C&D- INTERACTIONIST THEORY ON CRIME

Question 1

What is primary deviance?

Answer 1

Primary deviance refers to deviant acts that have not been publicly labelled.

Question 2

What is secondary deviance?

Answer 2

Secondary deviance refers to acts that have been publicly labelled as deviant and the deviance that results from that label.

Question 3

What is societal reaction?

Answer 3

Societal reaction is the response of others to an individual, specifically how society reacts to someone who has been labelled as deviant.

Question 4

What is a master status?

Answer 4

A master status is a status that overrides all other statuses and is the most dominant label by which others see a person.

Question 5

What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Answer 5

A self-fulfilling prophecy is when a prediction comes true simply because it was made, meaning the prophecy fulfills itself.

Question 6

What is the significance of interactions in social action theory?

Answer 6

Interactions are part of social action theory, which focuses on studying how human behavior is influenced by interactions between individuals and groups, rather than by the structure of society.

Question 7

What do interactionists argue about crime?

Answer 7

Interactionists argue that the vast majority of people have broken the law at some point, so the Official Crime Statistics (OCS) are inaccurate. They also argue that some groups, such as the working class, ethnic minorities, and men, are more likely to be labelled as criminals by those with power in society. The key question for interactionists is not “Why do people break the law?” but “Why are only some people labelled as criminals?”

Question 8

What did Becker argue about crime and deviance?

Answer 8

Becker argued that no act is inherently criminal. An act only becomes criminal when it is defined as such. Crime is a social construct shaped by society’s reactions, not the inherent nature of the act. The person labelled as a criminal is the criminal.

Question 9

What are moral entrepreneurs?

Answer 9

Moral entrepreneurs are individuals who lead a moral crusade to change the law, believing that doing so will benefit those affected by the law. This is not based on the harmfulness of the act itself but on the efforts of powerful individuals or groups who campaign to define the act as criminal.

Question 10

What effect does labelling have on society?

Answer 10

Labelling creates a group of newly criminalised outsiders and expands agencies of social control, such as the police and prisons, to enforce the new laws.

Question 11

What factors determine whether a person gets labelled?

Answer 11

Whether a person is labelled depends on factors such as their interaction with the police and courts, their appearance and background, and the circumstances of the offence. Some groups are more likely to be labelled, such as those with certain appearances or mannerisms.

Question 12

How does Cicourel support Becker’s theory?

Answer 12

Cicourel’s research showed that police officers’ decisions to arrest are based on typifications—stereotypes about offenders. For example, working-class areas were more heavily policed than middle-class areas, leading to more arrests and reinforcing the stereotype that the working class is more criminal.

Question 13

How do other agencies of social control contribute to labelling?

Answer 13

Other agencies, like probation officers, hold stereotypical views, such as believing juvenile delinquency is caused by broken homes and poverty. This leads them to see working-class youths as more likely to re-offend, while middle-class youths are less likely to be charged due to their background not fitting the criminal stereotype.

Question 14

What is Cicourel’s conclusion about justice and the OCS?

Answer 14

Cicourel concluded that justice is not fixed; it is negotiable. OCS cannot be trusted as an accurate representation of crime because they reflect the typifications guiding police officers’ actions, not the actual crime rates. Cicourel suggests that sociologists should study OCS as a topic of research, focusing on how they are created by those within the Criminal Justice System (CJS).

Question 15

What was the significance of Chambliss’s study of Saints and Roughnecks?

Answer 15

Chambliss studied two groups of boys, the Saints (middle-class) and the Roughnecks (working-class), who both committed similar acts of delinquency. The Saints, due to their social status and cultural capital, avoided being labelled as delinquents, while the Roughnecks, who engaged in similar behaviors but were more visible, were labelled as delinquents. This created a self-fulfilling prophecy, with the Roughnecks accepting their label and engaging in more criminal behavior, while the Saints went on to lead successful lives.

Question 16

How does Lemert explain the process of labelling and deviance?

Answer 16

Lemert argued that by labelling individuals as criminal, society encourages them to become even more criminal. Primary deviance involves minor acts that are not publicly labelled, while secondary deviance occurs when acts are labelled as criminal, leading to a stigmatized identity and further criminal behavior.

