Deviant Medical Marijuana

The labeling theory, an example of constructivist perspective is the theory put forth to define how deviance is experienced and why people continue to be deviant. The labeling theory was developed by a group of sociologists in the 1960’s. It is a version of symbolic interactionism defining deviance as a collective action involving the acts of more than one person, and the

Under Edwin Lemert’s labeling theory the individual facilitates and impact’s their label. The process starts with deviation, sanctions for those behaviors by others, decision from the individual to imbed the label or challenge it, the individual then gets more reaction for their action from other and finally the individual chooses to accept the label and consistently acts within it. Primary deviance takes place when the individual engages in the initial act of defiance. In Lemert’s term, such acts under traditional labeling theory are examples of primary deviance and they occur in wide segments of the population. We all transgress now and then: some youth shoplift, others commit vandalism, and still others use illegal drugs. But suppose a youth, say a 15 year-old male, is caught vandalizing or using an illegal drug, His arrest, fingerprinting, and other legal measures make him think of himself as a young criminal. Parents, friends,

Labeling theory states that a deviant behavior does not impact to themselves or the people who commit them, but by the reactions of other who comprehend these deviant behaviors, such as the deviant behavior of Justin Bieber.

Explaining and defining deviance is not as straight forward and simple as one may think. Numerous sociologists have come up with various definitions in an attempt to cover all the crucial aspects of deviance. The reason is that deviance is relative to time and place. So, within different societies/cultures deviant acts vary greatly. Very general definitions that barely scrape the surface of the idea of deviance would say something such as, “a behavior that violates social norms” or, “an absence of conformity of social norms”. But to really become intimate with the subject of deviance, one needs to have an open mind and consider all the perspectives that other cultures have. The sale and use of marijuana provides one of the best portrayals of the direct relationship of deviance with time and place.

Under labeling theory, criminal behavior is based on the state stamping the behavior as criminal, instead of criminal behavior being based on the harm that it causes. Thereafter, labels are influenced by society’s reactions. Lemert formulated this theory with emphasis on the importance of identity. He developed two types of deviance, primary and

Cannabis is the most hated but yet very beneficial drug in the world. The United States has had strict laws against the use and distribution of marijuana since 1937. (The Union, Brett Harvey) Federal and state laws on medicinal marijuana are very different from each other. Cannabis has a lot of health benefits, this is the reason California was the first state to legalize it for medicinal purposes. (How weed won the west, Kevin Booth) People in America have been getting arrested for the use and possession of marijuana since it was outlawed. Charlie Lynch was one of those people in 2008. (Lynching Charlie Lynch, Rick Ray) I believe medical marijuana should be a legally taxed substance in the United States.

The use of medical marijuana (slang: Acapulco gold, ace, bhang, cannabis, hash, dope, ganja, grass, weed, hashish oil, hemp, home-grown, honey oil, indica, Jamaican roach, sativa, sinse, sinsemilla, tea, weed oil) has a been a major topic of debate for countless years. People all around the United States have seen propaganda of some sort regarding the legalization of marijuana. For example, with the ongoing discussion of legalization throughout the states, it’s abruptly mentioned in the news, everyday conversations, school topics for debate, and within stories of social media. In the article, “Is marijuana prohibition coming to an end”, Michelle Johnson a North Carolina journalist, states “Legalizing marijuana for a medical or recreational

Schur (1980, 1984) who “described labeling as a social construction of culture, which means that it is artificially defined by society. This indicates that proper concepts will be destitute in the face of ever-changing eccentricity of social standards” (Hashem, 2015:121). Society dictates what is and what is not considered “deviant” behavior, and treats the person accordingly (whether positive or negative. Labeling tends to lead to stigmatization. Noelle Vance wrote in her article titled Labeling Theory that “When relationships with parents, teachers, or friends are weakened as a result of formal stigmatization, individuals are more likely to seek affiliation with criminal

Once a person is labelled as a deviant, it is hard to remove that label. The Labeling Theory basically says that no behavior is deeply rooted on its own. It is society’s reaction to the behavior that makes the act deviant or not. Labeling is to give someone or something to a category and is usually given mistakenly. The people who usually doing the labeling have statues, numbers, power and authority. People with low status, power and authority are the ones that are being labeled.

A label defines an individual as a certain kind of person. Defining an act as deviant or criminal is not a simple straight forward process. A label is not neutral, it contains an evaluation of the person to whom it is applied. It is a ‘Master Status’ in the sense that it overshadows all the other statuses possessed by the individual. If an individual is labelled as criminal, mentally ill or gay, such labels tend to override the individuals status as father, husband, worker, friend or neighbour. Whether or not the label is applied will depend on how the act is interpreted by the audience. This in turn will depend on who commits the act and where and when it was committed.

Labeling theory is a theory that originated in the 1960s amidst many changes going on in the United States. The theory is unique in that it is one of the first theories that looks at the societal reaction of what the offender does and not just their action itself. When there is an act committed within a society and the majority of society does not agree with the act then it can be considered deviant. When an act

‘Labelling theory is the view of deviance according to which being labelled as a “deviant” leads a person to engage in deviant behaviour.’ This states that if a person were to labelled as a thief, that person would be treated different (looked down upon). This could leave this person to do what they are labelled as and commit theft. This is backed up with study.com’s definition of labelling theory, which states ‘people become criminals when labelled as such and when they accept the label as personal identity’. This moves into strain theory as the strain theory cultural theory as in Merton’s strain theory argues that ‘the American cultural

Labeling theorists explore how and why certain acts are defined as criminal or deviant and why other such acts are not. As such, they also who is identified as a criminal, and who is not. They question how and why certain people become defined as criminal or deviant. Such theorists view criminals not as evil people who engage in wrong acts but as individuals who have a criminal status forced upon them by both the criminal justice system and the community at large. From this point of view, criminal acts themselves are not significant; it is the reactions of the rest of society to acts defined as criminal that are most crucial. Crime and its control involve a process of social definition, which involves a response from others to an

The notion of labelling theory was first created in the 1960s and gained popularity towards the late 1960s and early 1970s. The term was first applied “mentally ill” in 1966 when Thomas Scheff published his article Being Mentally Ill. Labelling theory explains a great importance in respect to drug use. Although labelling theory does not fully explain why initial drug use occurs, it does detail the process by which many people find themselves as socially deviant from others (Glen R. Hanson, University of Utah Salt Lake City Utah Glen R Hanson, Peter J. Venturelli, Annette E. Fleckenstein). The term deviance is used in a manner to describe an absence of the patterns of behaviour expected in a society and not in a judgemental way. Labelling theory

Labeling theory is a theory of how individuals’ self-identity and how behavior can be determined or influenced by the labels used to describe or classify them. The theory is a huge part of criminology that aims to dictate why certain people who commit crimes are defined as deviant, while others who commit crimes are not depicted as deviant. The labeling theory asks who applies what label to whom, why they do this, and what happens as a result of this label. For example, a person put in jail is more likely to be labeled as a criminal, whereas someone who speeds and gets a ticket is not. Even though both acts committed were illegal the person is labeled differently. Labeling theory is interested in the effects of labeling a person. It is quite clear that almost everyone will commit a crime at some point in his or her life. So, what causes one person to be labeled as deviant and others are not? Along with this, why when someone is labeled deviant are he or she more likely to commit another crime? Deviant behavior is behavior that is not accepted in society. It is behavior far from the average, failure to obey group rules, potentially the effect of a mental problem/disease, or a way to lessen the stability of society. People disapprove of this behavior and it could even be harmful. It is not how a “normal” person should act.