Interactionism And Crime Flashcards
key things included in interactionism and crime
- The social construction of crime
- Who Labels
- Who gets labeled
- Justice is negotiable
- Consequences of Labelling
- The impact of Labelling
what are labeling theorists interested in
Labelling theorists are interested in how and why certain acts come to be defined or labelled as criminal in the first place
key theorists for the social construction of crime
Becker
what does Becker argue
Becker argues that no act is inherently criminal in the first place, society’s reaction to the act makes it criminal or deviant. An act only becomes criminal when society or others label it as such.
who is a deviant
For becker, a deviant is someone who a label has been applied to. This leads labelling theorists to look at how and why rules and laws get made. They are interested in the role of what Becker calls moral entrepreneurs.
what creates deviants
Moral entrepreneurs
who are moral entrepreneurs
These are people to seek to change the law based on moral arguments. They have two effects - 1. create a new group of outsiders - outlaws or deviants and criminals. 2. Creation or expansion of social control to enforce rules and label offenders.
example of moral entrepreneurs
Juvenile delinquency
sociologist behind juvenile delinquency
Platt
platt and juvenile delinquency - social construction of crime
Platt argues that the idea of juvenile delinquency was originally created as a result of a campaign by upper-class Victorian moral entrepreneurs aimed at protecting young people at risk and regulating their behavior. Becker argues that social control agencies themselves may also campaign for a change in the law to increase their own power. For example, the US Federal Bureau of Narcotics successfully campaigned for the passing of the Marijuana Tax Act, they argued it was to protect the vulnerable. This Act Outlawed marijuana law, becker argues that this was done to extend the Bureaus sphere of influence and power. Therefore, it is not the inherent harmfulness of a particular behavior that leads to new laws being created rather it is the efforts of powerful individuals and groups to define that behavior as unacceptable
who labels
Moral entrepreneurs - Becker was interested in whose labels get to dominate. He saw labelling as linked to power with some groups or indivuals having more power than others. A group Becker was interested in was moral crusaders. These are leaders of moral crusades who campaign to change the law with the aim of benefitting everyone to whom it applies. Through campaigning over a moral issue, they fight to have their labels become dominant ones.
example of social construction of crime - becker
Becker uses the example of nudity to illustrate labelling
* In our homes nudity is normal and expected socially in the bathroom
* But in public spaces it would be defined as deviant to walk around naked.
* The same act is defined differently dependent on the context
* Definitions of beauty
* Becker argued “Deviancy is in the eye of the beholder”
* The same can be argued with standards of beauty
* Homosexuality as a Crime
* Illegal in the UK until 1967 (21+ in private)
(2001)
* Now normalised
juvenile delinquents and the developments of courts
Victorian moral entrepreneurs fought to have children treated differently by the courts. This developed into a label of juvenille offenders which led to the creation of juvenille courts and offences such as truanting. Juvenilles became the outsider group and social control agencies such as child welfare officers and childrens courts emerged to deal with the problem.
who gets labelled sociologist
Piliavan and Briar
cicourel
who gets labelled?
According to labelling theorists no individual is intrinsically deviant. Their behaviour is labelled deviant by others, but on other occasions, it may be regarded as acceptable and even normal. Some groups are more likely to be negatively labelled by others.
piliavan and briar
they found that police decisions to arrest a youth were mainly based on physical cues such as manner and dress from which they make judgments about a youth’s character.
what is it called when judgements are based on physical cues
Typifications
typifications
These are stereotypes of what a delinquent is like, cicourel argues that this leads law enforcement to concentrate on certain types. This leads to a class and ethnic bias in arrests, as WC and EM areas fit the police typifications most closely, this leads to more arrests in those areas as they become more patrolled by police officers. A stop and search study conducted by GOV.UK found that for every 1000 white people there were 7.5 stops and searchers alone compared to 52.6 for every 1000 black people and a study by the LSE found that stops and searchers were more likely to occur in areas of higher economic inequality.
justice is negotiable sociologist
Cicourel
justice is negotiable
Cicourel claimed that justice is negotiable, this is because definitions are not fixed. He believed that women, the middle class, the elderly and certain ethnic groups are better able to negotiate or alter labels as they are likely to be perceived as criminal. Negotiating a label involves being able to talk your way out of an arrest or affording to get better legal representation to negotiate on your behalf. Overall, we possess typifications which means certain social groups or individuals are more likely to be labelled deviant than others
official stats
For interactionists official crime stats are social constructions. Outcomes such as arrest depend on labels and decisions to prosecute which may be affected by the typifications they hold about them. OCS says more about the police and justice system than criminality.
what is it called when stats are constructed
Dark Figure of Crime
dark figure of crime
The dark figure of crime - the difference between OCS and the real rate of crime is called the dark figure as we do not know when crimes go undetected, unreported, or unrecorded.
