Overall evaluation

Question 1

positives 1

Answer 1

✓ Labelling theory usefully shows that the law is not a fixed set of rules to be taken for granted, but something whose construction we need to explain.

✓ It usefully shows that the law is often enforced in discriminatory ways (e.g. towards certain ethnic minorities & the working class) by formal agents of social control in the Criminal Justice System. This helps to support Marxist ideas on selective enforcement.

Question 2

positives 2

Answer 2

✓ The theory also usefully shows that society’s attempts to control deviance can backfire & create more deviance, not less, which completely contrasts with other theories such as functionalism which views control (e.g. by formal agents of social control such as the police) in a very positive light.

✓ The theory is helpful in describing the formation of deviant subcultures. It helps to explain why some groups may feel marginalised by social control agencies which could lead to forming a deviant subculture in order to gain status. This therefore builds on the work of subcultural theorists such as Cohen and Cloward & Ohlin.

Question 3

negatives 1

Answer 3

Has been accused of being deterministic, implying that once someone is labelled, a deviant career is inevitable. However, this is a misreading of the theory as interactionists such as Becker often argue that the process of deviant label leading to deviant behaviour is by no means inevitable. E.g. they are fully aware that ex-convicts do get jobs & go ‘straight’, etc.

emphasis on the negative effects of labelling is accused of giving the offender a kind of victim status. Realist sociologists argue that this ignores the real victims of crime.

Question 4

negatives 2

Answer 4

It fails to explain why people commit primary deviance in the 1st place, before they are labelled. Although most people do commit deviant acts from time to time, different individuals tend to turn to different types of deviance – e.g. one person may steal, another might break health & safety rules, another may smoke marijuana. Surely it is important to try & explain these choices?

It implies that without labelling, deviance would not exist. Surely someone who steals has deviated & is a deviant, even without someone labelling them?

It was the first theory to recognise the role of power in creating deviance, but it fails to analyse the source of this power. E.g. Marxists argue that it fails to examine the links between the labelling process & capitalism – the power that the law making & enforcing process gives to the ruling classes.