interactionalism / labelling

belief

crime is socially constructed

an act is only criminal if u label it as such

talks about how and why some peoples behaviour is labelled as deviant → sfp

becker

a deviant person is just someone who has been successfully labelled in this way and deviant behaviours are just behaviours we label as such

moral enterpreturs (gov) laws create outsiders and the expansion of social control

pillivian + briar

whether a person is arrested, charged or convicted depends on interactions, appearances, situation, time, place

cicuorel

officers typifications of the typical criminal lead them to patrol more wc areas

leads to more arrests in these areas.

mc less likely to be charged as they don’t fit typifications. parents also use wealth (cc)

crime stats

socially constructed. do not give a valid picture of crime. can be reason for labels

dark figure of crime → unreported / recorded

alternative stats → victim surveys but ppl may not want to admit to their crimes

lemert

primary and secondary deviance

primary → acts that have not been publicly labelled (fare dodging)

secondary → acts that have been publicly labelled. once a person is seen as deviant, ppl only seen them according to their master status which may lead to a deviant career

primary becomes secondary due to societal reaction

lemert ao3

downes + rock → we cannot predict whether someone labelled will follow a deviant career. they are always free not to deviate further

cohen

deviance amplification spiral 🌀

attempts to control deviance leads to an increase

more d → more c → more c

triplett

increase in seeing young offenders being labelled as evil leading to harsher sentences

braithwaite

positive role of labelling

1. disintegrated shaming → both the crime and the criminal are labelled as bad. excluded from society

2. reintegrative shaming → only the crime is seen as bad. person has a chance to rejoin society

labelling ao3

deterministic

reveals the roles of the powerful

fails to explain why ppl commit primary deviance