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