Question 17

What is a master status in the context of secondary deviance?

Answer 17

A master status is the label that dominates all other labels, such as being labelled a “drug dealer” which overrides other identities like “son” or “brother.” This master status can prevent the individual from rejoining society and may lead to the formation of a subculture where further deviance is normalized.

Question 18

How does Young’s study of drug users support Lemert’s theory?

Answer 18

Young’s study of drug users in Notting Hill in 1971 shows how primary deviance (peripheral drug use) became secondary deviance as police and society increasingly labelled the users as outsiders. This led to the formation of a subculture where drug use became central to their identity, further reinforcing their deviant behavior.

Question 19

What did Cohen study and find about moral panics?

Answer 19

Cohen studied the Mods and Rockers disturbances in 1964 and found that the media exaggerated the events, leading to the youth being labelled as “folk devils.” This caused a moral panic, as societal concern about the youth grew, and the police responded by arresting anyone fitting the stereotype, leading to more deviance. Cohen referred to this process as deviancy amplification, where the attempt to control deviance results in an increase in the level of deviance.

Question 20

What is Triplett’s theory on controlling crime and labelling?

Answer 20

Triplett argued that attempts to control crime and punish young offenders actually increase crime. Minor deviance, such as truancy, is being treated as a serious offence, leading to the criminalization of youth and further criminal behavior. This supports Lemert’s view that labelling leads to secondary deviance.

Question 21

What does Braithwaite say about the role of labelling?

Answer 21

Braithwaite distinguishes between disintegrative shaming, where both the criminal and the crime are labelled as bad, leading to exclusion from society, and reintegrative shaming, where the act is labelled as bad but not the person, allowing for reintegration into society and preventing further deviance.

Question 22

What does Douglas argue about crime statistics?

Answer 22

Douglas argues that all statistics, including those on crime, are socially constructed. For example, suicide statistics are created by coroners, family members, and friends, and may not reflect the true cause of death. The stigmatisation of suicide in Catholic countries may lead to a lower rate of officially recorded suicides, not because there are fewer suicides, but because coroners are more likely to record accidental deaths.

Question 23

What is Atkinson’s view on suicide statistics?

Answer 23

Atkinson agreed with Douglas that suicide statistics are socially constructed by coroners. He argued that coroners use primary and secondary clues to determine suicide intent, but these clues are often subjective and based on a “common sense” approach. This leads to inaccurate suicide statistics.

Question 24

How does Lemert’s theory apply to mental health?

Answer 24

Lemert argued that mental health is socially constructed by psychiatrists who label individuals as mentally ill. People who don’t fit into societal groups are often labelled as “odd” and excluded, leading to secondary deviance and psychiatric intervention.

Question 25

How did Rosenhan’s study support Lemert’s theory?

Answer 25

Rosenhan’s study, in which researchers were admitted to a mental hospital while claiming to hear voices, supports Lemert’s theory. Despite acting normally, the researchers were treated as mentally ill, and their diagnosis became their master status, reinforcing the stigma and label.

Question 26

What did Goffman argue about institutionalisation?

Answer 26

Goffman argued that when individuals are admitted to institutions like prisons or hospitals, they undergo mortification of the self, where their identity is replaced with that of an inmate or patient. Some individuals internalize this new identity, while others resist it.

Question 27

What did Braginski et al.’s study show?

Answer 27

Braginski et al.’s study in a psychiatric hospital showed that patients could manipulate their symptoms to appear not well enough to be discharged but not too unwell to be confined, giving them more freedom within the hospital.

Question 28

What are the strengths of labelling theory?

Answer 28

Labelling theory shows that the law is enforced in a discriminatory way and that OCS are not accurate. It highlights that some people are more likely to be labelled than others and that labelling can create more crime.

Question 29

What are the weaknesses of labelling theory?

Answer 29

Labelling theory is deterministic, suggesting that people are passive and do not resist their labels. It turns criminals into victims of labelling, ignoring their actual victims, and does not explain why some people commit crime in the first place. It also fails to explain why some groups have the power to label others.