Interactionist view

Interactionists focus on social interactions and how labels affect individuals, self concepts and behaviour, It challenges the structural views by asking how and why certain acts become labelled as deviant

Key concepts

  • Labelling- Attaching a definition to a person or act (criminal, troublemaker)

  • Deviant- A person labelled as breaking social norms

  • Moral entrepreneurs- People or groups (media, politicians) who create and enforce rules

  • Self-fulfilling prophecy- When someone internalises a label and acts according to it

  • Master status- A label that dominates others and shapes a persons identity (ex-con)

  • Secondary deviance- Deviance that results from being labelled

  • Primary deviance- Minor deviance that goes unnoticed or isn’t publicly labelled

Key sociologists-

  1. Becker (Labelling)

  • Crime is socially constructed

  • Deviant behaviour is behaviour that people label

  • Labelling can lead to secondary deviance and a master status

  1. Cicourel- Negotiation of justice

  • Law enforcement officers use stereotypes to judge suspect

  • Justice is negotiable and affected by class and ethnicity

  1. Lemert- Primary and secondary deviance

  • Primary deviance- Not publicly labelled, little impact

  • Secondary deviance- Labelled and may lead to more deviance

  1. Young- Marijuana users

  • Labelling lead to a deviant subculture of drug users

  • The response (labelling) worsened the problem

  1. Stanley Cohen- Mods and Rockers

  • The media exaggerated youth behaviour, creating a moral panic

  • This led to further deviance- Deviance amplification

Strengths

  • Highlights how deviance is socially constructed

  • Shows power of labelling in shaping identity and behaviour

  • Emphasises the role of agents of social control (police, media)

Criticisms

  • Too deterministic- Not everyone accepts their label

  • Ignores real causes of crime (poverty, inequality)

  • Dosent explain why people commit primary deviance

  • Fails to consider power structures (Marxists argue that labelling is influenced by class)