interactionalism and labelling theory

Question 1

no act is deviant itself

Answer 1

deviance is simply a social construct

Question 2

becker (1963)

Answer 2

social groups create deviance by creating rules and applying them to particular people whom label as ‘outsiders’

Question 3

differential enforcement

Answer 3

labelling theorists argue that social control agencies (police, courts etc) tend to label certain groups as criminal

Question 4

differential enforcement - Piliavin and Briar (1964)

Answer 4

found police decisions to arrest were based on stereotypical idea about manner, dress, gender, class, ethnicity, time and place

Question 5

typifications - Cicourel (1976)

Answer 5

argues that police use typifications of the ‘typical deliquent’. Individuals fitting the typification are more to be stopped, arrested and charged

Question 6

cicourel - working class and ethnic minority juveniles

Answer 6

are more likely to be arrested. Once arrested, those from broken homes etc are more likely to be charged

Question 7

cicourel - middle-class juveniles

Answer 7

are less likely to fit the typification, and have parents who can negotiate succesfully on their behalf. They are less likely to be charged

Question 8

why is there more w/c arrests?

Answer 8

working class fit police typifications so police patrol working class areas

Question 9

because of typificaions what does this mean about crime statistic recorded by police?

Answer 9

do not give a valid picture of crime patterns

Question 10

what does Cicourel argue about crime statistics?

Answer 10

cant take them on face value or use them as resource - we should treat them as a topic and investigate the processes by which they are constructed

Question 11

what is the dark figure of crime?

Answer 11

difference between the official statsitics and the ‘real’ rate of crime

Question 12

why is there a dark figure of crime?

Answer 12

we do not know for certain how much crime goes undetected, unreported and unrecorded

Question 13

what do some sociologists use instead of official statistics?

Answer 13

victim surveys or self-report studies to gain a more accurate view

Question 14

Lemert (1972)

Answer 14

by labelling certain people as deviant, society encourages them to be more deviant - primary and secondary deviance

Question 15

Lemert - primary deviance

Answer 15

deviant acts not been publicly labelled - those who commit don’t see themselves as deviant

Question 16

Lemert - secondary deviance

Answer 16

result from societal reaction - labelling - otherhers may see the offender solely in terms of the label - becomes individuals master status or controlling identity

Question 17

Young (1971)

Answer 17

study of hippies illustrate Self fulfilling prophecy and P and S deviance

Question 18

deviance amplification spiral

Answer 18

attempt to control deviance leads to it increasing rather than decreasing - resulting in greater attempts to control it - more deviance

Question 19

Cohen (1972) - folk devils and moral panics

Answer 19

mods and rockers - media exaggeration, moral panic, moral entrepreneurs call for crackdown - arrest more youth, more concern, demonising margenised them further

Question 20

How does Cohen and Young point differences with functionalism

Answer 20

functionalists see deviance producing social control but labelling theorists see control producing further deviance