Interractionism - Labelling theory

Question 1

What is Cicourel’s negotiation of justice theory?

Answer 1

• Officers decisions to arrest people are based on stereotypes they have about the offenders prosecuting the working class more
• This leads to higher surveillance in working class areas leading to more arrests confirming the stereotypes
• Others agents of social control such as probation officers reinforce the class bias through viewing working class children as likely to offend in the future
• Middle class kids are less likely to be arrested as they don’t fit the typifications of criminality and their parents are more likely to successfully negotiate on their behalf
• This in turn will lead to less middle class arrests reinforcing the stereotypes of the police.

Question 2

What does Cicourel’s negotiation of justice theory say about official crime statistics?

Answer 2

• Official crime statistics do not give a true reflection of the actual amount of crime committed
• Instead, they give a reflection on the police actions and how they label certain types of people as criminals.
• This creates a dark figure of crime, the difference between recorded and actual amount of crime committed.
• Due to official statistics being unreliable, interactionists use other statistics such as the crime survey of England and Wales and the self report study.

Question 3

What is Edwin Lemert’s theory of primary and secondary deviance?

Answer 3

• Primary deviance, everyday acts that have untraceable sources, fare dodging, line cutting, being late etc.
• Secondary deviance, large criminal acts such as fraud, rape etc.
• Once someone is caught and labelled a criminal, due to societal reaction, the person is marginalised and stigmatised resulting in their master status being replaced by the secondary deviance such as paedophile or rapist
• This can create a identitiy crisis solved by the person accepting the label of secondary deviance leading to a self fulfilling prophecy as they live up to their label
• The person accepting their status may lead to a deviant career where as the person accepts the label of secondary deviance their deviant identity is confirmed

Question 4

What is an example of Lemert’s Master status replacement theory?

Answer 4

Usage of weed by Hippies in Notting Hill festival:

• Originally, drug use was peripheral to hippy lifestyle and an example of primary deviance
• Due to control culture and increased persecution by police, the Hippies saw themselves as outsiders
• This resulted in the forming closer groups and seeing drug use as more primary to their identity causing a self fulfilling prophecy.

Question 6

What does Cicourel’s negotiation of justice theory suggest about official statistics?

Answer 6

• Instead of mirroring the actual amount of crimes committed, they mirror the attitudes and activity of the police
• This produces a dark figure of crime, the difference between the actual amount of crime committed and recorded amount of crime committed
• In response to this, interactionists use alternative sources such as self report studies and the crime survey of England and Wales

Question 7

What is Lemert’s theory of Primary and Secondary deviance?

Answer 7

• Primary deviance, everyday, untraceable deviant acts such as fare skipping and being late
• Being caught publicly labelled as a criminal and as a result are marginalised, people began to see the individual as their label and that becomes their master status
• This provokes an identity crisis only solved through the individual accepting their label causing a self fulfilling prophecy where more acts of deviancy are committed known as secondary deviancy.
• This further deviant behaviour results in further marginalisation and in turn further deviance causing a deviant career

Question 8

What is an example of Lemert’s primary and secondary deviance theory?

Answer 8

• The recreational use of weed by Hippies at Notting Hill carnival once peripheral and only primary deviance, due to police control culture and labelling, drugs became more central to their identity leading them to commit secondary deviance.

Question 9

What is Stanley Cohen’s theory of deviancy amplification spiral?

Answer 9

• The attempt to control deviance results in increased levels of deviance

Mods and Rockers for example:

• Exaggeration by moral entrpeneurs creates a moral panic resulting in a crackdown of harsher penalties and more arrests.
• This confirmed the truth of the moral panic provoking more public concern and more crackdown further marginalising the mods and rockers resulting in more deviant behaviour cementing them as folk devils.

Question 10

What is reintergrative shaming?

Answer 10

• Reintergrative shaming, Labels the act rather than the person
• Intergrative shaming, Labels the person and the act excluding the person from society

Reintergrative shaming avoids excluding a person from society making it easier to reintergrate people into society while also avoiding secondary deviance cuasing lower reoffending rates

Question 11

According to Jack Douglas, why are suicide statistics unreliable?

Answer 11

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