Interactionism And Labelling

Question 1

The social construct of crime

Answer 1

Deviance= socially constructed.
Creating rules and applying them to outsiders
Act or person only becomes deviant when labelled as so.

Question 2

Differential enforcement

Answer 2

Social control agencies are labelled as criminal.
Pavilion and Briar- police decisions to arrest were based stereotypes eg manner, dress

Question 3

Typifications

Answer 3

Police use typifications and those who for within are more likely to be stopped and arrested
Eg working class and ethnic juveniles fit
Middle class- do not fit.

Question 4

The social construct of statistics

Answer 4

Crime statistic do not give a valid picture. Eg typifications, more patrol, more arrests.
Dark figure- difference between official statistics and the real rate of crime.

Question 5

The effects of labelling

Answer 5

Primary deviance- not publicly labelled, do not seem themselves as deviant
Secondary deviance- labelled by the public, stigmatised and excluded, move to deviant subcultures

Self-fulfilling prophecy - Young study of hippy marijuana studies.

Deviance amplification spiral- an attempt to control results in more crime. Eg mods and rockers. Control produces further deviance.

Question 6

Mental illness and suicide

Answer 6

Douglas- must understand meanings- qualitative methods such as analysis of suicide notes.

Question 7

Atkinson- coroner common sense

Answer 7

Coroners use assumptions to define suicide.
Ideas about “typical suicide” affect their verdict.

Question 8

Mental illness

Answer 8

Lemert - socially awkward people, labelled, get excluded leading to paranoia.

Institutionalisation- Hoffman- effects of being placed in institutions, inmate identity, old one is killed off through degradation rituals.