin of labels in the unequal structure of capitalist society.
-Sociologist’s interpretation of deceased’s meanings may not be truer than the coroner’s.