Self-fulfilling prophecy Flashcards
What is labelling? (3 points)
Labelling - the process of defining a person or group in a simplified way and fitting them into broad categories
Criminal behaviour only becomes so when labelled by others, which suggests that crime is a social construct
Powerful groups create deviants by making up and applying labels
What is a self-fulfilling prophecy and what are its 5 steps?
Where a criminal label leads someone to act in a manner consistent with that criminal label
- A negative label about a person (others’ beliefs) will cause others to act in a cautious way e.g. increase surveillance (others’ actions)
- This will internalise a negative self-identity in the individual and get them ostracised by society (our beliefs)
- That individual will internalise the belief that they are deviant and perhaps seek support from other deviant groups (our actions)
- These actions will reaffirm the original belief held by society that they are deviant
- The person fulfils the criminal label and becomes it as the label says – the prophecy fulfils itself
What are the 2 supporting studies and 3 refuting arguments for labelling and self-fulfilling prophecy as an explanation of crime?
Supporting:
Jahoda (1954)
Madon et al (2004)
Refuting arguments:
Ignores original reason for deviant act
Inherited personality
Social Learning Theory
How does Jahoda (1954) support labelling and self-fulfilling prophecy as an explanation of crime? (4 points)
He studied the Ashanti people from Ghana who named boys according to the day of the week they were born
They have expectations for the personality the boys will have for each day
Monday: placid and quiet
Wednesday: aggressive and short-tempered
Local juvenile records - violent offences by boys
6.9% - born on Monday
22% - born on Wednesday
Suggests that the expectations and explicit labels about the boys’ personalities led them to be treated differently (e.g. Wednesday boys treated with greater suspicion) - causes them to internalise that label and fulfil it with more violence
What is the weakness of Jahoda (1954)?
The results should be treated with caution - undertaken in one culture and lacks representativeness of people in Western civilization reacting to labelling in relation to criminality
How does Madon et al (2004) support labelling and self-fulfilling prophecy as an explanation of crime? (4 points)
Investigated self-fulfilling prophecy within the family home regarding drinking alcohol using a questionnaire study
Found a positive correlation between children who drank more alcohol and parents who predicted great use of alcohol
If parents expected their children to drink less alcohol compared to projected involvement, the children drank less
Shows the power a parental label has in directing a person’s behaviour via a self-fulfilling prophecy - the children internalised their parent’s expectations and acted in a manner to fulfil them
What is the weakness of Madon et al (2004)? (2 points)
Makes dubious assumption that drinking alcohol and crime are linked
Drinking alcohol is not seen as deviant and law-breaking by many cultures - results can’t be generalised to crime universally
How is labelling and self-fulfilling prophecy limited as an explanation of crime? (3 points)
They ignore the reason for the original deviant act
Lemert (1962) found cheque forgers had been forging long before they were caught - they were active criminals before being labelled
Their self-image is not affected by the labels
How is inherited personality an alternative explanation to labelling and self-fulfilling prophecy as an explanation of crime? (2 points)
Criminal men may have inherited a PEN personality from their biological parents - a genetic disposition to:
+ A high threshold in the ARAS (extroversion)
+ A low threshold in the sympathetic nervous system (neuroticism)
McGurk and McDougal compared delinquent and non-delinquent college students and found the delinquent group to be higher in psychoticism, neuroticism and extraversion and the non-delinquent students were low in neuroticism and extraversion
How is social learning theory an alternative explanation to labelling and self-fulfilling prophecy as an explanation of crime? (3 points)
A person observes a role model commit anti-social behaviour and imitates it
The likelihood of imitation is affected by the mediational processes of attention, retention, motor reproduction, and motivation
Whether the role model avoids being punished and receives recognition and praise from their peers (vicarious reinforcement) will dictate the probability of imitation, not the label they possess
