Interactionism - labelling theory

What did Becker argue?

Essentially he argues that crime is a subjective concept. Agents of control, police/judges, label certain acts as deviant or criminal.

Who argues about labelling theory and self-fulfilling prophecy

Lemert says labelling is a cause of crime and deviance

He argues that labelling certain people deviant, society will encourage them to become more deviant,

Define primary deviance?

A deviant act that has not been publicly labelled as so - usually it goes uncaught or not seen as illegal. For example, not paying on public transport, littering etc

What is secondary deviance?

This is a result from labelling. This is when people treat an offender solely from their label and becomes their master status

What is the deviance amplification spiral?

This is the idea where any attempt to control deviance through a ‘crackdown’ leads to it increasing rather than decreasing.

This becomes an escalating spiral.

Deviant amplification spiral case study

Mods and rockers - Cohen found that the whole panic about mods vs rockers in the 60s all started from a fight between two distinguishable groups (mods & rockers) in Clacton. This was reported and labelled by the media as troublemakers which led to moral panic and many British youth identifying with one group or the other.

Cohen called this deviancy amplification - the distortion of events and labelling by the media.

Strengths of labelling theory

Strengths:

Law is not a fixed set of rules to be taken for granted, but something whose construction we need to explain

It shifts the focus on how the police creates crime by applying labels based on their stereotypes. This explains why working class and minority groups are over-represented

How attempts to control deviance can trigger deviance amplification spiral and therefore more deviance

Limitations of labelling theory

It fails to explain why people commit crime/deviance in the first place - they commit it before they are labelled

By assuming that offenders are victims of labelling, it ignores the fact that this may be not due to labelling but their choice

It ignores the victims of crimes - lads the potential to romanticise crime or victimise the offender

It tends to be deterministic as once someone is labelled, a deviant career is inevitable