Interactionist approach to crime

Question 1

What do interactionists look at

Answer 1

• why some acts and people come to be labelled as deviant

- mention that an act is only deviant when it is labelled an d crime is a social construction

Question 2

What do agents of social control do

Answer 2

they use discretion and the polices’ pre - existing ideas of the criminal type and behvaiour.
- these agencies act as moral entrepreneurs

Question 3

What does Becker say

Answer 3

• Labelling = self fulfiling prophecy = deviant career
• instituions e.g. prisons help labels stick which is applied after people leave prison e.g. ex con, pedophile
• Societal reactions and the application of the label produce more deviance than they prevent (Master status)

Question 4

What is Cicourels theory

Answer 4

The negotiation of justice

• The police of typifications of the WC and MC
• Law enforcement = class bias and justice is not fixed, its negotiable

Question 5

define typification

Answer 5

pre - mediated knowledge on what makes a WC commit crime as opposed to the MC

Question 6

What does Cicourels study imply

Answer 6

• Crime statistics are social constructions and agencies of social control decide whether or not to proceed onto the next stage
• The outcome can depend on the label attatched to them

Question 7

give two criticisms of interactionsist

Answer 7

• Too deterministic = assumes labels will stick and sometimes people choose deviance
• Many people are aware they are breaking the law before it’s been labelled by society