Labelling theory

Question 1

Shopping list of key A01 terms to use for labelling (10)

Answer 1

-Deviant/deviancy
-Pos/neg
-Label
-Stigma
-Retrospective
-Prospective
-Self-concept
-Primary deviance
-Secondary deviance

Question 2

What did Howard Becker state about deviant behaviour?

Answer 2

“Deviant behaviour is is behaviour that people so label”

Question 3

What is the key concept of criminal behaviour according to labelling theory?

Answer 3

Behaviour itself is not criminal, only becomes criminal when society labels it so
-eg graffiti, homosexuality and cannabis

Question 4

How can majority groups impact labelling?

Answer 4

Majority (share characteristic) see minority as inferior, may label. Use generic and broad terms to describe. Can be based on stereotypes

Question 5

How can social context influence the label that is attached to the act?

Answer 5

-People reacting diff to same act
-Killing someone in most cases = murder = deviant
-In war killing normalised, labelled heroic
-If not formal then labelled terrorist - deviant.

Question 6

What is self-concept and what can it lead to?

Answer 6

-How we see ourselves.
-Recognise how others see us
-Labelled deviant can lead to deviance amp as it becomes master status (main way we identify ourselves)

Question 7

What were Lemert’s ideas?

Answer 7

-Primary and secondary deviance
-Primary = first act of deviance, inital labelling of person as deviant
-Secondary = once label established and more deviant behaviours occur.

Question 8

What does it mean to give someone a label?

Answer 8

-Make judgement on someone
-Usually negative
-Given to minorities by majorities
-Contributes to self-identity
-Ignore characteristics that don’t fit the label
-Based on stereotypes

Question 9

What can labels be?

Answer 9

-Retrospective
-prospetive
-negative
-positive

Question 10

What is the pygmalion effect?

Answer 10

-high expectations = improved performance
-low expectations = worse

Question 11

Give examples of positive and negative labels and how they can affect a person’s behaviour?

Answer 11

-Pos= intelligent, friendly, smart, generous. lead to pos behaviour, self-confidence and motivation
-Neg= addict, criminal, stupid, lazy. lowers self-esteem, demotivated, isolation, impacts self-identity

Question 12

What is a retrospective label?

Answer 12

-look at previous behaviour to inform and create current label
-may conform and live up to the label again, not ty to imorove their behaviour

Question 13

What is a prospective label?

Answer 13

look at current label to predict future behaviour
-don’t try to get rid of the label, leads to SFP.

Question 14

What is deviancy?

Answer 14

Act which goes against social norms, and sometimes the law

Question 15

Stereotypes

Answer 15

-Generalised view about a group of people
-May fit one person in that group but not all
-People higher up with more power decides definition of stereotype and also influence social norms
-Labels based on stereotypes
-Majorities categorise minorities

Question 16

Stigma

Answer 16

-Powerfully negative label
-People reinterpret behaviour to maintain the label
-Hard to change the label

Question 17

How can stigma and stereotypes explain recidivism?

Answer 17

-Ex-offender will still have label of offender
-Affect employment opportunities
-Have barriers, go back to the label and recidivism

Question 18

Evaluation

Answer 18

EACH

Question 19

Evidence (4)

Answer 19

-Bull and Green
-Cambliss
-McGrath
-Restivo and Lanvier

Question 20

Bull and Green

Answer 20

-58 ppts, 10 police
-Evaluated faces as criminals
-1 face picked for drugs by 38
-1 for robbery by 31
-1 for soliciting by 12
-1 for mugging by 38
-police’s view same as public.
-supports stereotyping & labels, superficial, bias in police need to train and educate

Question 21

Cambliss

Answer 21

-Saints and Roughnecks - students who drank stole and vandalise
-saint = good grades, middle class, careful
-Roughnecks = lower class, careless being caught
-Committed the same crimes, saints more polite and higher class. More lenient on saints
-neg and pos labelling
-stigma - hard to shift
-labelled and internalised, police expected behaviour

Question 22

McGrath

Answer 22

-69 f and 325m young offenders in youth courts NZ.
-interviewed aftering sentencing/in prison
-asked impact of crim label eg “treated in court case as though likely to commit another offence?”
-Stigmatisation higher when custodial, more conv and younger first offence
-Stigmatization linked to reoffending for f not m
-Stigma of label stronger when more factors confirming
-stigma followed diff genders

Question 23

Restivo and Lanvier

Answer 23

-longitudinal
-677 teens labelled crim and not labelled
-Interviewed 3 times over 2yrs
-Asked abt any contact, crim activities, self-concept, peers involved in crim beh.
-Labelling linked with inc crim activity, arrest followed by neg self-concept
-Risk of internalising self-concept
-Beneficial to not give label

Question 24

Applications(4)

Answer 24

-Police training to reduce bias. Prevent wrongful arrest
-Profiling in investigations, labels not always false
-Early intervention. education and pos labels
-2nd chance employment programmes to create job opps for ex-offenders. Shift stigma, reduce recidivism.

Question 25

Comparisons and credibility(5)

Answer 25

-Ignores bio like brain injury. Theory better, physical scientific behaviour
-Deterministic: free will. say will always adopt label
-Better than psychodynamic: real life evidence of affect of labels.
-Reductionist: ignores co-morbid and situational factors eg peer pressure
-SLT better. Explains vio crimes. bobo doll. causation. observational learning, sudden dev

Question 26

How good is the research (4)

Answer 26

-Poor samples: age and gender. Reduces cred. doesn’t explain how it works with wider ppts. BUT males commit more crime
-Self-report: social desirability
-Correlational: no c&e. hard to test using other methods
-Longitudinal: see full impact of label. accurate