1. (Ch. 6) Howard Becker’s labeling theory argues that no act is deviant until a society labels it as deviant. Explain why Becker believes that labeling can have long-lasting effects on the individual who is labeled a deviant. 5pts. In my opinion, there is no act should be seem as deviant because every thing we did was depend on our nature reaction of things; however, according to the “looking-glass self” theory, how we see ourselves does not come from who we truly are, but from how we believe others see us. Therefore, we are very easy to be effected by others opinion, or even judgment. Once we got the label of “deviant”, we will be self-doubt and ask ourselves, “Am I really a deviant?” Some people identify with this label and continue to do more deviant thing to intensify this label. Some people don’t agree with label and try to separate with this label. In my opinion, people who identify with the deviant label will be isolated by this society, because people believe they are very deviant; however, for the people who disagree with this label, they will lost their actual self and follow like sheep. Therefore, it is easy to see that labeling can have a long-lasting effect on the individual who is labeled a deviant. …show more content…
(Ch. 6) Structural functionalists like Emile Durkheim believe that every aspect of a social structure does something to help maintain the stability of society. According to Durkheim, what are some of the “functions” of deviance within a society?
This led to Becker to suggest that deviancy was the consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions directed at an offender: the deviant was a person ‘to whom that label successfully been applied, deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label’ (Becker, 1963:9)
Dalton Conley describes labeling theory in Chapter 6 of You May Ask Yourself as “the belief that individuals subconsciously notice how others see or label them, and their reactions to those labels over time form the basis of their self-identity” (Conley, 2011:203). In other words, over time, a person’s self-identity changes to fit the character other people impose upon them. An action itself isn’t necessarily deviant unless society decides it is. Labeling theory can go either way, either positive or negative.
With the labeling theory sociologists focus on the interaction between both the individual involved and the audience who would evaluate the persons in question behavior. It is based on what society deems as inappropriate or deviant behavior. In Becker’s work he believes that “Labeling theory concentrates less on deviant acts themselves and instead focuses on the actor and the audience and their perceptions of each other”
Labeling theory holds that individuals come to identify and act as per their labels. The major tenet of this theory is that the behavior and self-identity of individuals is affected by the way they are described by other people (Vold, Bernard, Snipes, & Gerould, 2016). According to this theory, the act of deviance is not implicit in a particular act, but is hedged on the inclination of the majority to ascribe labels to minorities in society who deviate from standard behavior. Labeling leads to dramatization of a particular act – which propagates the behavioral clash between the individual and the community. Through ascribing labels, the individuals acquire a negative self-image. The individuals accept themselves as labeled by the
labeling someone as a deviant can have any major consequences for the individual who is labeled. some of those consequences are once a person who has been labeled may start to incorporate the stigma that goes along with it. this effort happens and can happen when a friend in high school is drinking underage and by being associated with that person can have yourself labeled as deviant even if you never commit a deviant act. other problems that come when labeled is being put into a certain category which people will treat you different, look at you different, and also think that you are going to commit other deviant acts which means they can not trust you, and you tend to lose respect in society.
Becker who was identified with labeling; he was a Chicago School student during the early 1940’s-50. He wrote two books on deviance, the “Outsiders” and “The Other Side”. He put deviant behavior into four different groups, the conformity, pure deviant, secret deviant, and the falsely accused. During this time, the self-report methodology also developed which was when the juveniles were able to report their own delinquent behavior on their own time. Which was a new way to know about different criminal/delinquent behavior. The author also discussed the two different versions of labeling theory that was the societal reaction and the secondary deviance. The societal reactions is how labels are applied, and whom labels apply to and how labels affect opportunities for those labeled. The secondary deviance is what the label means to the person its being label on and how the labels create further deviant behavior. Crime was defined as “social constructions”, which means that an individual may break a rule but it is not crime until society labels it as such. I feel that those who react to behavior attribute deviance. If society label a personal as deviant than they are left, looking for evidence to support their belief, which I do not believe, is
People consider an act to be a deviance act because of the three sociological theories: control theory, labeling theory and strain theory. It deeply reflected in the movie called "Menace II Society".
Based on Howard Becker’s symbolic or labeling theory, all acts of deviance and the person seen to be acting in a deviant manner are given labels. These labels generally come from someone in there community or group who are in hierarchy or authority figure. That means no action is deviant unless specified by the particular community or group (Bessant & Watts 2002). Becker’s labeling theory concentrates on the lower class, and anything apart from what the group expects is labeled as deviant. The term Once a criminal always a criminal is familiar, it is these type of labels that maybe detrimental in terms of a person internalizing labels as truth, and how others sees them (D. Conley 2008). The labels and or judgments given negatively, isolate the person from the group, and may hinder the person’s opportunity to reach their full potential. The strains put on a person to conform to the particular cultures norms and values, does not allow any person to differ in nature or thought. When one is pressured to perform in ways that may be foreign or
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
Deviance is an act that goes against the social norms such as rules or expectations. It can be something small such as running through the stop signs or it can be something big such as hijacking an airplane. Deciding if the act is deviant or not depends on the context (society, environment, etc.). According to Howard S. Becker, it is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act that, makes something deviant. Deviance is not a word that is used for judging people, but it is used to refer to an act to which people respond negatively. Norms vary among different cultural groups, therefore, one deviant act in one group might not be deviant to another. For example, it will be considered deviant or going against the norm if someone decided to
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.
Schmalleger describes the labeling theory or social reaction theory as one that sees persistent criminal behavior as a result of not, having the chances for normal conduct that follow the negative responses of society to those that have been labeled as criminals. There is an expectation of a continuous increase in crime that is a direct effect of the label that is attached. The result of negative labels creates limited chances that the behavior would change on behalf of the criminal, due in part to societies stigma placed upon them (Schmalleger, 2012, p. 186). Those theorists responsible for the labeling theory that are discussed in our readings during this weeks assignments are listed as Frank Tannenbaum, Edwin M. Lemert, Howard Becker, John Braithwaite and others. When discussion the concept labeling, one must understand some of the most early descriptions of societal reactions to deviance, this can be found in the 1938 works of Frank Tannenbaum who explained the term, tagging. Schmalleger defined tagging as the process whereby an individual is negatively defined by the agencies of justice. Within tagging Edwin M. Limert, used the terminology of primary and secondary deviance, primary being a deviant act that was undertaken to achieve some immediate issue and or problem that may have arisen in the person life and doesn’t intend for the criminal behavior to continue. Secondary deviance
He wanted to show how deviant identities are produced through labelling rather through deviant motivations and behaviours (Giddens, 2001, pg. 210). Becker saw deviance as a process and that an act of deviance can only be deviant when someone breaks the law and is held accountable for such an act. Once you are convicted and labelled as a delinquent or deviant, that person is stigmatised and is probably considered as untrustworthy by people and prospective employers (Becker citied in Giddens, 2009).due to having this label, the deviant adopts the label and this can lead to further deviant acts,
According to Howard Becker’s labeling theory, ‘deviance is not a quality of the act person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an “offender”.’ (Becker