The Other Wes Moore Labeling Theory

The Other Wes Moore is a book about two young African-American lives that share the same name, Wes Moore. Both Wes Moores grew up with similarities, they both grew up in the same hometown. One of the Wes Moore is free and the other one is spending his life in jail. They both grew up without fathers. The author's father died in front of him when he was just three years old and the other Wes Moore barley knew his dad. The Author's father wasn’t there because he couldn’t be, and the other Wes Moore, father wasn’t there because he chose not to be. Both mothers were working hard towards setting their families and to support and care for their sons.

One’s childhood has a lasting impact on their entire life. Moore’s upbringing and the loving family he was born into, no matter how trivial it may seem, greatly contributed to his success. Wes seemingly grew up the same as any other kid in the Bronx – in a single-parent household, surrounded by bad influences… what separated him from the crowd? His support system: his family, and their ultimate support and sacrifices made all the difference. As a teenager, Wes seemed to be going down the wrong path. He constantly skipped school, his academic failures were overwhelming, and he was even arrested for vandalism. In the case of the other Wes, his family simply let these actions slide, and decision after decision ultimately landed him with a life sentence in prison. The author Wes’s mother, however, refused to allow this behavior to continue. As a method of intervention, she forced Moore to attend Valley Forge, and in doing so, probably saved his career. The extent of his family’s sacrifice was evident on page 95 when Wes realized that “my grandparents took the money they had in the home in the Bronx, decades of savings and mortgage payments, and gave it to my mother

“This is a story of two boys living in Baltimore with similar histories and an identical name: Wes Moore. One of us is free… The other will spend every day until his death behind bars...” (Moore, XI) In The Other Wes Moore, the author, Wes Moore, and the other Wes Moore both grew up in similar, yet different, circumstances and had completely different outcomes. This captivating narrative demonstrates how the choices you make, make you. In the introduction, the author Wes Moore validates this statement by saying, “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.” (Moore XI) The author, Wes Moore, shows the readers that a person’s environment, circumstances, education (or lack

Family had a major influence on the lives of both the author Wes Moore and prisoner Wes Moore. Author Wes Moore’s family kept him from getting into too much trouble. In fact, they intervened at a pivotal point in young Wes’s life and sent him to a military academy to set him straight. At one point, young Wes considered that “I knew my mother was considering sending me away, but I never thought she’d actually do it.” (Moore 87) But she did, “Welcome to military school.” (Moore 89). This was the best decision his family could have made. However, prisoner Wes’s main family influence - a hypocritical older brother involved heavily in the local drug world –pushed prisoner Wes further into a life of crime. Even though his mother tried, she

“The Other Wes Moore” is a story that follows two boys with the exact same name who start off living very similar lives in Baltimore, Maryland. One of the boys live on to be an extremely successful man and the other one is living the rest of his life behind bars. The two men wondered how their strikingly similar path diverged into two completely different fates and then an argument formed. Are people products of their choices or their environment and expectations thrown upon them? The book proves that people are products of their choices. Both Wes Moores were raised by a single mom in the tough streets of Baltimore and they both were rebellious children who got arrested at a young age. Their similarities lessened as their choices and their mom’s choices contrasted. The more fortunate Wes was sent to Military school and he chose to make the most of it and become the best version of himself. His determination and hard work trumped his previous hooligan mindset, therefore his future was bright and fulfilling. The other Wes chose to follow his brother,

The deviant is one to whom that label has successfully been applied; deviant behavior is behavior that people so label.” Deviance is created by society and they are the ones who determine it, label the individual, apply rules, create laws, and enforce it. Interactions between people are what creates deviance, actions are done in order for society to deem it as deviant, and labeling theory is there to label the individual that goes against society’s norms and values. Once the person is known to have done the deviant act, they are segregated by society and labeled as biker, goth, drug addict, alcoholic, etc. Furthermore, this segregation by society creates “outsiders” or outcasts from society, who then being to associate with others that are treated in the same way. Therefore, the individual ends up in a cycle of deviance through labeling, segregating, and then association with other members that were

