Labelling Flashcards
1
Q
Becker (1963)
A
- Deviance is in the eye of the beholder.
- Moral entrepreneurs are people who lead a moral campaign to change the law.
- This has two effects: The creation of a new group of outsiders and the creation or expansion of a social control agency to enforce rule and impose legals on offenders.
2
Q
Platt (1969)
A
- Idea of ‘juvenile delinquency’ was originally created as a result of campaign of upper class Victorian moral entrepreneurs.
- Established as a separate category of offender with their own courts, enabling the state to extend its powers beyond criminal offences involving young.
3
Q
Pilivan and Briar (1964)
A
- Police decisions to arrest youth were based on physical cues, where they made judgements about the youths character, e.g. those stopped late at night in high crime areas ran a greater risk of arrest.
- A study of anti social behaviour orders found they were used against ethnic minorities.
4
Q
The negotiation of Justice - Cicourel (1968)
A
- Officers typifications led them to concentrate on certain ‘types’. - law enforcement showing class bias - police patrolling WC areas more intensively.
- Probation officiers held commonsense theory that juvenile delinquency was caused by brown homes, poverty - more likely to offend.
- Justice is not fixed but negotiable, e.g. when a young MC male arrested, less likely yo be charged due to him not fitting the stereotypical delinquent - parents more likely to negotiate on his behalf - counseled, warned and released instead of charged.
5
Q
Criticism of NOJ
A
- Assumes that police officers have high levels of discretion when making arrests, contemporary policing strategies challenge this idea. Predictive policing models use algorithms to assess the likelihood of reoffending, limiting officers’ ability to “negotiate” justice based on personal judgments. Additionally, the introduction of mandatory arrest policies in domestic violence cases reduces officers’ ability to use subjective discretion, contradicting Cicourel’s claim that justice is shaped primarily by negotiation.
6
Q
Social construction of crime statistics
A
- Interactionists see OS for crime as socially constructed.
- Statistics produced by CJS only tells us about activities of the policed prosecutors.
- Dark figure of crime & alternative statistics give a more accurate idea of the amount of crime in society along with OS.
7
Q
What are the 6 stages in the social construction of crime?
A
- Suspect stopped by police
- Arrested
- Charged
- Prosecuted
- Convicted
- Sentenced
8
Q
Primary deviance - Lemert (1951)
A
- Deviant acts that have not been publicly labelled - unlikely to have a single cause - not part of an organized deviant way of life, offender can easily rationalise them away.
- Primary deviants don’t generally see themselves as deviant.
9
Q
Master staus (secondary deviance)
A
- Result of a societal reaction- being caught and labelled as a criminal can involve being shamed, humiliated.
- Once an individual is labelled, others may see them as only that label leading to a master status - crisis for individuals sense of identity.
- One way to resolve this is fr the individual to accept the label - self fulfilling prophecy .
10
Q
What is a deviant career (secondary deviance)?
A
- Ex convicts may find it hard to go straight into work as no one will employ them.
- Could join a deviant subculture that offers deviant career opportunities and role models, rewards deviant behaviour and confirms their deviant identity.
11
Q
Young (1971)
A
- Uses concept of secondary deviance and deviant career in his study of hippy marijuana users in Notting Hill.
- Initially drugs were peripheral to their lifestyle - primary deviance - persecution and labelling by control culture (police) led them to see themselves as outsiders.
- Retreated into closed groups - developed a deviant subculture
12
Q
Deviance amplification spiral
A
- A process in which the attempt to control deviance leads to an increase in the level of deviance - greater attempts to control it
13
Q
Cohen (1972)
A
- Folk devils and moral panics, a study of the societal reaction to the ‘mods and rockers’ disturbances involving groups of youths at English Seaside Resorts.
- Press exaggeration ad distorted reporting - moral panic - growing pubic concern - moral entrepreneurs calling for a ‘crackdown’.
- Police responded through arresting more youths - courts imposed harsher penalties
- Demonsing the mods and rockers as folk devils - marginalisation.
- Similar to Lemert’s secondary deviance.
14
Q
Criticism of Deviance amplification spiral
A
- Marxists argue (Hall 1978) Cohen fails to situate moral panics within wider capitalists structures. They emerge as a tool for ruling class control through scapegoating marginalized groups.
15
Q
Criticism of Secondary deviance
A
- Becker (1963) whilst labelling can influence self identity, not all labelled accept their deviant status. This suggest secondary deviance is not inevitable.
