LABELLING THEORY ON CRIME Flashcards
Labelling theory of crime
No act is inherently criminal or deviant in itself, in all situations and at all times. Instead, it only comes to be so when others label it as such.
Becker (1963)
- A deviant is simply someone to whom the label has been successfully applied, and deviant beh. is simply beh. that people so label.
- Defined people who lead a ‘moral crusade’ to change the law ‘moal entrepreneurs’. This new law invariably has 2 effects:
1. The creation of a new group of ‘outsiders’ - outlaws or deviants who break the new rule
2. The creation or expansion of a social control agency (e.g. police, courts, probation officers etc.) to enforce the rule and impose labels on offenders.
Piliavin and Briar (1964)
- Police decisions to arrest a youth were mainly based on physical cues (manner and dress) from which they made judgements about the youth’s character.
- Similarly, a study of anti-social behaviour orders found they were disproportionally used against ethinic minorities.
Cicourel (1968)
- Labels create typifications (stereotypes of what a typical delinquent looks like).
- These typifications result in law enforcement showing a class bias as it influences where officers concentrate their work, resulting in more arrests, confirming their stereotypes.
- Other agents of social control within the criminal justice system reinforce this bias. E.G. probation officers see juvenile delinquency as a result of broken homes, poverty and lax parenting. Because they had this preformed opinion, they believed that these youths were more likely to offend in the future and were less likely to support non-custodial sentences for them
- In his view, justice is not fixed but negotiable, especially for the middle and upper classes who do not fit the typification and whose parents are more likely to negotiate successfully of their behalf.
Cicourel (1968)
EV.
+ Has implications on how we view official crime statistics. His study suggested that these statistics do not give us a valid picture of the patterns of crime and so cannot be reliably used as a resourse. According to Cicourel, crime stats only inform us on the activities of the police and prosecutors, rather than the amount of crime in society or who commits it (the dark figure of crime - the data itself is a social construct). Instead Cicourel believes that we should not investigate the crime itself but instead the processes that create them. This may give a greater insight into the activities of the control agencies and how they process and label certain types of people as criminal.
Lemert (1951)
- Postulated that after someone carries out a deviant act (primary deviance) the reaction of others can lead to further (secondary) deviance.
- When labelled by society as a criminal this becomes your master status. This controls identity, overriding all others. This can provoke a crisis for the individual’s self-concept or sense of identity.
- For many, this leads to self-fulfilling prophecy, in which the criminal lives up to their status
- Argues that it is pointless to seek the causes of primary deviance, since it is so widespread that it is unlikely to have a single cause, and in most cases, it is often trivial.
- These acts are not part of an organised deviant way of life, so offenders can easily rationalise them.
- Negative label - self concept - label reinforced - master status - deviant career
Primary deviance
The initial act of rule breaking (before labelling)
Secondary deviance
Deviant acts that have been labelled by society as criminal
Cohen (1972)
- 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 with moral entrepreneurs calling for a ‘crackdown’.
- The police responded by arresting more youths, while courts imposed harsher penalties. This seemed to confirm the truth of the original media reaction and provoked more public concern, in an upward spiral of deviance amplification.
- Sensationalised reporting of clashes between these youth subcultures created a phenomenon and turned a few minor scuffles into a media event.
- Folk devils and their actions are over labelled and over exposed to the public view and the attentions of the authorities. The pursuit of folk devils draws resources away from detecting and punishing the crimes that make up the ‘dark figure of crime’ such as crimes of the powerful, rape and emotional violence.
Deviance amplification spiral
The process in which the attempt to control deviance leads to an increase in the level of deviance.
Moral panic
An exaggerated over-reaction by society to a perceived problem - usually driven or inspired by the media - where the reaction enlarges the problem out of all proportion to its real seriousness.
Folk devils
Refers to groups associated with moral panics who are seen as troublemakers by the media e.g. ‘illegal immigrants’
Young (1971)
- Drug taking - police activity drove it underground - isolated drug takers and a distinctive sub-culture emerged - therefore difficult to re-enter mainstream society - they couldn’t afford drugs and the price of drugs had increased - ‘big’ criminals moved in for ‘big gains’ - increased conflict between drug gangs - more illicit drugs became available together with adulteration of drugs.
- External forms of social control (police) affect the reactions of criminals. The attempt to control deviance leads to an increase in the level of deviance. This leads to greater attempts to control it and, in turn, this produces higher levels of deviance.
- Greater control produces greater deviancy, in an escalating spiral.
Triplett (2000)
- In a study into truancy in America, Triplett found that there was an increasing tendency to see young offenders as evil and to be less tolerant of minor deviance.
- Truancy, in their opinion, has been re-labelled as a more serious offence.
De Haan (2000)
- Notes a similar outcome in Holland as a result of the increasing stigmatisation of young offenders.
- These findings indicate that the labelling theory has important policy implications.
- Negative labelling pushes offenders towards a deviant career, thus, policies should be made to enforce fewer rules for people to break
- e.g. decriminalising soft drugs.
