Labeling Theory And Its Effects On The United States Essay

The labeling theory is based on social deviations that result in the outsider becoming labeled (UK Essays, 2013). Labels make expectations that the labeled person will act in a specific way. These labeled people will eventually begin to accept their labels as personal identities (Siegel & Welsh, 2014). In other words, this theory explains society makes people deviant through those who label those people as delinquent; that stigmatizes those people and encourages them to accept the label as a personal identity. Another part of the labeling theory is that the process helps create a self-fulfilling prophecy; deviant behavior patterns are a response to being previously labeled (Siegel & Welsh, 2014).

The labelling theory shows how crime is socially constructed based on labels created by the powerful, which is important for our understanding of who commits a crime as they show how the powerless can be labelled as deviant whilst powerful groups are not. This undermines the

The labeling theory basically categorize individuals who breaks the laws or commit crime. The purpose of the labeling is to cause social humiliation so the individual want commit the crime again. Labels are placed on individuals who commit crime to reduce repeat offenses. A person of prestige that has a high ranking social class is the individual that usually determines how labels are applied. Labeling theory can have a negative effect on the individual who is categorized, the individual is more likely to view them self as labeled. Therefore the individual may go through an identity crisis trying to find their true identity. Some theorist believed that the labeling theory is meant to prevent crime while others believe it encourages crime. When individual conforms to the social stigma he or she engages in deviant acts. Males are more likely to conform to the labels. The negative treatment from members within society can reduce an individual deviant behavior based on the fact that the individual does not want to be judge or mistreatment. This theory does not have a specific method to deter crime. However the form of punishment for the labeling theory is shaming the individual. Individuals who have a criminal label are often looked down on from members within society.it is hard for individual that has a criminal record to find a decent job. To rent a house one must complete a criminal background check. To attend school one must disclose their criminal history. An individual

Labeling theory makes no attempt to understand why an individual initially engaged in primary deviance and committed a crime before they were labeled; this then limits the scope of the theory’s explanations and suggests the theory may not provide a better account for crime. Labeling theory emphasizes the negative effects of labeling, which gives the offender a victim status. Also, the same likelihood exists for developing a criminal career regardless of deviance being primary or secondary. Furthermore, labeling theorists are only interested in understanding the aftermath of an individual getting caught committing crime and society attaching a label to the offender. This differs from the view of social learning theory, which seeks to explain the first and subsequent criminal acts. Many critics also argue that the racial, social, and economic statuses of an individual create labels, as opposed to criminal acts; this theory then fails to acknowledge that those statuses may factor into the labeling process. As a result, the above suggests that labeling theory does not provide a good account for crime and appropriately has little empirical support. Moreover, in terms of policy implications, labeling theory implies a policy of radical non-intervention, where minor offenses

Menna, W. (2007, September 15). Evaluating Labeling Theory of Juvenile Delinquency. Retrieved from Science 360: http://

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

Another theoretical distinction that labeling theory brings to light is that this theory does in fact target both the criminal and society in relation to contributing to the cycle. The societal reactions that are presented when an offender is involved in a deviant or criminal behavior is a form of social control. Therefore, labeling theory incorporates these actors into the theory so that criminal justice professionals, students, researchers, etc. can gain a better understanding for why labeling does not reduce recidivism or crime rates. The community that an offender often is released to, knows about his or her offense, depending on the severity of the

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

President Truman once said, “America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination, and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand”. These thoughts still hold true today. Being an American means so much more than reciting the pledge of allegiance every morning at school. It is more than just watching fireworks on the fourth of July. So what does being an American truly mean? Although there are many different definitions, it is defined by many people as believing in the idea that no matter your race, gender, religion, or background, everyone is created equal and given the opportunity to live their life without fear of discrimination or oppression.

‘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

The fourth article that I reviewed, focused on labeling theory. In this article, Labeling Effects of First Juvenile Arrests authors Liberman, Kirk, and Kim focused on how the first arrest increases the likelihood of reoffending for juveniles. The idea of labels triggers “secondary sanctioning” processes. Labeling is a powerful mechanism that can lead to crime.

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

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

Using the Gibb categories give three examples of defensive and or supportive behaviors that Ben and Katie used in the film.

Labeling theory helps us understand the social responses and reactions from the community, and as illustrated in the opening comments, the Mercer brothers’ history of criminal behavior and activities. Labeling theory is an approach of explaining that the self-identity and behavior of individuals may be determined or influenced by the terms used when societies describe or classify individuals without further