Alternative stats - victim surveys and self-report studies give a more accurate view but they have certain limitations as people may forget, conceal or exaggerate when asked about crime
the consequences of labelling
Labelling theorists claim that by labelling people as criminal or deviant society encourages them to become more so
types of deviance
Primary and Secondary Deviance
sociologist behind types of deviance
Lement
primary deviance
This refers to deviant acts that have not been publicly labelled. These acts are not part of an organized deviant way of life so offenders can easily rationalize them away. For example, as a moment of madness. They have little significance for the individuals status or self-concept as primary deviants don’t generally see themselves as deviant
secondary deviance
Deviance that is a result of societal reaction - labelling - SD can be so significant that it leads to a master status - label that overrides others
master status
Once a label has been applied to someone all the actions that person performs is interpreted in the light of the label. This becomes their master status which controls the persons identity overrding others - from friend to outsider. This can create an identity crisis, where the individual adopts the label and acts out or lives up to their deviant label - SFP. Lement refers to the further deviance that results from acting out the label as secondary deviance - examples - pedophile, junkie, murderers
what does secondary deviance create
a deviant career
deviant career
Secondary deviance is likely to provoke further hostile reactions from society and reinforce the deviants outsider status and may lead to a deviant career, this is when a person is trapped on a path of deviancy. They are labeled as criminal and arrested which causes them to lose their jobs, families and friends, they go to prison where they associate with other deviants. Once they leave prison, they find it difficult to reintegrate into mainstream society and so their main contact will be with other outsiders. This leads to even more deviancy and criminality. A study by GOV>UK found that the re-offending rate for Jan-March 2021 alone was 24.3%
deviant career sociologist
Jock Young
jock young
Jock Young used the concept of secondary deviance and deviant career in his study of the hippy drug users in Notting Hill. Initially, Hippy Residents of Notting Hill saw drug use as fairly common - a way of life, Young saw this as primary deviance - hippies did not see themselves as druggies. The media started to show interest in hippy lifestyles and this behavior was labelled as deviant. The police started to make drug arrests and the hippies started to see themselves as outsiders and developed a deviant subculture. Secondary deviance began as the hippies retreated into a deviant subculture becoming more extreme in their dress and habits. Drug use became more central to them - SFP leading to further attention from the police and arrests as a consequence they found it difficult to find employment resulting in more crime to pay for their lifestyles, A deviant career was now emerging.
sociologist behind impact of labelling
Cohen
the impact of labelling
Deviance amplification spiral is a term labelling theorists use to describe a process in which attempts to control deviance leads to an increase in the level of deviance. This leads to greater attempts to control it and in turn, this produces yet higher levels of deviance. Cohen applied this concept in his study of folk devils and moral panics. A study of the societal reaction to the ‘mods and rockers’ disturbances involving groups of youths in England and their fight in Claction in 1964. Press exaggeration and distorted reporting of the events began a moral panic, with growing public concern and with moral entrepreneurs calling for a crackdown. The police responded by arresting more youths, while the courts imposed harsher penalties. This caused further marginalization of mods and rockers as outsiders, resulting in more deviant behavior on their parts.
sociologist behind consequences on the CJS
Triplett
consequences of labelling on the CJS
Studies show that attempts to control and punish young offenders are having the opposite effects. For example, Triplett notes an increasing tendency to see relatively minor offenses as more than they are and crackdowns have led to higher rates of offending, offenses like truancy have been re-labeled as a serious crime. This increases the alienation of the young and amplifies deviance as levels of violence amongst the young are actually increasing. Triplett claims that this is a consequence of labelling
sociologist behind shaming
Braithwaite
shaming
Braithwaite argues against the claim made by realists that a strong societal reaction such as increased punishments always decreases crime. He argues that it is important that the offender feels society’s disapproval in order to feel remorse and thereby discouraging them to re-offend
types of shaming
Disintegrative/stigmatized shaming
Reintegrative shaming
Disintegrative/stigmatized shaming
When the crime and criminal are labeled as bad and so are excluded from society
reintegrative shaming
Where only the act and not the actor is labelled. This avoids stigmatizing the offender whilst still making the actor aware of the potential negative impact of labelling. This makes it easier to re-admit the offender back into mainstream society and limits secondary deviance and a master status forming
eval of shaming
Right realists would disagree with interactionists’ solution to crime. They argue that crime and fear of crime are real problems in society, which need to be taken seriously. Being tough on criminals by having harsh sentencing - stigmatized shaming reduces the chances of people committing a crime as it enables them to make the rational choice not to commit crime because the costs are too high
strengths of labelling
It recognized that labeling can cause increased deviancy
It questions the validity, objectively, and reliability of crime stats are merely social constructs and so not useful in analyzing crime
weaknesses
- It does not explain why the deviant commits the act in the first place, it places far more emphasis on consequences rather than causes. Structuralists think there should be more emphasis on causes
- Does not explain behaviour that is not labelled
- Marxists also argue that the reason why certain groups are labelled is not placed into the context of capitalism. The RSAs and ISAs create scapegoats in order to distract from the inequalities and divide and conquer the working class
- Deterministic - assumes that once labelled a person will follow a deviant career
- Offenders are seen as victims of the labelling process but this ignores the real victims - realists
- Ignores power in society - conflict theorists say that interactionists focus too much on the agents of capitalism, not capitalism itself. Feminists claim it overlooks the different ways labels are applied to the genders. Fails to analyse the source of this power
