Labelling Theories' Contribution to the Sociological Understanding of Crime and Deviance

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,

1.) Slater's two memoirs "Striptease" and "Three Spheres" greatly embody the principles of Howard Becker's Labeling Theory. In Becker's theory he states that "social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance, and by applying those rules and labeling them as outsiders." He goes on to say "Deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an offender. The deviant is one to whom the label has succesfully been applied; deviant behavior is behavior that people so label." And thus by labeling these individuals as deviant or outsiders, we are allowing the belief in which that person believes it to be true to increase or decrease

The first theme is labelling and deviant identity theory of criminalisation, one of the main contributors to this theory was Howard Becker who in 1963 wrote the book “Outsiders” which provided the foundations of labelling theory. Becker looked at how social groups created deviance by creating the

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

Using material from Item A and elsewhere assess the view that crime and deviance are the product of labelling processes.

In any and every society, there is a level of deviance or crime, no matter how big or small. Deviance is when the norms of a society are disregarded, while crime is when there is a defiance of laws within a society. Individuals who are deviant tend to be nonconforming to the society in which they live, challenging social expectations and deviating from what is considered the norm. Meanwhile, crime is a form of deviance that also discards norms, but in a way that breaks the laws of a certain society or community. When looking at deviance and crime in a micro-level perspective, there are three different theories often used to analyze the reasoning for both in a society. These theories include the Differential Association Theory, the Control Theory and the Labeling Theory. In further dissecting these theories, one can gain a greater insight into the workings of society.

Because of the stigma created from the label a modification of self image occurs in the individual. The individual essentially lives up to their deviant label, becoming the person described in the label. The process of deviancy amplification whereby any punishments or treatment therefore reinforce the individual perception of the criminal, thus more crimes fitting to the label are carried out. This theory can however by criticised because it is determinist, where individuals have n control over the process and once they have been labelled they will inevitably turn

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”

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

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)

When this label is attached and internalized the individual’s actions will become influenced by the label and further deviance can be produced as a result as the individual is going to think that it is expected of them. It is also possible that when these labels are attached and internalized that these deviants will be pushed to the outskirts of society and it is here that they may begin to associate with others who may have similar

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 process of labeling involves an engagement of “Social groups [that] create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and labeling them as outsiders. From this point of view deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an “offender.” (Becker 1963). This theory treats such labels as both dependent and independent variables. Exclusively, it views labels as dependent or effect variable when it attempts to explain why certain behaviors are socially defined as wrong and certain individuals are socially selected and linked to such labels; ultimately, stigmatizing the person as deviant. In contrast, labeling theory also views labels as the independent factors or causes when it hypothesizes that discrediting labels cause continuation and escalation of the criminal or delinquent behavior. Labeling theory tries to explain the differential application of official stigmatizing labels.

Sociological theories on crime, whether they are macro or micro, look at external factors in determining causative reasons for criminal conduct (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). This process is very different from biological and psychological crime theories, which focus on internal characteristics of a person (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). Macrosociological theory accounts for the overall big picture of a society taking into account the physical structure of an area and how it is laid out. This information is used to theorize if they have an influence on criminal activity for that particular location or neighborhood (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). Microsociological theories focus in on a more concentrated view of individual’s external interactions with each other or specific programs such as church or school (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). These theories try to explain if these interactions foster a criminal environment or cause the opposite (Bohm & Vogel, 2011).