Sociological - Labelling theory [INTERACTIONALISM] Flashcards
(19 cards)
[INTERATIONISM]
Explain what interactionism is
How and why criminal are labelled as deviant or criminal
Crime is the product of interactions between suspects and police rather than the produce of external factors such as inadequate socialisation or blocked opportunities
[INTERATIONISM]
What approach does Interactionists take
Interprevists
They regard crime and official statistics as social constructs
[INTERATIONISM - LABELLING THEORY]
Howard Becker
Explain what labelling is
The process of attaching a definition or meaning to an individual or group
[INTERATIONISM - LABELLING THEORY]
Howard Becker
Explain the Key Idea of the labelling theory
It is not the nature of the act that makes it deviant but the nature of society’s reaction to the act
&
Deviance is in the eye of the beholder
[INTERATIONISM - LABELLING THEORY]
Howard Becker
Explain how crime is socially constructed
Some actions being labelled as a crime, but can fluctuate and be fluid due to the change in law
[INTERATIONISM - LABELLING THEORY]
Howard Becker
Explain what Becker thinks about deviants
A Deviant is simply someone to whom a label has been successfully applied
Deviant behaviour is simply behaviour that people label as deviant
It becomes deviant when we create rules and apply them to others
E.g: Smoking cannabis only counts as a crime if society decides to make a law criminalising it and applies it to cannabis smokers
[INTERATIONISM - LABELLING THEORY]
Howard Becker
Explain who gets arrested & labelled
Middle class & upper class are more likely to be able to get away without being called deviant - Lower/working class are not
Their interactions with control agencies
Their Appearance (Dark hoodies), background and personal biography
The Situation of the offence
[INTERATIONISM - LABELLING THEORY]
Cicourel
Explain what police though that the typical delinquent had characteristics of
- Young, lower class male
- Black or of ethnic minority
- From ‘rough’ background
-Poor education
[INTERATIONISM - LABELLING THEORY]
Cicourel
Explain where police most likely get their typifications from
The media as media portrayals of offenders are often similar to police typifications
[INTERATIONISM - LABELLING THEORY]
Cicourel
Explain the differential enforcements of the law
Not everyone gets delt with in the same way
Cicourel found there was a class and ethnic bias - led to police patrolling working class areas more intensely
Found that police viewed middle class differently from working classes even when behaviours were exactly the same
[INTERATIONISM - LABELLING THEORY]
Cicourel
What was Cicourel’s view?
Justice is not fixed but negotiable
[INTERATIONISM - LABELLING THEORY]
Cicourel
Give an example of typifications from police
George Floyd - unnecessary force was used leading to his death
[INTERATIONISM - LABELLING THEORY]
Lemert
Explain Labelling and Self-fulfilling prophecy
- Primary deviance: involves acta that have not been publicly labelled
- Secondary deviance: results from labelling. Once someone is caught and publicly labelled, their criminality becomes their ‘master status’ - it controls their identity and how others see them. Their criminal label then overrides any other labels that they have
[INTERATIONISM - LABELLING THEORY]
Lemert
Explain what Lemert argues
Labelling is the cause of crime and deviance
[INTERATIONISM - LABELLING THEORY]
Lemert
Explain what Self-fulfilling prophecy is
When someone gets labelled as a criminal so they follow through with the label and become one
[INTERATIONISM - LABELLING THEORY]
Lemert
Explain what ‘master status’ means
It controls their identity and controls how other see them
[INTERATIONISM - LABELLING THEORY]
Howard Becker
Explain 3 strengths
+ highlighting how bias towards specific groups by law enforcement leads to discrimination through stereotyping
+ Shows how labels given to people can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies
+ shows how crime is socially constructed by the law makers and enforcers
[INTERATIONISM - LABELLING THEORY]
Howard Becker
Explain 3 weaknesses
- Doesn’t support the fact that criminals can change and rehabilitate
- Deterministic , implies someone is labelled a deviant career is inevitable, however people can have free-will
- Removes the blame from the offender and blames the law enforcement for applying the label and stereotype which sometimes may be accurate
[INTERATIONISM - LABELLING THEORY]
Howard Becker
Explain the deviancy amplification spiral
a term that labelling theorist use to describe a process in which the attempt to control deviance through a ‘crackdown’ leads to an increase in the levels of deviance
More and more control produces more and more deviance
