Interactionist theories of crime Flashcards
What is an interactionist theory?
- a labelling theory that adopt a relativistic definition of deviance and instead ask how and why some actions come to be labelled as criminal or deviant and what effects this has on those who are labelled
- focuses on the social reaction to certain acts seen as criminal or deviant
- less interested in the causes of deviance and more interested in what happens when a person is perceived as deviant
- focus is on the interaction between the deviant and those who define them as deviant
Becker (1963)
used several key terms to discuss crime
-argues that other sociological approaches have been mistaken for their fundamental assumption that law breakers are different to the law abiding - focuses on the social reaction to acts seen as criminal or deviant
labelling, master status, outsider, deviant career, deviant subculture, self fulfilling prophecy
Beckers labelling theory
Moral crusades and entrepenuers - people who enforce the rules that sees certain behaviours labelled as deviant e.g journalists, politicians, religious leaders and they embark on campaigns or ‘moral crusades’ to change laws and identify deviants
Outsiders
- argues the moral crusade and changes in the law has 2 effects which are:
1) the creation of a new group of outsiders - outlaws and deviants who break the rule
2) the creation or expansion of power held by the social control agency that enforces the rule
What effect does beckers labelling theory have on individuals
- Becker argues that the labelling theory process can lead to a SFP and then a deviant career
- those labelled become an outsider and get rejected from society - link to subcultural strain theory
How a deviant career develops:
Master status - individuals deviant identity overrules all other identities and they are treated as their label
Deviance amplification spiral - once the label is given the person then behaves in the way because they have been given that label
Deviant career - when a label has been applied the person takes on the self image of the label which causes them to behave in a deviant way that then becomes normal
Edwin lamert (1951)
-labelling theorists are interested in the effects of labelling upon those who are labelled
- lemert distinguishes between primary and secondary deviance
primary deviance - refers to acts that have not been publicly labelled as a crime and have little consequences
secondary deviance - deviant acts that have been publicly labelled as deviant which leads to deviance amplification - you get caught and are given a label
How does secondary deviance happen?
Labelling - the identification of acts and people who are deviant
Master status - having the behaviours, traits and status of a deviant because you have been given the label
Self concept and the SFP - acceptance of the label and a change in behaviour to match the label
Outsider status - the new label means society sees them as deviant and an outsider
Deviant career - the label sticks and the person might spiral into further deviant behaviour
- negative labels impact an individuals identity and their criminality becomes their master status which controls their identity and how others see them
- becker and lemert share the same ideas about subculture groups
Jock young (1971)
- did a study on a group of hippie marijuana users in notting hill and it showcased concepts of secondary deviance and the deviant career
- he found strong evidence of what labelling could do and the media promoted them as deviant characters and the public believed they were dangerous (moral crusades)
- they dressed different, were in big groups and their hair was long which was not seen to be socially acceptable (outsiders)
- began to be arrested and charging those who smoked (deviance amplification)
- a SFP occurred from this and they became more deviant and known as ‘drug users’ (deviant career)
Cohen - mods and rockers
- developed the term ‘moral panic’
- this is based on false, distorted or exaggerated information that some groups behaviour is deviant and a menace to society, eliciting a fear in the public of these certain groups of people or things
- moral panics can be usually fueled by the media e.g vaping, knife crime, hate crimes
e.g the media played a part in constructing a moral panic about the groups and went on a ‘moral crusade’ against the identified ‘ folk devils’
How does a moral panic start and how is it maintained?
- an activity gains media attention
- agencies of control respond (the police)
- deviance becomes amplified
- exaggeration, symbolisation, prediction of the outcome
- problem becomes redefined - meaning to make people think about something in a different light and address the problems with itn
Triplett (2000)
- minor offences have been turned into major ones e.g truancy, smoking which amplifies deviance
- people get caught for minor offences and are labelled and this could lead to secondary deviance which explains higher rates of crime - society needs to re assess
Braithwaite (1989)
- talks about reintegrative not disintegrative shaming
- reintegrative names the crimes but not the person which gives a message to society that this is wrong behaviour whereas disintegrative names the person, the crime and the offender is ostracised from society
- highlights the crime without labelling an individual which may reduce deviance
evaluation for interactionist theories of crime
- makes out the person doing the crime to be a victim because they were given a label - idea that its not their fault but its the labels fault
- everyone has the choice to decide how they want to behave and people can actively choose how to respond to a label (SFP)
- people commit acts of deviance before they have been labelled so the label is not needed until the crime has been committed
- fails to explain why the crime actually happens
