LABELLING THEORY Flashcards
what type of theory is labelling theory?
an interactionist or social action theory.
what type of approach do they take?
a bottom up approach.
what does a bottom - up approach mean?
they start with the individual when studying society, how they shape society through their actions.
what does labelling theory argue individuals define the world through?
meanings or labels they attach to actions or individuals.
what quote does Becker argue deviance exists in?
“exists in the eye of the beholder”.
what does he suggest makes an act deviant?
when others see it and define it as deviant.
deviance is a social …..?
construction.
one evaluation of Beckers theory?
people know perfectly well when what they are doing is deviant.
what groups does Becker refer to when taking about having power to attach labels?
moral entrepreneurs.
what are moral entrepreneurs?
groups (media/police) with the power to create rules to impose their definitions of deviance.
evaluation of moral entrepreneurs?
he fails to examine the structures of power in society that create the labelling process.
what is cicourels theory called?
the negotiation of justice.
what does cicourel explain the social context is?
who is performing the act.
what does the negotiation of justice mean?
the social context influences the application of the label and how the CJS might respond to it.
what does cicourel argue the police have a stereotype of?
the typical delinquent.
what do police see as the typical delinquent?
ppl from working class and deprived backgrounds.
what would happen if a w/c person and a m/c person were acting the same way (possibly deviant)?
the w/c one would be seen as deviant and the m/c one would be seen as normal.
what type of bias does this create?
class bias.
evaluation example of class bias?
millionaires daughter who drove looters around London in 2011 riots received higher sentence because of her privileged status (2 years).
what two things does Lemert distinguish between?
primary and secondary deviance.
what does primary deviance refer to?
deviance that has not been labelled as deviant.
what does secondary deviance refer to?
may occur once a person has been discovered and publicly labelled as deviant.
example of primary deviance?
breaking traffic laws or downloading child pornography.
example of secondary deviance?
stigma attached to people being caught downloading child pornography.
what are 2 effects of labelling?
master status and a deviant career.
what is a master status?
the person labelled is only seen in relation to the label. eg. caught downloading child porn = paedophile.
what is a deviant career?
they become outsiders when labeled and opportunities are blocked (jobs).
what is likely to develop after a deviant career?
self - fulfilling prophecy - likely to act what they are labelled as.
what can exaggerated media coverage on someone with a deviant label create?
moral panic.
what are those with deviant labels presented as?
folk devils
what is a folk devil?
someone seen as a threat to society and made scapegoats to blame for social problems.
this can create the process of deviancy amplification - what is that?
the media create or make worse the problems they condemn.
what 2 groups did Cohen study media coverage of?
mods and rockers.
what did he find in his studies?
1964 - violent behaviour from them and the media condemned the actions, exaggerating the level of violence + ppl involved creating a moral panic - making them folk devils and leading to deviancy amplification.
