interactionism and labelling

What do interestactionists ask on labelling rather than other theories

Instead of seeking the causes of criminal behaviour, they ask how and why some people come to be labelled as criminal or deviant and what effects this has on those who are labelled

How do interactionists see statistics

Instead of accepting official statistics as a valid picture of crime, they regard them not as hard facts but social constructs

Who originates the interactionism aspect of labelled

George Herbert Mead

How does George Herbert Mead regard the labelling theory

George Herbert Mead - labelling theory is rooted in symbolic interactionism

How does Merton see crime

Merton - crime is the product of interactions between suspects and police - rather than the result of wider external social forces such as blocked opportunity structures

What is the symbolic interactionist perspective

Deviance is learned in the same way that conformity is learned, via social interaction with significant others

What does Edwin Sutherland say on individuals who are likely to deviate

Edwin Sutherland- individuals have a greater tendency to deviate from norms when they associate with people who also deviate

what does the labelling theory entail

It’s not the harm that makes an act ‘criminal’ but whether the label is conferred on the act

What determines if behaviour becomes identified

The audience, not the actor determines when certain behaviour becomes defined as a crime

What does Howard Becker explain the labelling theory as a reaction

Howard Becker- focuses on the reaction of other people and the effects of those reactions which create deviance

According to Becker what is the result of labelling and segregation

Becker- after an individual is labelled they become segregated from society and this creates an ‘outsider’ status who are outcast from society- they begin to associate with other individuals who have also been cast out (subculture)

How does Becker illustrate his views through what example

Becker- example of a brawl involving young people. In a low-income neighbourhood, it may be defined by the police as evidence of delinquency: in a wealthy neighbourhood as evidence of youthful spirits.

Due this example how do meanings differ

The acts are the same but the meaning giving to them by the audience differ- in the same way those commit the act may view it one way, those who observe it may define it in another

What are moral entrepreneurs according to Becker

Becker- ‘moral entrepreneurs’ - these are people who lead a moral ‘crusade’ to change the law in the belief that it will benefit those to whom it is applied

What does the new law do

The new law has two effects

What does ‘creation of a new group’ do (fist effect)

Creation of a new group of ‘outsiders’ - outlaws or deviants who break the new rule

What does the creation or expansion of social control do (2nd effect)

The creation or expansion of a social control agency (police) to enforce the rule and impose labels on offenders

How does Platt explain moral entrepreneurs

Platt- moral entrepreneurs - the idea of juvenile delinquency was originally created by the Victorians, Platt called them moral entrepreneurs because they claimed they wanted to protect ‘at risk’ young people

Why did Platt call them moral entrepreneurs

Platt called them moral entrepreneurs because they claimed they wanted to protect ‘at risk’ young people

How were juveniles established

They established ‘juveniles’ as a separate category of offender with their own courts

What did this separate category enable

This gave the state extended powers to deal with ‘status offences’ - truancy/underage smoking and drinking backed on the age of offenders

What leads to new laws

It is not the harmfulness of behaviour that leads to new laws being created, but rather the efforts of powerful individuals and groups to redefine that behaviour as unacceptable

What is the sphere of influence

geographical area or region over which a powerful state, organization, or person exerts significant cultural, economic, political, or military dominance, often without direct formal control

What are the 3 factors on why someone gets labelled

•their interactions with agencies of social control

•appearance, background, biography

•The situation and circumstances of the offence

What did Piliavan and Briar find on police decisions to label

Piliavan and Briar- found police decide to arrest youths based on judgements of physical cues. Decisions were also influenced by class, gender, ethnicity time and place

What is Cicourel’s typification aspect of the ‘negotiation of justice’

Cicourel- ‘negotiation of justice’ - argued that police use typifications, their common sense theories or stereotypes of what the typical delinquents is, led them to concentrate on certain types, particular focus on working class areas

What confined their stereotypes

This resulted in more patrols in these areas, resulting in more arrests, confirming their stereotypes

How was Cicourel’s view of justice in The negotiaton of justice

Cicourel- view of justice was not fixed- it was a process open to negotiation

Why was a middle-class youth less likely to be charged (negotiation of justice)

He/she did not fit the police’s idea of a typical offender, and his parents were more likely to negotiate on their behalf - rather than a charge they were counselled, warned and released

