Interactionism and Labelling Theory Flashcards
Labelling Theory View
Interested in how and why certain acts come to be defined or labelled a criminal in the first place. What effects this has on those who are labelled. They dont see official statistics as hard facts but social construsts. They take a constructionist view to C and D
Circourel : The negotiation of Justice
Found officers typifications (their commonsense theories or stereopes of what typical deliquents look like).—led them to concentrate on certain types—resulted in law enforcement showing a class bias— in that w/c areas and people fitted the typifications—led police to patrol w/c areas more —increase arrests and confirming stereotypes.
Example:Cicourel found that agents of social control withing the CJS reinforced bias such as probation officers that held typifications that juvenile deliquency was caused by broken homes— see youth from backgrounds likely to commit or offend and less likely to support non-custodial sentences compared to middle class youth thereby justice was seen as negotiable instead of fixed.(young middle class male less likely to be charged.—typicalled waas counselled or warned rather than prosecuted
Chains of Reasoning for Circourel:negotiations of justice
-Crime and Deviance is socially constructed rather than objective(depends on who commits it) middle class may commit =mistake whereas working class commit “trouble maker”
-Cicourel studied how police and probation officers stereotyped criminals based on social class.
Law enforcement officers used preconceived ideas about “typical delinquents” (e.g., working-class boys, ethnic minorities).
Example: A police officer may stop and search a group of young black males in a deprived area more often than middle-class white males in a wealthy area
-Middle-class offenders can often negotiate their way out of trouble due to their ability to present themselves as respectable and responsible.
Parents of middle-class youths can intervene, framing their child’s behavior as a momentary lapse rather than a criminal act.
Working-class youths lack this cultural and social capital, so they are more likely to be charged and convicted
-may internalize their identity and SFP may occur push indivuduals into further deviation as they are blocked from legitimate opp-education ,legal paid jobs
circourels contribution ensures society that justice is negotiated rather than fairly applied
The social constuction of crime statistics
Interactionalists argue that official crime stats are socially constructed.
* This is because there is an agent of social control at each
stage of the CJS, who makes decisions about whether to proceed. The outcome
depends on the label they attach to individual suspects/defendants through
interactions.
* This means that official stats tell us about the decisions of police and prosecutors
instead of the amount of crime in society and who commits it.
* Dark figure of crime- unrecorded, unreported, undetected crime in society that
we’re unaware of.
* Alternative stats- some use victim surveys to get a more accurate view on the
amount of crime, though this can have issues such as people forgetting, lying or
exaggerating if they’ve committed/been victim to a crime.
Evaluation / Examples for Lemert-Primary and Secondary Deviance
Jock Young (1971) – The Hippie Marijuana Users Study
Initially, drug use was minor among hippies (primary deviance).
After police labelled them as drug users, they were marginalised and forced into deviant subcultures.
Drug use became central to their identity, increasing secondary deviance
Downes and Rock-we cannot predict whether someone who has been labelled will follow a deviant career because they are always free to choose not to deviate further. Nelson Mandela was labelled a “terrorist” but did not conform to this identity
Lemert-Primary Deviance
Primary deviance:
* Acts that haven’t been publicly labelled as deviant, and are often
trivial/widespread that Lemert argues finding their causes is pointless.(fare dodging)
* Offenders can rationalise these acts as moments of madness and don’t see
themselves as deviant, meaning the act doesn’t affect their self-concept.
Lemert Secondary Deviance
Secondary deviance:
* Acts that have been labelled by society as deviant, those caught are
publicly labelled as criminal and are stigmatised, shamed and shunned
from society.
* Those labelled this way may only be seen as their label by others, making it
become the offender’s master status- controlling identity overriding all
others.
* This causes a crisis of self-concept which the individual may resolve by
accepting the label, causing a self-fulfilling prophecy. The further acts taken by these labels are what is secondary deviance
chain of reasoning for primary and secondary deviance
Crime is not inherently deviant
→Instead, it depends on societal reaction
Lemert distinguishes between Primary deviance (unnoticed, insignificant acts) and Secondary deviance (acts that occur as a result of being labelled)
→ If an individual is publicly labelled as deviant, this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy
→ The deviant label becomes their master status, leading to further criminal behaviour
→ This can result in deviant careers where individuals are locked into crime due to stigma and exclusion from society. this may involve joining a deviant subculture that offers deviant career opportunities as ex convicts find it hard to be employed
Cohen:Deviance amplification spiral
This is where attempts to control deviance leads to an increase in deviance.
* More and more control results in more and more deviance, it’s an escalating spiral.
* Cohen’s study of folk devils and moral panics found that the press
exaggeration/distorted reporting became a normal panic, causing public concern and
moral entrepreneurs wanting a crackdown.
* The police responded by arresting more youths and courts imposed harsher penalties.
* This seemed to confirm the truth of the media reaction, pushing the public to further
concern- which demonised the mods and rockers as outsiders, which they responded
with more deviance.
Cohen Deviance Amplification Spiral Chain of Reasoning
Primary Deviance
refers to initial acts of rule-breaking that often go unnoticed or have little impact
when the media picks it up they make it more serious wide spread
Mods & Rockers were portrayed as violent hooligans, despite initial disturbances being minor.
—Creates a Moral Panic
Moral panics occur when society overreacts to an issue, believing it threatens social order.
Folk devils (Cohen) are stereotyped groups blamed for society’s problems.
The media, politicians, and police fuel the panic, calling for tougher action.
Example: .Muslims after 9/11 were labelled as potential extremists, leading to increased surveillance.
Increase in Social Control-such as more arrests
People may respond with more deviance resulting in secondary deviance
thereby leading to a deviance amplification spira
evaluation of Cohen :Deviance amplification spiral
People may not just passively accept labels
not all media coverage causes panic some raise awareness
