Labelling and CJS Flashcards
Overview
Recent studies have shown how increases in the attempt to control & punish young offenders are having the opposite effect. There is an increasing tendency to be less tolerant of minor deviance which results in the re-labelling of status offences such as truancy as more serious, which in turn results in much harsher sentences. As predicted by Lemert’s theory of secondary deviance, this has resulted in an increase rather than a decrease in offending, with levels of violence among the young rising.
These findings indicate that labelling theory has important policy implications. They support the argument that negative labelling pushes offenders towards a deviant career & therefore logically, to reduce deviance, we should make & enforce fewer rules for people to break (e.g. decriminalising soft drugs) & avoid publically ‘naming & shaming’ offenders.