The basis of Labeling Theory as a whole is practically exactly as it sounds, the labeling, or stigmatizing, of a person or group of people throughout their life. This labeling is the result of how that person, or group of people, identifies and behaves throughout their life. This idea of the Labeling Theory comes from Becker, who claims that individuals will conform with what is said and assumed about them. Becker’s theory states the idea that those who are labeled throughout life as deviant will become deviant and take on a known selfhood as deviant. This idea also claims that those labeled as deviant will act more deviant than if they had not been labeled this way. The Labeling Theory uses social characteristics such as class and race to

The key dependent variable of labeling theory is people accepting the label they are given based on their deviant act as part of their identity. Once a person steals something they are labeled as a thief. That individual comes to accept the label as part of their identity and will continue to steal because of their label. The key dependent variable of differential association is the individual committing the deviant act.

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.

i. The similarities with the Other Wes’s mother was that she too was never home, but the contrast lye with the mistake she made with leaving Tony as the only guardian. “Wes, now eight years old, was free from any adult supervision till then. His brother, six years older, was the closest thing Wes had to a caretaker during the daylight hours and was fiercely protective of the little brother who idolized him. But lately even Tony hadn’t been around much (Moore 26).”

The labeling theory is a theoretical development within the field of criminology, it is a theory that is used to determine self-identity and behavior of individuals. The theory is also used to classify and or describe the identity and behavior of individuals. It is connected to the concepts of self-fulfilling prophecy and stereotyping (Paternoster & Bachman, 2013). The primary authors of labeling theory are Howard Becker and Edwin Becker. The works of these authors were started in the 1950’s. Edwin Lemert made a distinction between primary deviance and secondary deviance, while Howard Becker focused on the conditions under which labeling takes place. Howard Becker coined the phrase “moral entrepreneurs” (Becker, 1963, p. 179), as individuals who take the lead in getting a specific behavior negatively labeled or getting the label removed.

The labeling theory is one of the critical perspective sociological theories of crime. Labeling theory was the first of the critical perspectives and like the other critical perspectives, it considers defining crime, as well as applying a label to those who commit what is defined as a crime to be problematic. Among the issues addressed by labeling theory are defining deviance based on primary deviance through implementing a label on the offender, discrimination by formal institutions, as well as the public based on what is defined as deviance, and continued deviance based on the label placed on offenders, which is known as secondary deviance in the labeling theory.

They questioned how and why certain people became defined as criminal or deviant (Howard Becker 1963). The theorists viewed criminals not as evil people who engaged in wrong acts, but as individuals who had a criminal status placed upon them by both the criminal justice system and the community surrounding them. Howard Becker believes the labeling theory focuses on the reaction of other people and the subsequent effects of those reactions, which creates deviance. When it becomes known that a person has engaged in deviant acts, she or he is then segregated from society and thus labeled, whore, thief, abuser, junkie, and etc. Howard Becker noted that this process of segregation creates outsiders, who are outcast from society, in which they begin to associate with other individuals who have also been cast out by society.

EVOLUTION OF THE LABELING THEORY- Howard Becker developed his theory of labeling in the 1963 book Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance. Becker's theory evolved during a period of social and political power struggle that was amplified within the world of the college campus. Liberal political movements were embraced by many of the college students and faculty in America. Howard Becker harnessed this liberal influence and adjusted Lemert's labeling theory and its symbolic interaction theoretical background. The labeling theory outlined in Outsiders is recognized

Becker also discusses how labelling theory helped transformed how us researchers understand crime and deviance. Labelling theory is well-known for its for its focus of inquiry and how different types of act as well as individuals come to be labelled as what one would consider deviant. There are labellers and the labelled. A labeller is an individual who is labelling one of a deviant behavior while the labelled is the individual who is being accused of committing a deviant behavior. In addition, how does one become deviant and who has the right to label? One can become deviant off of peer pressure, jobless, drugs, and so on. However, anyone can label