Interactionism on Crime

what is the interactionist theory also called

labelling theory

who thought of the labelling theory

howard becker

outline labelling theory

idea that a label is given to an individual by society due to an act that individual has committed, they will live through that label and fulfilw its characteristics through a self-fulfilling prophecy, the label we give to a person or situation gives it meaning

what are the five key concepts interactionists focus on

interaction between deviants and those who label them as deviant, selective enforcement, consequences of being labelled e.g societal reactions, circumstances leading to deviance, analysis of who makes the labels and who has the power to make them stick

what did lemert argue *p+s

primary and secondary deviance

primary deviance- where deviance takes place but is not publically labelled as such as it has not been discovered by society therefore society has little influence

secondary deviance- is where deviance takes place and is seen by society applying the label to the deviant and defining their sense of self as deviant, society has a high level of influence

master label/ status

label that is given to someone and overrides every other label therefore that person is only seen as that label e.g pedophile

what did becker say were two responses to the master label

either reject the label or negate it (make it ineffective)

selective law enforcement

idea that laws are only enforced on few people

selective law enforcement in relation to interactionism including class

idea that laws are enforced on those that society views as ‘criminal‘ which may include marginalised subcultures and stereotypes, middle class crimes are prosecuted less harshly as middle class are thought to have the means to change

strengths of interactionism on crime

challenges idea that deviants are abnormal and sees them as people, shows importance of societal reactions, shows importance of stereotypes, demonstrates self-fulfilling prophecies, explains how official statistics are bias to law enforcement

weaknesses of interactionism on crime

moves blame from deviants to society, paints offender to be victim, deterministic as labelling doesn’t always lead to crime, doesn’t speak about causes or prevention to crime, emphasis on one being deviant only if labelled as such, doesn’t allow criminals to be voluntaristic

relativity in relation to interactionism on crime

explain deviance as relative, crime is only criminal when labelled as such

deviant career

when a deviant is given a label of criminal and the deviance overtakes their day-to-day lifestyle and therefore becomes their subsequent career, the deviant label they were given in the first place becomes their master status

what do interactionists say about official statistics

they are invalid and are bias towards selective law enforcement, there is truely a dark figure of crime which is much different to official statistics

rejection + example

some deviants reject the label they are given and move on with their lives such as young male prostitutes being labelled as homosexual but rejecting this and maintaining their sexuality as straight

descibe the notting hill deviancy amplification case

where drug takers in notting hill were arrested, the media got a hold of this and amplified it labelling deviance as druggies, caused a moral panic as more people in the area were concerned about drug crime leading to tighter policing and rising drug prices