Interactionism and Labelling Flashcards
What does Cohen say about subculture strain ?
Cohen agrees with Merton that crime is a WC issue.
Cohen said MC boys want to achieve the success which is valued by mainstream culture. But due to educational failure and the dead end jobs that result from this, they have a little chance of achieving these goals. This results to status frustration.
This is similar to Mertons theory as Merton also show how institutional narrows get in the way of culturally defined goals.
However Cohen said that instead of turning to individual crime as Merton said, they reject the norms and values of mainstream society and then turn to the norms and values of a delinquent subculture.
Give the description of this characteristic- Interactions with agencies of social control
Restricted and Elaborated code are labelled differently
Give the description of this characteristic - Appearance
Ethnic minorities, wc/mc, clothing, men/women are labelled differently
Give an example of a shocking Criminal Justice Act
Section 60 Criminal Justice and Public Act 1994-
This allows a police officer to stop and search a person without suspicion .
What does Cicourel say about typifications?
He argues that the police have “common sense theories” of what a delinquent is like. These typifications result in police patrolling WC areas more than MC areas and therefore finding more people that fit that typifications.
Give the statistic for black and Asians that were stopped and searched
Black and Asians were 4 times more likely to be stopped and searched under the Terrorism Act
Give the statistic comparing black to white people in stop and searches
Black peoples are six times more likely as white people to be stopped and searched
What does Cohen say about the deviance amplification spiral?
The attempt to control deviance leads to an increase in deviance & leads to greater attempts of control.
What does Lemert say about isolation and becoming Deviant ?
By being isolated from society, people then seek out deviant behaviour to feel included.
What does Lemert arguemrnt about?
Lemert argues that it is pointless to figure out the cause of primary deviance but what we should focus on is secondary deviance , this meaning the labelling of deviance . By being labelled as deviant this makes people seem that they are excluded from society and will lead to the fulfilling prophecy
Why is there more deviant behaviour?
Because of the label and the fact that deviant acts are given a master status
What is Rosenhans experiment about ?
Some people faked their mental illness. Then they acted normal to get out, but the doctors were still treating them as if they were ill even though they were not ill.
What are the dangers of Rosenhans experiment?
It illustrated the danger of dehumanising and labelling in psychiatric institutions. The label took over
Explain Douglas study on suicide
Douglas studies suicide to understand the production of Deviance. He was critical or statistics as he believed that statistics on suicide are a social construct.
Give an example of Douglas suicide study
When a death comes to be officially labelled as suicide this label often depends on a range of factors. For example the negotiations between the doctor and the coroner, family members might put pressure on labelling it a suicide or not.
What does Douglas conclude in his study ?
He argues we need to use qualitative methods to analyse the meaning behind the numbers
How does Atkinson take Douglas’s study further ?
He suggests we seek to understand how and why a coroner labels an act as suicide in the first place. How do we create our social world through these typifications is what Atkinson is interested in.
What did Jock Young do a study on ?
He studied Marijuana Users and found that once they were labelled as hippies by the media , this led to the hippies seeing themselves as outsiders and retreated into closed groups and taking part in more drug use . This generated more arrests.
What does Jack Young’s study conclude?
It concludes that labelling created more deviance and is a social construct
What is Deviance amplification?
When the attempt to control deviance leads to it being amplified and you just end up with more crime.
What is moral panic and why is it problematic ?
Moral panic is exaggerated fear. It is problematic as it will just give more attention towards the case, aggravating the situation and leading to stereotyping, fear of certain groups and more crime
What do Functionalists day about moral panic ?
Moral panic can be beneficial as it would lead to social solidarity , leading people to come together and to condemn wrongdoings
What did Cohen identify about the media ?
That the media exaggerated some things and this lead to deviance amplification
What is the study involving Mods and Rockers?
The media labelled a group the folk devils and another group the Mods (name of gang) and made a small clash between the groups seem bigger than it was and created moral panic and made the “Folk Devils” to be seen as the problem.
What do people in Sweden do in their Prisons?
Their role is not to punish but to get them into better shape.
Give a statistic about the Sweden Prisons?
Since 2004, Swedish prisoner numbers have fallen from 5722 to 4500 out of a population of 9.5 million
