The Relationship Between Animals And Their Behavior Fits With Labeling Theory

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

“No matter what kind of person you are, I implore you: try. Try to make the world a better place. Look inside yourself and recognize that change starts with you” - Judy Hopps. The Disney movie, Zootopia, explains a society of animals where all the prey and predators get along together nicely. Judy Hopps, a rabbit, has always wanted to be a cop her whole life, but her parents want her to stay on the carrot farm to become a carrot farmer just like all of the other bunnies. After a lot of determination, Judy becomes the first prey/rabbit cop and moves to the city of Zootopia. The head officer explains that nine animals, prey and predators, throughout the four Zootopia zones had gone missing. Determined to prove her spot as a cop, Judy jumps at the opportunity to solve the mysterious cases. Judy went out trying to solve the cases with a mischievous fox to figure out what happened to the missing animals. Zootopia is a great modern day example of transcendentalism as it displays examples of nonconformity and confidence.

Labeling theory is the view that society creates deviance through a system of social control organizations that label certain people as a delinquent or even juvenile delinquent. An example of someone being highly labeled would be John Bender. John was the criminal student who smoked, skipped school, and broke all the rules. John experienced labeling theory, ultimately by his dad as being a lazy free loader and by the principal as being the worst kid at the school. To compare, he also went through the strain theory stage, the stage when society puts peer pressure on an individual caused by the failure to achieves one’s social goals. John was labeled by his peers, father, and even principle as someone who did not care about the rules in school or succeeding in life. However, he had his own self-label where he accepted the fact that he was a trouble maker. Furthermore, an example in the movie is when he felt he was treated unfairly by the principle so, to get revenge he would leave the classroom and wandering the halls to make the teacher come find him and the students. With John demonstrating being the bad influence on his classmates, he puts peer pressure on all the rest of the students to display deviant behavior.

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

The first sociological concept or principle that is seen in The Breakfast Club is the idea of the labeling theory. The labeling theory is an approach to the study of deviance that suggests that people become “deviant” because certain labels are attached to their behavior by political authorities and others. For example Claire

I chose the labeling theory because the labeling theory can be related to serial murder, which is what the popular television show Criminal Minds focuses on. Frank Tannenbaum and Howard S. Becker created and developed the labeling theory. Tannenbaum’s explanation

Zootopia is one of Disney’s most successful films in recent years. Its main goal at the time was to use animals as metaphors for humans in order to help kids understand racial tensions in the police and with the public. Disney achieved this, as well as incorporating underlying psychological themes that could be interpreted by audience members both big and small. They were harder to uncover, but some that I noted are how the characters are unique depending on how they were born and raised, the effects of isolation, and how they build relationships. I believe it’s important to look at the behavior of these animals since this film can be used as a tool to help children, and even adults, deal with their own behavior.

In the 1950s, Edwin Lemert was the first theorist to bring about the labeling theory with an explanation of a primary and secondary deviance. However, Lemert did not study and did not consider

Empirical studies that have shown support for the utility of labeling theory, include a study done

Associating with the self-fulfilling prophecy, master status, and symbolic interactionism, Howard Becker’s labeling theory, views deviance as not an innate act, but rather, elects to target society impulse to engage in stigmatization (Cartwright, 2011). In this paper, I will discuss the implications of labeling specifically in the articles “The Saints and the Roughnecks” by William Chambliss and “On Being Sane In Insane Places” by David Rosenhan. Additionally, I will be discussing the far-reaching effects of negative labeling an individual, with respect to concepts such as labeling theory, the self-fulfilling prophecy, and master status.

In this essay, the comparison between and contrast between strain theory and labelling theory. The essay will start with the key features of each theory and then it will go into the main comparison of the two theories. It will go into to detail on the similarities and differences between the two theories. Strain theory is the theory developed in 1938 by Robert K Merton. It’s the theory that society puts pressure on people to achieve socially accepted goals. Labelling theory is the theory that the public act in the way that society has labelled them, which gives negative connotations towards that person. Both the theories, judge crime on the type of people and how they have been deemed, both theories try to explain crime from social perspectives.

The labeling theory is based off of interactions between individuals and society. It suggests that the negative labels given to individuals by society can cause the individual to become that label.

Although seemingly unimportant to the storyline, the presence of the foxes and horses play a major role in the story, as they symbolize the sides of the conflict between conformity and self image. The foxes represent conformity; they all live in the same routine, are controlled by others in their environment, and are both literally and metaphorically locked in a cage. The narrator’s environment is much like the foxes, controlling. Her parent’s subtle hints, whether it be her mother’s comments or her father’s tasks, are slowly but surely enclosing on her like a cage, and will soon trap her.

Most people think of small animals, such as sheep, as meek and submissive due to their frequent portrayal as innocent characters in children’s stories and folklore; in these same stories, antagonistic characters tend to be fiercer animals such as lions or wolves. However, the children’s movie Zootopia, in which all characters are mammals, shows that this is not always the case. The characters in this film break the stereotypes against them by being different or the opposite of what the audience expects based on their species or occupation within the film. For instance, Judy Hopps solves the case on the missing mammals and why they went savage despite being a “dumb bunny”, and Nick Wilde turns from a sly con artist to the first fox cop. This

The modern mammal metropolis of Zootopia is a city like no other. Comprised of habitat neighborhoods like ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, it’s a melting pot where animals from every environment live together—a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything. But when rookie Officer Judy Hopps (voice of Ginnifer Goodwin) arrives, she discovers