labelling theory Flashcards
labelling and crime
labelling theorists are interested in how or why certain acts come to be defined or labelled as criminal
argue that no act is inherently criminal
instead it only comes to be so when others label it as such
not the nature of the act which makes it deviant, but the nature of society’s reaction to the act
becker
a deviant is someone to whom the label has been successfully applied and deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label
moral entrepreneurs - people who lead a moral campaign to change the law
becker:
effects of a new law
the creation of a new group - outsiders, outlaws or deviants who lead a moral campaign
the creation or expansion of a social control agency to enforce the rules and impose them on offenders
platt - the idea of juvenile delinquency was originally created as a result of victorian moral entrepreneurs aimed at protecting young people at risk
becker notes that social control agencies may campaign for a change in the law to increase their own power - us federal bureau of narcotics successfully campaigned for the passing of the marijuana tax act in 1937 to outlaw marijuana
selective law enforcement
becker argues that agents of social control use considerable discretion and selective judgements in deciding whether and how to deal with illegal behaviour
police operate with pre existing conceptions and stereotypes which influences how they deal with the crime they come across
labelling and self fulfilling prophecy
becker argues that the labelling process and society’s reaction to criminals can lead to a self fulfilling prophecy and this a deviant career
those labelled as criminal will go onto face rejection from many social groups and become placed as an outsider in society. many legitimate opportunities become limited to them because of their criminal label, so they resort to crime
may join other delinquents who they can identify with which provides them with support and understanding
the effects of labelling
lamert distinguished between two types of deviance
primary deviance - deviant acts that have not yet been labelled as deviant - not repetitive
secondary deviance - deviant acts that have been successfully publicly labelled as deviant
lamert - master status
once someone is caught and publicly labelled as deviant, this criminal may face stigmatisation, humiliation, and be excluded from society
their criminality becomes their master status - it controls their identity and how others see them. some criminals may respond by accepting their label, creating a self fulfilling prophecy, leading them to have a deviant career
cicourel - the negotiation of crime
officers decisions to arrest are influenced by stereotypes about offenders
officers typifications led them to concentrate on types, resulting in law enforcement showing a class bias
criminal justice system reinforced this bias - probation officers held the commonsense theory that juvenile delinquency was caused by broken homes, poverty and lax parenting and saw them as likely to offend in the future
justice is not fixed but negotiable- when a young middle class male was arrested, he was less likely to be charged - background did not fit the typical delinquent stereotype
the dark figure of crime
the difference between the official statistics and and the ‘real’ rate of crime
we do not know for certain how much crime goes undetected, unreported and unrecorded
young
uses the concepts of secondary deviance and deviant career in his study of marijuana users in notting hill
initially, drugs were a primary deviance until the labelling and persecution by the control culture led the hippies to increasingly see themselves as outsiders and retreated into closed groups, where they formed a deviant subculture
it is the hostile reaction of society which makes the act deviant
downes and rock - we cannot predict whether someone who has been labelled will follow a deviant career, because they are always free to choose not to deviate further
deviance amplification spiral
the process in which an attempt to control deviance leads to an increase in the level of deviance
leads to greater attempts to control it and in turn produces higher rates of crime
cohen - 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 and distorted reporting of the events began a moral panic, with growing public concern and moral entrepreneurs calling for a crackdown
the police responded by arresting more youths, while courts imposed harsher penalties - provoked more public concern and demonised the mods and rockers, causing them further marginalisation as outsiders
triplett
notes an increasing tendency to see young offenders as evil and to be less tolerant of minor deviance
criminal justice system has re labelled status offences such as truancy as more serious offences, resulting in more severe sentences
resulted in an increase in offences
to reduce deviance, we should make and enforce fewer rules to break - negative labels push people towards deviance
should avoid publicly naming and shaming offenders, since this is likely to create a perception of them as evil outsiders, and by excluding them from society, it pushes them into deviance
braithwaite
identifies a positive role for the labelling process
distinguishes between two types of shaming:
- disintegrative shaming - the crime and criminal is labelled as bad and the offender is excluded from society
- reintegrative shaming - labels the act but not the actor, they have done a bad thing but are not a bad person
avoids stigmatising the offender as evil but makes them aware of the negative impact of their actions upon others
crime rates tend to be lower in societies where reintegrative shaming is dominant
evaluation of labelling theory
provides a different and unique insight into crime which other theories don’t provide
challenges the idea that deviants are different from normal people
shows the importance of the reaction of others to crime
reveals the importance of stereotyping
reveals the way crime statistics are a product of bias in law enforcement
reveals the importance of those in power as defining acts of deviance
removes the blame from offender and onto those who label them
assumes an act isn’t deviant until it has been labelled
doesn’t explain the causes of deviant behaviour which originate before the labelling process
