Labeling Theory Flashcards
What is the key proposition to labeling theory?
state intervention is criminogenic because it triggers the labeling process, comprising of a series of social processes that lead to the internalization of the negative connotations associated with such labels until it secondary deviance occurs
What core concept came from Tannenbaum (1938)? What is it?
“dramatization of evil” to describe how society socially constructs what is “evil Society is only run if we know what our taboos are.
-Label you bad to know I am good.
What core concept came from Becker (1953)? What is it?
Coined phrase “master status” - the internalization of a label until it becomes a central part of who an individual is
What core concept came from Lemert (1967)? What is it?
Primary deviance: the initial act of deviance that initiates the labeling process, whether by formal or informal institutions. Secondary deviance refers to the subsequent offending that occurs after the label is assigned and internalized by the individual.
Secondary deviance: the negative label could have been internalized by the individual until it became part of their, “master status.”
What is the self-fulfilling prophecy?
For labeling theorists then, secondary deviance occurs when the internalization of these negative assumptions associated with the criminal label becomes part of the person’s master status; thereby completing the self-fulfilling prophecy
What core concept came from Braithwaite (1989)? What is it?
Shame is one of the strongest forces for social control and that there were two types: disintegrative and reintegrative shame.
Reintegrative shaming helps prevent the negative label from becoming the person’s master status and therefore, preventing secondary deviance from occurring
What was the importance of the following with regard to labeling theory?
Matsueda (1992) Reflected appraisals, parental labeling, and delinquency: Specifying a symbolic interactionist theory
Measured the informal labeling process using longitudinal juvenile delinquency data.
parental appraisals (informal labeling triggers) on youth appraisals (alteration of self-identity) and on re-offending.
Found that parental appraisals had a significant effect on youth self-perceptions which did correlate to re-offending.
Support for Labeling.
What was the importance of the following with regard to labeling theory?
Bernburg, J., & Krohn, M. (2003). Labeling, life chances, and adult crime: The direct and
indirect effects of official intervention in adolescence on crime in early adulthood.
-official intervention was associated with decreases in life chances via educational achievement and employment which positively correlated with future offending
-structural location (e.g., race and social class) was associated with higher rates of re-offending.
Conclusion: factors associated with concentrated disadvantage could impact the resources an individual need to successfully resist the criminogenic effects of the labeling process
Support for Labeling.
What was the importance of the following with regard to labeling theory?
Chiricos, Ted, Kelle Barrick, William Bales, and Stephanie Bontrager. “The Labeling of Convicted Felons and Its Consequences for Recidivism.”
test of the formal labeling process with 95,919 men and women in the Florida Criminal Justice System
Found that the status of felon did have an effect on recidivism. Support.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of labeling theory?
See Paternoster & Iovanni, 1989.
Strengths
-Explains why past offending is strongest predictor of future offending.
-Explains why punishment doesn’t deter.
Weaknesses:
(1) Requires longitudinal data therefore, difficult to prove.
(2) when do you know someone’s primary deviance? (exception Braithewaite).
