strengths and weaknesses of interactionist theory

Strength of interactionist theory

It shows how labels can produce criminal behaviour. For example, beckers theory suggests that by labelling an individual as a delinquent, this can cause the police to target them and harsher punishment from CJS

Weakness of interactionist theory

It is deterministic. The theory is suggestive that people cannot reject labels. For example, if a student is given a label as being a delinquent, teachers will treat them differently.

Strength of the interactionist theory

It explains the over representation of ethnic minority groups in prison. This can be seen in Cicourels Study on typifications which suggests that criminals are people of ethnic minority.

Weakness of the interactionist theory

It doesn’t really explain why the crime was committed to begin with. Interactionists explain that crime occurs after a label is given to an offender but not why they offended in the first place

Strength of the interactionist theory

It shows how more crime can occur due to the media. This is due to deviancy amplification which is when deviance can spiral into larger crime.

Weakness of the interactionist theory

It doesn’t explain where the power of the label came from. For example, the studies explain that the police hold typifications But the theory doesn’t explain where the typification originated from.