Interactionist Perspective Flashcards
Interactionist Views on crime
No action is criminal / deviant: Society’s reaction determines whether an action is negative or not
INT. Social factors that affect the determination of whether an act is criminal / deviant
Place: Wearing a swimsuit in Asda = deviant
Social Situation: Killing people = acceptable in war
Culture: Alcohol abuse = tolerated in western culture / illegal in Saudi Arabia
History: Bear baiting & Cock fights = once popular; now deviant
Who Commits The Act: Violence may be accepted if committed by men but not women
Becker Theories
Deviance = relative to prevailing norms & values
LABELLING
MASTER STATUS
DEVIANT CAREER
Labelling - Becker
Master Status
Becker
People may commit acts that define them as being deviant or criminal = from this, they gain a socially stigmatised label
- Label becomes a defining characteristic for the person (their master status)
Master Status Process
- A person is labelled as deviant
- The person is rejected
- Further deviance takes place
- Official treatment of deviants mean they cannot return to normal social life
- People accept a deviant identity & mis with others of the same status
Master Status Example
Rosenhan - ‘Sane in insane places’
- Normal behaviours such as chatting or reading were interpreted by mental health hospital workers as evidence of madness due to them being labelled as mad
- ‘normal’ people left with schizophrenic diagnoses
Deviant Career
Becker
The process by which people become confirmed in a deviant career & accept a negative / stigmatised social status
- Supports the idea that criminals cannot return to their normal life due to the social response from others
Deviant Career - Box’s 4 Reasons
4 Reasons why previous criminals choose to remain offenders:
Atrophy: Criminals no longer know how to be ‘normal’ - are not a part of society
Social Discrimination: Criminals are socially rejected
Job Rejection: Criminals cannot find work
Police Surveillance: Criminals may be harassed when crimes are committed nearby
Lemert Theory
Primary / Secondary Deviance:
Primary: The act itself
- E.g. taking drugs
Secondary: The social reaction to a deviant act
(The labelling of a person)
- E.g. druggie / drug addict
Cicourel Study
Police use typifications of the ‘typical delinquent’
Individuals fitting the typification are more likely to be stopped, arrested and charged:
- Poor school performance
- Low-income backgrounds
- Ethnic minority members
M/c delinquents who were arrested tended to be counselled, cautioned and released by police officers
Cicourel Study Support
Reiner:
Ethnic minorities or w/c youth living in specific areas are targeted more by the police
Negotiation
Cicourel
The negotiation of the CJS
People can use their social status to challenge the labelling process the police exercise when arresting delinquents
Cicourel Negotiation Support
Chambliss:
m/c ‘saints’ & w/c ‘roughnecks’
m/c had no legal reprimands despite engaging in more deviant acts than the w/c
- m/c more deviant but had the means to divert their deviance to other areas (had cars)
- w/c no means of transport: deviant in their areas
Goffman Theory
Unintentional Deviance
How a person is labelled affects how others react to them
The non-stigmatised will treat those with a social stigma as inferior or ‘other’
- Non-stigmatised distance themselves from the stigmatised (viewing them as ‘not like me’
- Can often be hostile (resulting in hate crimes)
- Socially stigmatised must develop strategies to cope with negative reactions from non-stigmatised
E.g. mentally ill warn people in advance through jokes to avoid embarrassing those who are ‘normal’
Wilkins Theory
Deviancy Amplification Spiral
A social process larger than individual actions
The role of the media in creating crime
Deviancy Amplification Spiral Process
- Primary Deviance
- Increased Social Reaction
- Isolation & Alienation
- Secondary Deviance
- Social Reaction
- Increased Deviance
Primary Deviance - Deviancy Amplification Spiral
People become identified by the media after committing an act considered deviant
Increased Social Reaction - Deviancy Amplification Spiral
People in authority become moral entrepreneurs and condemn the deviants (often overreact)
Isolation & Alienation - Deviancy Amplification Spiral
Deviants are isolated by society due to the labelling process from the media
E.g. becoming a folk devil (Cohen)
Secondary Deviance - Deviancy Amplification Spiral
Those who are labelled see themselves as a part of a deviant subculture with different norms and values from others
Social Reaction - Deviancy Amplification Spiral
There is a moral panic and clampdown on behaviours seen as a part of the deviant subculture
Increased Deviance - Deviancy Amplification Spiral
The previous outcomes leads to the development of deviant careers
Mead Theory
Argues that ‘the self’ is a social construct
- Changes depending on where we are (who is there / social situation / how others react)
Mead Theory Support
Cooley: The Looking Glass Self
Identity is based on who they’re with
- I don’t see myself as I am, I see myself as others see me
E.g. Mum sees x as an angel; ex-gf sees x as manipulative
Stan Cohen Theory
Folk Devils: illustrate the labelling process
- Deviant groups are demonised and seen as a threat to the modern welfare of society
Deviancy Amplification: describes how agencies (police & media) can take the lead from moral entrepreneurs and through their reaction can generate an increase in deviance
Interactionist :)
Jane Elliott: Self-limiting stereotype
Blue eyes / Brown eyes classroom task: (racism was very prevalent)
Day 1: Brown-eyed students ridiculed blue-eyed
Day 2: Blue-eyes students rejected the brown-eyed
The children who were deemed inferior performed worse in class and isolated themselves during recess
SELF-LIMITING STEREOTYPE:
Becomes a part of who we are - we conform to stereotypes: cannot be unlearnt
E.g. w/c commit crime expectation (so w/c commit crime)
Interactionist :(
L/R: Ignores the true victims of crime
Neo-Marxist Establishment & Development
Attempted to establish a full social theory on deviance
- Macro view on deviance
Marxism = too simplistic
Interactionism = didn’t take the wider consequences of a criminal act into account
Marxism = looks @ the structure of society
Interactionism = looks @ reaction from society
Taylor, Walton & Young: Attempted to blend Marxism & labelling by combining structure & process in an attempt to better understand crime
