Interactionalism and labelling Flashcards
What does Howard Becker say about crime?
Deviance is a social construction
‘The act of injecting heroin into a vein is not deviant if done by a nurse and given under doctors orders. It is when it’s done in a way that is not publicly defined as a proper that it becomes deviant’
Malinowski’s trobriand islanders?
A youth amongst the tribe killed himself after being accused of incest
-M found that whilst incest was actually common, it wasn’t talked about and was accepted if discreet
-If an incestourus relationship became to public, the islanders reacted with abuse and the culprit ostracised
-It wasn’t the deviant act itself that was significant but the reaction of others
-Weather accused or not, everyone’s engaging in these activity, when your labeled as deviant then a problem occurs
What did Lemert inuit of america labelling?
Focuses on the effect that labelling has due to society seeing stuttering as deviant due to public speaking being so high valued
SD-Shunned
What is primary deviance?
Deviant acts that haven’t been labelled so therefore don’t view ourselves as criminals
What is secondary deviance?
When you are labelled as deviant so internalise belief view ourselves as criminal
What does Becker say the process of deviance is?
Nothing devient about any acts, it’s only when its labelled
The process goes:
Variability
Negotiability
Master Status
Deviant Career
Becker- what is the process of variability?
The process of labelling is not straightforward but varies according to age, gender etc, for an act to be defined as deviant it depends on who has commited it, when and where
Cicourel- variability?
Labels w/c people as criminals as well as those that a young w/c assumes there parents are lax
Becker- what is negotiability?
Some people have the power to reject a negative label, whereas ithers don’t have enough resources to do so must accept it
-Those who have to accept a label, usually have certain traits in common, resulting in typification
Cicourel- negotiables?
M/C youths can be arrested but less likely to be charged due to lack of labelling
Parents can negotiate by apologising and put them in counselling
What is master status and how is it created?
When a label has been successfully applied, it is the most important in determining your identity
All other status’ you have become irrelevant (Pedophile , Rapist, Murderer or drug dealer)
What is a deviant career?
Once master status has been applied then the individual takes on the self image of a deviant
They fully accept this master status
Leading to amplification of crime and greater deviance due to the self fulfilling prophecy
Goffman what happened in his study?
Examined treatments of patients in institutions
When looking found that there were huge degressions and humiliations placed upon inmates. stripped of their clothes, hair etc
Now known as just an inmate who’s life is controlled by what they eat and get up to in a day
-Found many had internalised labels as well as some being institutionalised
-Always labeled as an ex convict
Goffman critic of study?
Outdated
Goffman- what is the mortification process?
This is the death of self, ultimately treated as inhumane due to labels of bad and mad
Goffman- what is institutionalised?
Cant cope outside of institutions
Lack of making own decisions
What is Rosenhan’s case study?
Interested in discovering how the staff of mental hospitals made sense of and labelled people as mentally ill
Arranged for perfectly sane patients to fake symptoms of SZ (hearing voices), however one they are admitted to act normal, they were diagnosed as SZ even though they were perfectly healthy
-He then reversed the experiment, telling hospital staff to expect patients who were faking the illness. When the staff believed they has identified all the fake patients, it was revealed to them that all those they identified were genuine patients
Jock Young study- Hippie marijuana users?
-Examined polices view towards this group, saw them as dirty scruffy etc, the way they saw hippies transformed the way people saw marijuana smoking
-Before smoking was seen as a peripheral activity however after facing oppression it became a central activity as it united hippies making them accept labels of being different
-They excluded non smokers to avoid arrest as well as treating outsiders differently by growing long hair etc
-Due to the increase police activity on smoking it lead to a greater value to the group to symbolise differences, ultimately creating a deviant subculture that reinforced deviant self concept making it difficult for hippies to reintegrate into main stream society
Braithwaite- what are the 2 different types of labelling for crime?
-Disintegrative shaming
-Reintegrative shaming
Braithwaite- Disintegrative shaming?
Where the act and individual are labeled negatively
‘They are a bad person’
Braithwaite- Reintegrative shaming
Where only the act is labeled negatively
‘They have done a bad thing’
Positives of labelling theory?
-Shows importance of reactions of others to shape deviance
-Highlights importance of those in power to define criminal acts and statistics
-Provides insight to the nature of deviance not provided by the structural theory
-Shows how groups are identified and labelled accordingly
-Shows how labelling can be positive
Negatives of labelling theory?
-The labelling theory is too deterministic, thus meaning it doesn’t allow some people to choose deviance and labelling doesn’t always lead to the self fulfilling prophecy or more deviance
-Shift blame away from deviance. when people who commit deviance know full well what they have done
-Doesn’t explain why some groups are labelled rather than others
-Assumes an act isn’t deviant until its labelled as such, yet many know weather they are being deviant or not
Who label?
Moral entrepreneurs seek to outlaw certain behaviour through moral crusade, creating moral panic
