Interactionism and labelling theory

Question 1

what is said about the social construction of crime

Answer 1

• no act is inherently criminal in itself- not the nature of the act, but how society reacts to it

Question 2

what did Becker say about the social construction of crime

Answer 2

a deviant is someone to whom the label has been successfully applied
Becker notes that social control agencies themselves campaign for changes in law

Question 3

what are moral entrepreneurs

Answer 3

people who lead a moral ‘crusade’ to change the law- creates a new group of ‘outsiders’ and expansion of social control agencies

Question 4

what did platt say about the social construction on crime

Answer 4

‘juvenile delinquency’ result of upper class victorian moral entrepreneurs aimed at protecting young people. state could extend powers such as truancy

Question 5

what defines behaviour as unacceptable

Answer 5

not always the harmfulness of a behaviour but power of groups to define behaviour as unacceptable (eg Boris has made a law of only groups of 6)

Question 6

what did Lemert say about primary and secondary deviance

Answer 6

primary deviance is a deviant act that has been labelled

secondary deviance is as result of labelling and societies reaction

Question 7

what is a master status

Answer 7

Being stigmatised and or excluded from society others come to see them only in the terms of this label. Which then becomes their master status

Question 8

how can deviance result in a self fulfilling prophecy

Answer 8

when the individual has been labelled as deviant they soon internalise this label and see themselves as the world sees them

Question 9

how can primary and secondary deviance lead to a deviant career

Answer 9

secondary deviance provokes further hostile reactions from society reinforcing the idea that the individual is an outsider which will lead to them taking on a deviant career

Question 10

what did young study about secondary and primary deviance

Answer 10

looked at hippy culture and people smoking weed in notting hill. they were labelled as hippies so they internalised the label and became hippies

Question 11

what is the deviance amplification spiral

Answer 11

used to describe the process in which the attempt to control deviance leads to an increase in the level of deviance. More and more control creates more deviance creating an escalating spiral

Question 12

what was cohen study that was associated deviance amplification spiral

Answer 12

folk devils and moral panic
a study about societal reaction the ‘mods and rockers ‘
the medias exaggeration and the reaction to this created a deviance amplification spiral

Question 13

what two types of shaming does Braithwaite distinguish

Answer 13

• disintegrative shaming- the crime and criminal are labelled as bad
• reintegrative shaming- labels the act but not the actor

Question 14

what is a positive about reintegrative shaming

Answer 14

avoids stigmatising the offender as evil while making them aware at the same time that what they have done is bad. This makes it more easier to reintegrate the person into society and also avoids secondary deviance

Question 15

what do interactionalists say about who gets labelled

Answer 15

• depends on
  1. interactions with agencies of social control
  2. appearance and background
  3. situation and circumstances

Question 16

what did piliavin and Briar find about labelling (interactionalist)

Answer 16

pilivian and Briar found decision to arrest a youth depended on visual cues

Question 17

what did Cisourel (interactionalist) find about the negotiation of justice

Answer 17

• officers decisions to arrest based on stereotypes about offenders
• also found in other agencies such as probation officers
• justice is not fixed, it is negotiable: MC less likely to be charged, can talk themselves out of it etc

Question 18

what are typicfications

Answer 18

common sense theories of what a typical delinquent is like eg WC areas, more patrons confirming sterotypes

Question 19

what do interactionalists about topic vs resource

Answer 19

• stats do not give us a valid picture of patterns of crime and cant be used as a resource
• rather we should treat them as a topic to investigate- the processes that created them

Question 20

what do interactionalists say about the social construction of crime

Answer 20

• each stage of criminal justice system, agents make decisions
• outcomes depend on labels/ typicfications
• stats tell us about activities of police and prosecutors ‘decision gates’
• alternative statistics: self report studies, but people can lie forget or exaggerate

Question 21

what did Douglas find about suicide (interactionalist)

Answer 21

• official suicide stats are socially constructed- decisions of police and coroners
• coroners with strong religious beliefs may be reluctant to bring a suicide verdict
• relative some feel guilty + press for alternative verdicts

Question 22

what did Atkinson say about suicide (interactionalist)

Answer 22

• coroners have taken for granted assumptions

- ideas about typical sucide such as hangings, sleeping

Question 23

what is the A03 for atkinsons study on suicide

Answer 23

his own theory can also be accused of ‘ just an interpretation’ and not fact

Question 24

what did Lemert ( interactionalists) find about paranoia

Answer 24

• primary deviance – secondary deviance
• people discussing the label leads to a reaction of paranoia
• leads to psychiatric intervention
• label of mental illness becomes the master status
• link to Rosenhan’s study in a mental health hospital

Question 25

what did Goffman ( interactionalists) find about institutionalism

Answer 25

• on admission, inmate undergoes a ‘mortification of self’- old identity is killed off and given a new inmate
• Achieved by ‘ degradation rituals’ eg confirmation of objects
• some internalize their identity, other adopt forms of resistance eg manipulating symptoms

Question 26

what are the criticisms for interactionalists

Answer 26

• shows that laws are not fixed set of rules, enforced in discriminatory ways
• deterministic= implies that a deviant career is inevitable
• fails to explain why they commit deviance before labelling