Interactionism and labelling theory - THEORIES

Question 1

Miller

Answer 1

People wanting to prove their toughness are likely to get into fights.

Question 2

Becker

Answer 2

Moral entrepreneurs - They create a moral panic (someone who will deliberately create a panic about something)
e.g. Mods and Rockers (1960s)

Question 3

Chambliss

Answer 3

The saints and roughnecks.
- Followed 2 groups of delinquents over 2 years.
- Saints = M/C kids/promising future/white.
- Roughnecks = 6 W/C kids/white.
They both commit the same crimes, e.g. vandalism.

The Saints get away with it and get nice law abiding jobs.
The Roughnecks drop out of college, few get scholarships and few go to prison for murder.
Both equally deviant

Question 4

Cicourel

Answer 4

Officers typifications led them to concentrate on certain groups.
This resulted in law enforcement showing bias.
People in W/C areas fitted police typifications most closely.
Led to police patrolling these areas more intensely.

Therefore, Cicourel says we can’t trust official statistics.

Question 5

Lemert

Answer 5

Primary Deviance = rule breaking, everyone does this and it doesn’t really matter. Doesn’t get labelled.
Secondary Deviance = when you get caught and labelled by police, then everyone around you believes this.

Question 6

Cohen

Answer 6

Studied Mods and Rockers
Method = covert observations of young people. Interviews with magistrates.
Results = the press are exaggerating the effects.
The media are exaggerating and the police go along with it.

Question 7

Wilkins

Answer 7

Deviance Amplification Spiral
Agencies like the police and media can actually generate an increase in deviance. This can be done through labelling, etc…

Question 8

Jock Young - links to Wilkins amplification spiral.

Answer 8

Did a study called The Drugtakers.
An example of an amplification spiral.
- Interactions between a group of hippies - police produce more crime.
- Although hippies drug taking was low, media pressure led police to target them.
- Hippies more secretive - drug taking becomes more important part of identity.
- Hippies and police distrustful to each other.
- Hippies’ deviance amplified - statistics become crime wave

Question 9

Interactionists:

Answer 9

Focus on everyday interactions between individuals as the basis for the development of society.

Question 10

Steve Taylor persons under trains

Answer 10

• Studied a 12 month period.
• 32 cases of uncertainty and no strong suicide clues - but 17 were defined as suicide.
  This is because:
• A history of mental illness
• Social failure
• Person at a station for ‘no good reason’
  Don’t trust coroners!

Question 11

Nellie Bly

Answer 11

She pretended to be mentally insane and got into an insane asylum.
This is where she realised how horrible conditions were.
She managed to get it changed.

Question 12

Rosenhan being sane in insane places

Answer 12

• He took a bunch of people who pretended to have schizophrenia.
• Once they got admitted to a psychiatric hospital, they acted normal and tried to get out.
• Doctors didn’t believe them.

Rosenhan then publicly stated he is going to do the experiment again. This caused loads of doctors to turn away patients - he didn’t actually do it.

Question 13

ASBO 1998 (Anti-social behaviour order)

Answer 13

This doesn’t exist anymore. Shows it didn’t work.

Question 14

Braithwaite positive use of labelling

Answer 14

Disintegrative shaming = has a stigmatising effect and excludes the person from the community.
Reintegrative shaming = involves not only disapproval of deviance, but also signs of forgiveness and willingness to reintegrate the offender into the community.

Question 15

London Riots 2011

Answer 15

People were labelled as criminals so committed crime.