Interactionism and labelling theory KT

Question 1

What are labelling theorists interested in?

Answer 1

How and why certain acts come to be defined or labelled as criminal in the first place

Question 2

What do labelling theorists believe in terms of deviance?

Answer 2

No act is deviant in itself- deviance is a social construct

Question 3

What is Becker’s famous quote about deviance?

Answer 3

‘Deviance is the eye of the beholder’

Question 4

Define moral entrepreneurs

Answer 4

People with power and status who lead a moral campaign to change the laws and re-define behaviours as accpetable

Question 5

What did Platt say about ‘juvenile delinquency’?

Answer 5

It was created as a result of a campaign by UC moral entrepreneurs aimed at protecting young people at risk- enabled the state to extend its powers beyond criminal offences to ‘status offences’-> behaviour is only an offence because of age

Question 6

According to Pilliavin and briar, who gets labelled and why?

Answer 6

Police make stereotypical judgements that leads to arrest- e.g. young, black male

Question 7

What is Cicourel’s typifications theory?

Answer 7

Officers typifications= their common sense theories or stereotypes that lead to them concentrating on certain types-> leads to class bias- police patrol WC areas more= more arrest and confirming their stereotypes

Question 8

What is Donne’s and Rock’s criticism of the labelling theory?

Answer 8

you cannot predict wether a person will follow a deviant crime just because they were labelled

Question 9

According to Lemert and Young, how is primary deviance an effect of labelling?

Answer 9

people are not publicly labelled and mostly go uncaught-> those who commit crime do not see themselves as deviant

Question 10

According to Lemert and Young, how is secondary deviance an effect of labelling?

Answer 10

SD results from societal reaction which causes labelling-> labelling someone as an offender can involve stigmatising and excluding them from normal society as they can be seen just by their label

Question 11

What are the two types of Negative shaming?

Answer 11

1. Disintegrative shaming
2. Redintegrative shaming

Question 12

Define disintegrative shaming

Answer 12

The crime and criminal are labelled as bad and the offender is excluded from society

Question 13

Define reintegrative shaming

Answer 13

The labels act but not the actor- ‘he has done a bad thing’ not ‘he is a bad person’ - person is made aware of their actions and encourages others to forgive them and accept them back into society