Interactionist Perspective C&D

Question 1

who is the main theorist for the labelling theory

Answer 1

Becker

Question 2

what does Becker believe about labelling and deviance and give two examples

Answer 2

-deviance is labelled depending on the audience and situation
-eg streaker at a football match vs at a playground
-eg teenagers brawling in a low income vs high income neighbourhood

Question 3

how does Becker explain labelling leading to crime

Answer 3

-when someone is labelled as deviant it becomes their master status and may develop a self fulfilling prophecy
-this process in relation to crime has 5 stages (The Career of a Deviant)

Question 4

what are the five stages Becker identifies in The Career of a Deviant

Answer 4

-labelled as deviant and rejected from social groups
-this may encourage further deviance
-ex convicts find it hard to get jobs and be forced into crime
-deviant career complete when individuals join organised deviant group
-deviant subculture develops

Question 5

who is the theorist for labelling who is not Becker

Answer 5

Young

Question 6

what did Youngs study show

Answer 6

-studied hippies at Notting Hill
-police negatively labelled hippies as dirty lazy drug addicts
-community of deviants grew from police action
-they retreated into small closed groups where deviant norms and values developed
-SFP created and police action became stronger against the deviance they helped create

Question 7

which theorist theorises about societal reactions being the cause of deviance

Answer 7

Lemert

Question 8

what does Lemert distinguish between

Answer 8

primary deviance - deviant acts before they are publicly labelled
secondary deviance - the response of the individual to that reaction

Question 9

describe Lemerts theory in societal reaction causing deviance (not the study)

Answer 9

-samples of deviants are unrepresentative as it only shows secondary deviance
-secondary deviance leads to discrimination and an SFP forming a community of similarly labelled ppl

Question 10

what was Lemerts study

Answer 10

-stuttering across north pacific coastal indians
-NPCI showed signs of stuttering before and after contact with whites while other tribes had no signs of stuttering
-this is bc NPCI penalised stutterers which made them more anxious and stuttered more
-THEREFORE societal reactions to small deviances can produce more deviances

Question 11

who else besides Lemert theorises on secondary deviance

Answer 11

Goffman

Question 12

what does Goffman theorise

Answer 12

-secondary deviance demonstrated by treatment of mental patients “mortification process”
-mental patients stripped of identity and maintain strict routines
-they either accept the institutions definition of them as helpless deviants and believe they cannot function in outside world
-label ‘ex mental patient’ makes re entry into society very difficult

Question 13

who studied labelling theory and social policy

Answer 13

Jones

Question 14

what two main policy implications of labelling theory identified by Jones

Answer 14

-deviant behaviours should be decriminalised eg Portugal and small drug possessions
-when law intervene it should avoid labelling and SFP so they do not fall back into deviance ; although naming and shaming has become more popular

Question 15

who is the main theorist for labelling and law enforcement

Answer 15

Cicourel

Question 16

what does Cicourel argue

Answer 16

the meanings held by police officers explain why most delinquents come from lower class backgrounds

Question 17

what are the two stages Cicourel identifies in labelling someone a delinquent

Answer 17

-police decide whether deviant or suspicious behaviour takes place depending on the location and demeanour of a ‘typical delinquent’
-juvenile officers identify ‘typical delinquents’ from appearances and language which is associated with w/c backgrounds

Question 18

what does Cicourel argue about m/c delinquents

Answer 18

-they are less likely to be arrested or charged bc they don’t fit the picture of a typical delinquent
-more likely to be defined as ill than criminal

Question 19

who is the main theorist for the positive role of labelling

Answer 19

Braithwaite

Question 20

what are the two types of shaming identified by Braithwaite

Answer 20

disintegrative shaming
reintegrative shaming

Question 21

what is disintegrative shaming

Answer 21

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

Question 22

what is reintegrative shaming and give an example

Answer 22

-crime labelled but not the criminal so the criminal can avoid secondary deviance
-eg Danish reintegrative programme for returning Jihadis from Syria offered social services and counselling

Question 23

what do Taylor,Walton and Young criticise about the interactionist approach

Answer 23

some acts eg killing for personal gain will always be regarded as deviant

Question 24

what does Ackers criticise about the interactionist approach

Answer 24

individuals might choose to be deviant regardless of label

Question 25

give two general criticisms of the interactionist approach

Answer 25

-fails to explain primary deviance
-fails to explain why some are labelled deviant and some are not and why some activities are against the law

Question 26

who studied the mods and rockers

Answer 26

Cohen

Question 27

what did Cohens study show

Answer 27

-moral panics and folk devils created from mods and rockers
-media exaggerated the defiance as only 24/97 arrests were actually charged and very few were violent (Brighton beach)