Labelling Theory Flashcards
1
Q
What do labelling theorists believe about crime?
A
- Labelling Theories say that no behaviour is wrong until someone else says it is, crime is not what you do but how others see it
2
Q
When does an act become deviant?
A
- An act only becomes deviant when others perceive it and define it as deviant, the label will depend on societal reaction
3
Q
Who determines what is deviant?
A
- Moral entrepreneurs determine what is and is not acceptable in society (The Ruling Class)
4
Q
What does Platt argue?
A
- Platt argues juvenile delinquency aimed to protect young people at risk which established them as a separate category to other offenders
- This created status offences which are only prohibited to certain people such as drinking
5
Q
Who gets labelled?
A
Not everyone who commits a crime gets punished for it and it will depend on different factors whether they are charged or convicted
6
Q
What are factors that impact if they get charged?
A
- Their interactions with agencies of social control
- Their appearance and background
- Their situation and circumstance of the offence
7
Q
What are agencies of social control?
A
Formal = Police and Courts
Informal = Peers and society
8
Q
What does Pillavin and Briar argue?
A
- Pillavin and Briar argue that police mainly made the decision based on physical cues to judge the youth
9
Q
What does Becker argue?
A
- Becker argues that agencies of social control use considerable discretion and selective judgement when dealing with illegal behaviour. They operate with pre-existing conceptions and stereotypes which influences how they deal with a criminal
10
Q
What is negotiable justice?
A
- Cicourel suggested that justice is not fixed but negotiable, depending on their appearance and if they fit the typification of a criminal
- They may be able to talk their way out of a crime if they are highly educated
- This affects statistics and shows that crime is socially constructed
11
Q
What is primary labelling?
A
- Lemert distinguishes the difference between primary and secondary deviance
- Primary deviance is where deviant acts have not been publicly labelled and therefore so widespread and trivial that they are often not caught
- These acts are not organized deviance but a ‘moment of madness’ so they can rationalize it
- They have little influence on status of self-concept so do not see themselves as deviant
12
Q
What is secondary deviance?
A
- Secondary deviance is labelled and a result of societal reaction
- They are caught and publicly labelled as a criminal which involves stigma, shamed and humiliated, they are also normally shunned from society
- This label becomes a master status and their only label which becomes a controlling identity that overrides all others, they are only see as this label
13
Q
What are deviant careers?
A
- Secondary deviance provokes further hostile reactions from society which reinforces their outsider status
- This leads to more deviance, a deviant career and deviant subculture
14
Q
What is the deviancy amplification spiral?
A
- A term used by labelling theorists use to describe a process when attempting to control deviance leads to an increase in the level of deviance
- Cohen’s Mods and Rockers which led to moral panics and creating folk devils
15
Q
What did Triplett find?
A
- People see young offenders as evil and less tolerant to minor deviance
- They have re-labelled status offences as more serious offences resulting in harsher sentences
16
Q
What policy implications do labelling theorists suggest?
A
- They suggest that there should be fewer laws to break as labelling has a negative impact on future behaviour
17
Q
What is an example of policy of fewer crime?
A
- Dutch government are tolerant with certain policies to keep crime rates down
- Things have been decriminalised meaning they convictions are uncommon and have a lower overall crime rate
18
Q
What does Braithwaite argue?
A
- He identifies a more positive role for the labelling process
1. Disintegrative Shaming
2. Reintegrative Shaming
19
Q
What is disintegrative shaming?
A
- Labelling and stigmatizing people which shames the person as a whole rather than the act
19
Q
What is reintegrative shaming?
A
- Disapproval of the deviance but signs of forgiveness and a willingness to reintegrative the offender into the community
20
Q
What are strengths of the labelling theorists?
A
- Emphasizes the social construction
- Identifies and reveals the role of the powerful
- Shows how deviant careers can be established
21
Q
What are weaknesses of labelling theorists?
A
- Too deterministic suggesting that they are not to blame for their behaviour
- Does not explain where the original deviance comes from
- It does not explain where the stereotypes come from
