SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIMINALITY : INTERACTIONISM Flashcards
What is interactionism and the labelling theory
Interactionists such as Becker argue that interactions are being based on shared meanings or labels. E.g. a ‘criminal’ is a label some people may attach to others in their interactions with one another. They believe that ‘crime’ and ‘criminals’ are social constructs.
How does Becker’s labelling theory explain criminality
Argues that there is no such thing as a deviant or criminal act. Acts only become seen as criminal once society has labelled / reacted and decided they are offended by the behaviour.
What is selective law enforcement and what was found (Cicourel, Piliavin and Briar)
Social control agencies like the police label certain groups as criminal which results in differential law enforcement.
Piliavin and Briar found police decisions to arrest were based on stereotypical ideas about a person’s manners, dress, gender, class and ethnicity as well as the time and place, e.g. young males stopped late at night are more likely to be arrested.
Cicourel found the police and judges have typifications (stereotypes) of who they think are ‘typical criminals’, e.g. working class, ethnic minority males.
What did Edwin Lamert argue about labelling
Argued that labelling causes crime and deviance. By labelling groups as criminal / deviant, it creates a self fulfilling prophecy where the label encourages people to become more criminal / deviant.
Primary deviance - acts that haven’t been publicly labelled. Trivial acts that go uncaught, e.g. taking public transport without paying. Those that commit these acts don’t usually see themselves as criminals.
Secondary deviance - results from labelling. People may treat the offender solely based on their label, which becomes a master status (or controlling identity). The individual is seen as a criminal overriding all of his other statuses, e.g. father, colleague etc.
One strength of interactionism: Police create crime
It shifts focus onto how the police create crime based on stereotypes and typifications of the typical criminal. This could explain the overrepresentation of working class males and minority groups in official crime statistics.
One weakness of interactionism: Deterministic
Interactionism is too deterministic as it states that once someone is labelled, a deviant career is inevitable.
One weakness of interactionism: SLT Bowlby
Interactionism fails to explain why people commit primary deviance in the first place before they are labelled, unlike the Social Learning theory that Bowlby discovered where young children will imitate their role model’s behaviour.
