Interactionism and Labelling Theory Flashcards
Explain what is meant by the phrase, ‘Deviance is in the eye of the beholder’.
Deviance is what is seen and defined as such by others; it is not the act itself that is deviant.
True or False? Secondary deviance refers to less important acts of deviance.
False. Secondary deviance is the result of societal reaction.
Identify three agencies of social control.
The police, the courts, schools, religious groups, families, the media, peer groups.
What is meant by the ‘Dark figure’ of crime?
The difference between the official statistics and the ‘real’ rate of crime.
What is meant by a ‘Total institution’?
Institutions such as prisons and psychiatric hospitals where the inmate undergoes a
‘mortification of the self’ in which their old identity is symbolically ‘killed off’ and replaced by a
new one.
Lemert argues that ‘Social control leads to deviance’ . What does he mean?
Once a person is labelled, this label becomes a part of their self‐concept and they are more
likely to turn to deviance again.
What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?
When a person lives up to their deviant label.
According to Marxists, what does Labelling Theory fail to explain to us about power?
It fails to explain where labels come from and who makes the rules in the first place.
What is determinism? Why do critics accuse the Labelling Theory of being deterministic?
The belief that individuals have no free will or choice in how they behave but instead is
determined by forces outside their control. Labelling theory implies that, once someone is
labelled, a self‐fulfilling prophecy and deviant career are inevitable.
