Interactionism and Labelling Theory - Crime & Deviance Flashcards
What behaviour do you consider antisocial?
- Catcalling
- Drunk in public -> leads to fights, etc…
- Being loud
Why do labelling theorists think that crime and deviance is socially constructed?
- The effect on the person depends on where you live.
- E.g. some places drugs are legal so you won’t feel bad taking them, but if you take drugs illegally you will feel bad.
What effect can a label have on how people who are labelled are treated and how they behave?
- Most people are criminals but don’t think of themselves as one.
- A survey in 2015, of 2000 people showed that on average, people broke the law 17 times a year.
What factors influence whether a person is arrested, charged and convicted?
- Black people are nine times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police.
- Being rich and famous - e.g. Winona Ryder stole £5000 worth of designer items.
The Dark Figure of Crime
The difference between the official statistics and the real rate of crime.
Alternative statistics
Victim surveys or self-report (offender surveys) can gain a more accurate view of the amount of crime.
Three agents of control:
Formal: the police
Informal: school and the media
Moral Panic
An over-exaggeration of a situation which makes everyone panic.
Folk Devil
The centre of a moral panic.
E.g. immigrants
Interactionists argue - statistics are social construction about mental illness.
- Official statistics are not valid.
- Don’t know why someone took their life.
- Impose their meaning on that action.
- We don’t know if a death is really suicide.
3 Criticisms of labelling theory:
- It implies that without labelling, deviance would not exist.
- It fails to explain why people commit primary deviance in the first place.
- It tends to be deterministic.
