Interactionism Flashcards
What is interactionism?
Society is seen as a product of human interactions and the meaning placed on them. They look at societal structures on a smaller level allowing the recognition of individual agency
What are the strengths of interactionism?
- emphasis on fluidity through society’s active participation and adaptation
- understands context
- creates a shared sense of understanding
What are the weaknesses of interactionism?
- As a micro-sociology theory, it has a limited scale without considering wider structural theories such as aspects of identity
- It doesn’t consider conversational differences such as being introverted therefore not everyone is equally influenced by social interactions
- Oversimplifies social interactions and our sense of self without considering other factors such as personality, experiences and biology
What is Becker’s explanation (1963) for crime and deviance?
Crime and deviance are relative concepts depending on time, place, offender, and the observer (usually with power) to label the behavior. Labeling theory leads to social isolation, discrimination, and reduced opportunities. This negative internalisation can push individuals towards crime creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Through labeling, it can mean an individual can lose identity as they can live up to criminality becoming a master status.
What are the strengths of labeling theory?
- It illustrates labels aren’t always accurate reflections of personality as they work off limited information and are subjective
- It shows the positive and negative impacts of labels
- Recognises individual agency
What are the weaknesses of labeling theory?
- It focuses on the consequences of the label not the reasons like underlying factors such as poverty, discrimination or mental health issues
- small scale
- oversimplifies the relationship between the label and the behaviour
How does Akers (1967) criticise labeling theory?
Labeling theory implies there are no differences and reasons for the label which can’t always be true
What is Matza’s (1964) explanation for crime and deviance?
Youths may feel a moral obligation to obey the law but may feel pressure to pursue subterranean values that challenge the morally acceptable ones in which they grow out of. However, they use 5 techniques of neutralisation their behavior such as:
- denial of responsibility
- denial of injury (no harm)
-believing the victim deserved it
- labelers are in the wrong
- motivated through family, friendship, or profit
What is drift theory?
The concept that delinquency isn’t a fixed commitments as it is influenced by factors like peer pressure, boredom, or a desire for excitement
What are the strengths of Matza?
- It challenged the dominant theories at the time
- A shift to a nuanced theory to individual choices and the use of the techniques of neutralisation to justify deviance shifting from broad social factors
- Recognises individual agency
- Shows the fluidity of behavior
- It can be used to understand how individuals justify various deviant behaviors in different contexts
What are the weaknesses of Matza?
- His scope of justifications is limited without recognition of broader social and economic contexts
- Oversimplified justifications
- It doesn’t explain why some individuals might drift more frequently or for longer periods, leading to persistent patterns of delinquency
- Theories of neutralisation could be seen as an attempt to excuse or justify deviant behavior neglecting the potential harm or consequences
What is Cicourel’s explanation for crime and deviance?
They believe you are more likely to be prosecuted if you look/act/talk like the typical deviant
What is Lacey’s (1970) explanation for crime and device?
They use labeling and social class to explain members of anti-school subcultures. Most people start secondary learning that schools are structures in sets and the ethos of competition demoralises those who are lower ability which correlate with those from lower class backgrounds
What is Reay’s (2009) explanation for crime and deviance?
They discuss when confronted with high risk of educational failure, anti-school subcultures form in white - working-class peer groups as they can’t win within the competition of education
What are Lemert’s (1972) concepts of primary and secondary deviance?
Primary consists of the action of rule-breaking which has little impact as it isn’t publically labeled and seen as an acceptable part of an individual’s lifestyle. Secondary can be seen as the negative societal impacts that can impact and individual and push them towards deviance.
