Interactionism and Labelling Theory

Question 1

Becker - social constructions

Answer 1

what makes something deviant is not what is done, but how people react to what is done.

The social construction of crime: a deviant is someone who the label has successfully applied. Deviant behaviour is simply behaviour that people label e.g. class, age, gender, ethnicity

Question 2

Cicourel - negotiation of justice

Answer 2

officers “typifications” of the typical criminal lead to concentrate on types of people that are more likely to be offenders
e.g. working class areas

justice is not fixed but negotiated:
a MC white boy being arrested is less likely to be charged because:
- does not fit the typical delinquent,
- his parents can negotiate on his behalf

Question 3

crime statistics are a social construct

Answer 3

At each stage of the CJS, agents of social control make decisions about whether or not to proceed to the next stage - outcome depending on the label they attach.

statistics produced by the criminal justice system only tell us about the activities of the police and prosecutors, rather than the amount of crime in society or who commits it.

Question 4

Lemert - primary and secondary deviance

Answer 4

Primary - deviant cts have not publically been labelled as criminal

secondary - deviant acts and individuals that are labelled, once labelled people will see them as their master status - which leads to a deviant career because they struggle to find employment = SFP

Question 5

Young - hippy marijuana users

Answer 5

initially drugs were peripheral to the hippies lifestyle (primary deviance), however persecution and labelling by police led the hippies to see themselves as outsiders

They retreated into close groups where they began to develop a deviant subculture: drug use became a central activity for them and attracted the police and created a SFP

Question 6

Braithwaite - shaming

Answer 6

Disintegrative: punishment that isolates the individual

Reintegrative: pushes them in a way that strengthens their bonds with society

Question 7

Douglas and Atkinson - labelling theory and suicide

Question 8

mental illness and labelling theory

Question 9

evaluations of labelling theory