Interactionism and Labelling theory Flashcards
What do interactionists argue about deviant acts?
No act is inherently deviant, they only become deviant once they’ve been labelled so.
For Becker, what is a deviant?
A person who has had a label successfully applied to them
In the eyes of Becker, who is it that leads a crusade to change the laws?
Moral entrepenuaers
What are the two inevitable effects of Becker’s moral entrepenuaers?
1- A new group of outlaws who break the law
2- The creation or expansion of social control agencies to enforce the rule
What does Platt argue about juvenile delinquency? What is a status offence?
It was a result of upper-class Victorian ME’s to protect young people at risk. With ‘status offences’ being acts that are only an offence due to age
What does Becker note about social control agencies? What is an example of such?
1- They may campaign against something to increase their own sphere of influence
2- The Marijuana Tax Act in 1937
According to Becker what is it that causes acts to be ‘deviant’ if not harmful effects?
Those in power to redefine behaviour in a deviant light
What three factors depend on whether someone is arrested, charged and convicted?
1- Their interactions with agencies of social control
2- Their appear, background and personal biography
3- The situation and circumstances of the offence
What did Piliavin and Briar find about police decisions to arrest the youth?
It was mainly based on physical cues such as manner and dress but was also dictated by time of day and area
What did Cicourel propose?
The negotiation of justice
What did Cicourel find about officers typifications? What did it lead to?
He found that their commonsense theories led them to focus on a particular ‘type’ of person, leading to class bias
What did the class bias Cicourel observed lead to?
The police patrolling working-class areas more than middle-class areas
What Cicourel say about justice? It’s not fixed it’s
Negotiable
What does Cicourel argue about crime statistics?
They aren’t a valid representation of crime so can’t be used as a resource
What does Cicourel say crime stats should be used for?
As topics for sociological investigation
What do statistics show about crime rather than the amount of crime?
The activities of police and prosecutors
What is the Dark Figure of Crime?
The difference between recorded criminal activities and that which goes unrecorded
What are alternative statistics?
Things like victim surveys that show crime stats from unrecorded crimes
Who distinguishes between primary and secondary deviance?
Lemert (1951)
What is primary deviance?
Deviance that often goes uncaught such as fare dodging
What is secondary deviance?
Deviance that results in societal labelling
What is the master status?
The controlling label someone attaches to themself
What is a negative master status likely to lead to?
A self-fulfilling prophecy and a deviant career
How do Downes and Rock criticise is Lemert and Young?
They note that you cannot predict whether labelled people will follow a self-fulfilling prophecy
What is the deviance amplification spiral?
Deviance is a reaction to attempts to reduce deviance
What is Cohen’s example of the deviance amplification spiral?
The mods and rockers
What is a folk devil in comparison to the dark figure of crime?
A folk-devil is someone over-labelled by society
What did Triplett note about the stigmatisation of young offenders?
Triplett noted the labelling has led to higher rates of reoffending rather than the lower rates attempted through harsh punishments
What does Triplett’s observations suggest about police policies?
We should impose less laws to reduce secondary deviance
What two forms of shaming does Braithwaite note?
1- Disintegrative shaming - Both the criminal and the act are shamed
2- Reintegrative shaming - Only the act is shamed, “He did a bad thing” not “he is a bad person”
What does Douglas argue about suicide?
Suicide statistics are the same as crime statistics, they’re socially constructed. To properly study it we must use qualitative methods
What does Atkinson ague about suicide?
That we must use coroners knowledge of the deaths to dictate which deaths were suicide
How is Atkinson criticised?
His acknowledgement of subjective opinions means his own idea can be used against him
Is labelling theory deterministic?
Yeah
What does its emphasis on negative effects do?
Ignores the real victims of class
What level of crime do interactionists focus on?
Low-level
What do interactionists ignore about peoples capacity to be deviant?
People can opt to be deviant
What does interactionism imply about the existence of crime?
Without labels it wouldn’t exist
What would conflict sociologists say about interactionism?
They acknowledge the role of power structures in creating deviance but don’t analyse the source