Stages in social construction of crime

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Explain ‘suspect stopped-decision’

Suspect stopped-decision based on meanings held by police of what is suspicious

What is the ‘arrested-process’

Arrested- process - negotiable but depends largely on the picture held by the police of the typical delinquent. If the appearance, language and demeanour of the young person fits this picture he/she is more Likely to be arrested

What is ‘charged-once arrested’

Charged-once arrested,the young person is handed over to juvenile officer who also has a picture of the typical delinquent. If the suspects background corresponds to this picture, he/she is more likely to be charged with an offence

What is the 4th stage

Prosecution

What did Cicourel find with convictions (5th stage)

convicted- Cicourel found a close relationship between social class and delinquency

What is the last stage

Sentenced

How does Cicourel (and interactionists) view statistics

Statistics do not give a valid picture of the patterns of crime

They cannot be used as a resource for facts about crime

Should be treated as a topic for sociologists to investigate

How should statistics not be taken

Statistics should not be taken at face value

Why are statistics viewed as a social construction

The statistics only reflect what decisions, agents of law enforcement made at each stage

What are statistics not to society

Not a true picture of the amount of crime in society or who commits

What is the dark figure of crime

It’s the difference between official statistics and ‘real’ crime levels as many go undetected, unreported and unrecorded

What do sociologists do as an alternative

Some sociologists use alternative statistics like self-report studies as they are more valid

What happens at each stages of the criminal justice system

Agents of social control make decisions about whether or not to proceed to the next stage

What does the outcome depend on

The outcome depends on the label they attach to the individual suspect as the label is affected by the typification or stereotype

What do statistics of the criminal justice system tell us about

only tell us about the activities of the police and prosecutors, rather than about the amount of crime out there in society or who commits it

What was Chambliss’ study of selevective enforcement of the law

Chambliss- studied two groups of delinquents in American schools, the Saints and the Roughnecks, both involved in petty crime

What was the result of ‘ The Saints and Roughnecks’

Due to different resources between classes, the Roughnecks were constantly in trouble whereas the Saints were never in trouble

How does Lambert believe deviance occurs through labelling

Lemberg- he distinguishes between primary and secondary deviance

What is primary deviance-

deviant acts that have not been publicly labelled. Often trivial

What is secondary deviance

deviance that us labelled, result of societal reactions

What is a master status

Being caught and publicly labelled as criminal can involve being stigmatised or excluded from normal society. Overriding all other status

What is the process of labelling for secondary deviance to lemert

Lemert- a label is attached by police and courts, this becomes a master status, then the label is accepted creating a self fulfilling prophecy

Why does the labelled person accept the label

How we see ourselves relies on how others see us

How does this create a self fulfilling prophecy

Whether the label was true or not, we act in accordance with it. This confirms people beliefs about the label being true

How does Jock Young describe ‘deviant subcultures and deviant career’

We absorb the label once labelled then deviance is amplified

what did Jock Young’s study to reinforce this theory

Jock Young- uses the concept of secondary deviance in his study of hippe culture in Notting Hill.

What did the hippies do

Drug use was a small part of the hippie culture (primary deviance) but persecution by social control agencies led the hippies to see themselves as outsiders - the developed a deviant subcultures and drug use became central

What type of research method was Jock Young’s

Participant observation

How do Downes and Rock Criticise Lemert and Young

We cannot predict whether someone who has been labelled will follow a deviant career, because they are always free to choose not to deviate further

What is a deviance amplification spiral

A process whereby attempts to control deviance causes an increase in levels of deviance- more and more control leads to more deviance (snowball effect)

How did Stanley Cohen show how the Mods and Rockers create a moral panic

Stanley Cohen- exaggeration of press and distorted reporting created a public concern leading to demonisation of offenders creating a moral panic

How does the deviance amplification spiral relate to Lemert’s theory

Both cases are a societal reaction to an initial deviant act that doesn’t lead to successful control but the further deviance which in turn leads to greater reaction

What are folk devils

Folks devils are the opposite of the dark figure of crime as they are over labelled and over exposed to public view

What does the pursuit of folk devils do

The pursuit of folk devils dress resources away from detecting and punishing the crimes that make up the dark figure of crime

What did Triplett find on how the criminal justice policy and labelling affects young offenders

