Labelling And The Self Fulfilling Prophecy

Question 1

What is labelling?

Answer 1

The use of generic and broad terms to describe members of a minority group- usually Inferior terms

Question 2

What is the term labelling often linked with?

Answer 2

The concept of stereotyping

Question 3

What is giving someone a negative label likely to mean?

Answer 3

That there is a social stigma attached

Question 4

What is a social stigma

Answer 4

The extreme disapproval of members in society

Question 5

What is an issue with stigma

Answer 5

It’s hard to change the label even if it is shown to not be true

Question 6

What might happen if you label someone a criminal and treat someone as a criminal

Answer 6

They may produce criminal behaviour

Question 7

Why would they produce criminal behaviour after being labelled?

Answer 7

They see themselves in terms of the criminal label so they fulfill and become what the label says

Question 8

What are the two types of labelling

Answer 8

Retrospective labelling and projective labelling

Question 9

What is retrospective labelling?

Answer 9

Reinterpreting someone’s past in light of how they have been labelled.

Question 10

What is projective labelling?

Answer 10

Using a label to say what will happen to a person in the future

Question 11

What is the self fulfilling prophecy

Answer 11

It shows how a belief or expectation of a person/group affects the way the person or group will behave

Question 12

What are they 4 steps in self fulfilling prophecy

Answer 12

1. We form expectations of people
2. We communicate those expectations with cues
3. People respond to those cues by changing their behaviour to match the cues
4. The original expectation of the person becomes reality

Question 13

What happens in the first stage of SFP

Answer 13

We form certain expectations of people

Disadvantaged groups are most likely to be labelled criminal or anti social
Many black males are suspected of being street robbers

Question 14

What happens in stage 2 of SFP

Answer 14

We communicate those expectations with various cues
Those in power communicate their expectations via their behaviour
Black people are 8 times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people

Question 15

What happens in stage 3 of SFP

Answer 15

People respond to the cues by adjusting their behaviour to match the cues

Question 16

What happens in stage 4 of SFP

Answer 16

The result is that the original expectation of the person becomes true
The person begins to see no other route than to act in accordance with the label it’s INTERNALISED

Question 17

Give one strength

Answer 17

It has supporting research evidence from Madon et al- found that mothers overestimated their child’s alcohol use which showed a positive correlation to actual alcohol use a year later

Question 18

Give one weakness

Answer 18

Can’t infer a cause and effect relationship- link between behaviour and expectations is only correlations- it assumes our behaviour is determined by expectations and some may do the opposite of what is expected of them