Labelling Theory and Symbolic Interactionism key points Flashcards
Why do Mead and Blumer discount pathological explanations?
These deny the authenticity of the person’s own account of their behaviour
What does Interactionism foreground?
Subjective aspects of individual life (unlike macro theories e.g. Durkheim and Positivism)
Therefore to understand why deviance emerges we must get a subjective account
What are ‘meanings’?
The product of social interactions in society
Continually changing, re-adapting
What does Interactionism value in research?
Subjective account of behaviour
Thus ethnographic, need for verstehen, etc
What is crime NOT based on?
Moral absolutes - it is relative and thus ever changing
We must also consider who MAKES the rules
What is George Mead’s theory?
Dependency on social exchange for development of self; constantly reconstructed through interactions
Thus problematises the application of a deviant label as may affect one’s self perception.
What are the three tenets for understanding crime?
Must know the INDIVIDUAL ACTOR’S:
1) structural opportunity
2) individual motivation
3) perception of behaviour eligible for definition
Tannenbaum (1938)
A majority commit criminal acts; only a few are labelled, leading to internalisation of the ‘deviant’ tag and thus redefining their identity
‘Dramatization of Evil’ hypothesis: first acts are defined as deviant, and then the actor as deviant too
Lemert
Primary/secondary deviance
Everyone commits primary deviance; must be caught for it to become secondary
Suggests that social control generates (rather than prevents) crime
Howard Becker (1963)
Cultural relativity of deviance
Power as central in determining which acts are made deviant
Deviant career- role of subculture (interaction - structured process)
Tierney
Traditional accounts can only explain secondary deviance - who is likely to be caught and why
Cohen
Deviancy amplification