Triplett- in the USA an increasing tendency to see young people as evil trouble- makes resulted in les societal tolerance to minor deviance. As these CJS re-labelled acts that were seen as minor offences and made them into serious offences - leading to an increasing rather than a decrease in offending

What is Braithwaite’s ‘Re-integrative shaming’

Brauthwaite- labels the act but not the actor avoids stigmatising the offender, allowing them to re-enter society

What is Braitewaite’s ‘disintegrative shaming’

Braitewaite- the crime and the person are labelled and is excluded from society

What did Durkheim do with suicidal statistics

Durkheim- using official statistics Durkheim claimed to have discovered the causes of suicide in how effectively society integrated individuals and regulated their behaviour

What do interactionists do with Durkheim’s suicide study

Interactionists reject Durkheim’s positivist approach as they argue that to understand suicide we must study its meaning for those who choose to kill themselves

What does Douglas say on the meaning of suicide

Douglas- whether a death comes to be officially labelled as suicide rather than an accident depends on the interactions and negotiations between social actors, such as a coroner, relatives, friends and doctors

How do interactionists criticise statistics on suicide

Statistics tell us nothing about the meanings behind an individual’s decision to commit suicide

according to Douglas what methods should be used to understand suicide

Douglas- argues we must use qualitative methods like analysis of suicide notes, unstructured interviews with the relatives- allowing us to get behind the label’s coroners attach to deaths and discover the true meanings

What is Atkinson’s ‘coroner’s common-sense knowledge’

Atkinson- rejects the idea of coroners classifying suicides as facts are social constructions, as Atkinson examined how coroners made decisions at inquests as to whether a death was a suicide or not

What is Atkinson’s ‘phenomenological approach’

The four common sense factors which affects a coroners decision to classify a death as a suicide or not

What are the four factors of Atkinson’s study

The presence of a suicide note indicates suicide

Type of death such as hanging indicates suicide

Location and circumstances

Evidence of mental illness

how can Atkinsons study be criticised

Atkinson’s approach can be used against him, if he is correct that all we can do is have interpretations of the social world, rather than real facts about it, then his account is not more than an interpretation and there is no good reason to accept it

How does Lemert prove that paranoia is a self-fulfilling

Lemert- study of paranoia - some individuals don’t fit easily in with groups. As a result of this primary deviance, others label the person as odd and begin to exclude them

What expands their exclusion

Negative response leads to secondary deviance and the public begin discussing best ways of dealing with this difficult person, confirms their suspicions that people are conspiring against him

What does this conspiring lead to

Their reaction justifies their fears for his mental health- may lead to a psychiatric intervention, as a result they are officially labelled as a ‘mental patient’ becoming their master status

What was Rosenhan’s study ‘on being sane in insane places’

Rosenhan- researchers diagnosed as schizophrenic, became their master status, so the staff treated them mentally ill

What is Goffman’s study of ‘institutionalism and the effects of labelling and stigma’

Goffman- possible effects of being admitted to total institution such psychiatric hospital

What is ‘mortification of the self’ in Goffman’s study

Goffman- in which their old identity is symbolically killed off and replaced by a new one ‘inmate’ - achieved by various degradation rituals.

What are reactions to institutionalism from patients

Some become institutionalised, other adopt various forms of resistance or accommodation to the new situation

What is Braginski’s study of long term psychiatric patients

Braginski- inmates manipulated their symptoms so as to appear not well enough to be discharged but not sick enough to be confined to the ward. As a result, they were able to achieve their aim of free movement around the hospital

Adavantages

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What is an advantage of their perceptions on statistics

It does not take statistics at face value or as an official fact

What idea does it reject

Rejects the idea that deviants are different to ‘normal’ people

What does this theory question

It question the effectiveness of policing, the courts and punishments

What does it highlight

It highlights the bias in law enforcement and considers the societal reaction and the effects of individuals

Criticisms

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What does this theory assume

Assumption that there is no free will and that actors are passive in the labelling process

How is it deterministic

Too deterministic- given a victim status with too focus on the offender that actors accept the label bestowed upon them

What does it not prove

No proof that deviant behaviour leads to deviancy amplifications

What does it not take account for

It does not take into account the reasons for committing crime and implies that without the labelling theory, deviance would not exist