Labelling Theory and Crime and Deviance - Becker, Cicourel and lemett

Structural/Positivist approach

• Man is shaped by social forces

• Reality is external and objective

• We can measure the causes of crime

• A minority are driven to deviance

Social Action/Interactionism/ Interpretivist approach

• Man is shaped by ideas and meanings

• Reality is internal and subjective

• We cannot measure the causes of crime

• Most people engage in deviance

Key points

• Labelling theory is an approach in the sociology of deviance that focuses on the ways in which the agents of social control attach stigmatising stereotypes to particular groups, and the ways in which the stigmatised change their behaviour once labelled.

• Labelling theory is associated with the work of Howard Becker and is a reaction to sociological theories, which examine only the characteristics of the deviants rather than the agencies that controlled them.

• Howard Becker’s (1963) idea is that deviance is a consequence of external judgments, or labels, that modify the individual’s self-concept and change the way others respond to the labelled person.

• The central feature of labelling theory is the self-fulfilling prophecy, in which the label corresponds to the label in terms of delinquent behaviour.

• It has been criticised for ignoring the capacity of the individual to resist labelling and assuming that it is an automatic process.

Labelling theorists focus on

• The interaction between deviants and those who define them as deviant.

• The process whereby rules are selectively enforced.

• The consequences of being labelled ‘deviant’.

• The circumstances in which a person is defined as deviant.

• An analysis of who has the power to attach deviant labels.

• They argue that attempts to find the cause are pointless, official stats are social constructions.

Howard Becker - 1928-2023

This suggests an act become deviant only when others perceive and define it as such , and whether or not the label is attached depends on societal reaction.

• Moral entrepreneurs = ruling class, governments, police

Agencies of social control use selective judgement in deciding when and to whom deviant labels are attached. Becker suggests the police operate within pre existing conceptions and stereotypical ideas of what constitutes trouble and what action taken therefor depends on this.

Deviance is all relative

• There is nothing intrinsically normal or deviant about an act. 

• It only becomes deviant when others label it as such. 

• Whether or not the label is applied will depend upon how the act is interpreted by the audience. This in turn will depend on who commits the act, and when and where it was committed. 

• Labelling theorists are interested in how and why certain acts come to be defined or labelled as criminal. 

Selective Law Enforcement

Cicourel Suggests that law enforcers subjective perceptions and stereotypes can affect whether criminal labels are attached and how these lead to the social construction of crime statistics. Cicourel Studied juvenile delinquency in two US cities.

He found that crime rates were higher in w/c areas than m/c areas because police viewed the behaviour of those people differently even when they were engaged in the same behaviour.

He argued this was because police held the perception that the m/c youth came from good families so their behaviour was just a temporary lapse.

SIMILARLY…

• Becker argues that agents of social control (The Criminal Justice System) use considerable discretion and selective judgement in deciding whether and how to deal with illegal behaviour.

• Becker suggests that police operate with pre-existing conceptions and stereotypes, which influence how they deal with crime they come across.

Becker illustrates his views with the example of a brawl involving young people

• In a low-income neighbourhood, it may be defined by the police evidence of delinquency; in a wealthy area as evidence of high spirits. The acts are the same, but the meanings given to them by the audience differ.  

• In the same way, those who commit the acts may view it in one way, but those who observe it may see it differently.  In a low-income area it may be seen as defending their territory, but may be seen as deviant by power groups. Those who have the power to make the label stick have labelled them.

• Remember Becker call those who have the power and resources to enforce rules and impose their definitions of deviance = moral entrepreneurs 

Cicourel (1976) Typifications and Negotiation of Justice: Subjective perceptions and stereotypes affect whether criminal labels are attached. He studied juvenile delinquency in 2 US cities and found that:

• Crime rates higher in W/C areas - because the police viewed them as a criminal ‘type’ and patrolled these areas more intensively, resulting in more arrests and confirming stereotypes.

• Police viewed behaviour of W/C and M/C differently even when engaged in the same behaviour - clearly a class bias.

• Police and the CJS held views that M/C came from ‘good backgrounds’ and so behaviour was a temporary lapse rather than evidence of criminal behaviour. This has important implications for punishment. He found that probation officers believed juvenile delinquency was caused by broken homes, poverty and lax parenting. Therefore were less likely to support non-custodial sentences.

• Justice is not fixed, but negotiable - M/C are able to negotiate justice – Not only because they don’t fit the ‘typical delinquent’, but because they know how to work the system, have the money to do so and parents are viewed as more trustworthy.

W/C - Working Class

M/C - Middle Class

Primary and secondary deviance - introduction

• Lemert (1972) coined the terms ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ deviance. Primary deviance is the rule breaking but secondary deviance is the consequences of the responses of others. 

• He used children who stutter or stammer when speaking as his evidence. 

• The person being labelled as deviant will eventually come to see themselves as bad or mad. Becker uses master status to describe this, where once a label is successfully ascribed, none of their other qualities matter. 

• The way in which labelling makes deviance worse is called DEVIANCE AMPLIFICATION. 

• Deviancy amplification is a term used by interactionist sociologists to refer to the way levels of deviance or crime can be increased by the societal reaction to deviance itself.

Lemert 1972 - the labelling process

Distinguishes between primary deviance and secondary deviance

Primary deviance - deviance that has not been labelled as deviant (use of illegal drugs). There are few consequences for the person as long as no one knows

Secondary deviance - When the offender is discovered and they are labelled as deviant

Impact of the label - Becker

The deviant label can become a master status - a status that overrides all other characteristics of the person

Others see and respond to the person in light of this status

Secondary deviance can then begin, arising from the label and societal reaction

Deviant careers and self fulfilling prophecy - Becker (Youngs)

Those labelled are rejected from conventional society, so continue to act in the way they have been labelled

A deviant career begins when the person joins or identifies with a deviant group that may all face the same problems, so provide eachover support for the understanding of a deviant identity

Youngs 1969 participant observation of the hippie marianna users of notting hill demonstrated this process

4 strengths of labelling theory

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

• It shows that the law is often enforced in discriminatory ways.

• Crime statistics are more a record of the activities of control agents than of criminals.

4 weaknesses of labelling theory

• It tends to be deterministic, implying that once someone is labeled, a deviant career is inevitable

• It emphasizes the negative effects of labeling gives the offender a kind of victim status.

• It fails to explain why people commit primary deviance in the first place before they are labeled.