Analysis of concepts and perspectives in academic study

Labeling Theory

Criminality is an unfortunate but inevitable component of human society. As much as people would like to believe that there is a way to create a type of community that has no crime, psychologists and other experts in the field of criminology have done research and created various hypotheses which show that criminality is actually an inevitability under any circumstances where large numbers of human beings interact and then create a system of laws. Wherever there is a system of laws, there will be at least a few people who choose to behave in ways antithetical to those laws. Among the many theories that have been explored about the potential reasons for criminality, perhaps the most interesting and most logical is the hypothetical argument which is referred to as the labeling theory.

Labeling is the process by which an individual is identified by the society in which they live according to certain criteria. The social structure provides the label and applies it to the individual. There can be positive, negative, and neutral labels. Once a label is applied, it is difficult to remove it because society constantly underlines and reinforces the label on that person and on all the other people in a given community. Each person is given some sort of label in their community, whether that be a label of familial connection (i.e. mother, daughter, father, son), a label of occupation (i.e. doctor, teacher, clerk), or a moral label (good person or bad person). A single individual may and probably does carry with them a plethora of labels all of which are based upon social construction. According to Larry Siegel in the book Criminology, "Children negatively labeled by their parents routinely suffer a variety of problems, including antisocial behavior and school failure" (254). The theory establishes the idea that people are born with certain label attachments, such as regarding their gender, social status, and geographical location of upbringing.

The negative connotations that are associated with certain labels can in turn impact the identity of the individual such that they are more likely to commit criminal acts. For example, those that are labeled as poor or low class are more likely to engage in random, petty crimes than those who are labeled with the attributes of the upper class (Welford "Future"). Social and financial statuses here are being equated with the quality of the person and their propensity to either follow or break the law.

The labeling theory also suggests that the actions of the criminal provide them with negative labels which will potentially affect whether or not they will continue to commit crimes. People who commit crimes are labeled by their action as "thief" or "murderer" or whatever their crime may have been. This component of labeling theory has earned it the secondary title of "dramatization of evil" (Townsend). The argument is that the person who has been labeled by their criminality will find their opportunities limited once their punishment is over and that this additional social restriction will then lead them to recidivism (Lilly 157). Perhaps the person will not be able to achieve traditional employment or will have difficulty in joining with the society outside of the prison.

In the 1930s, Frank Tannenbaum wrote that by providing people with labels according to criminal behavior, society is in turn creating a situation where in the individual feels that they must in some way live up to that label. He further asserts that it is the othering of individuals who do not belong to groups which society considers normal, creates a situation wherein people are more likely to behave in criminal ways. There is a lot of logical argument in the perspective that labeling an individual has to do with being not necessarily criminal, but being beyond what the society considers to be normal. . Consider that for many years and in many countries, homosexuality was a criminal offense. People who performed homosexual acts were criminals because they participated in a lifestyle that was not accepted by the social majority.

Criminologists who support the labeling theory of their field believe that by providing those who break the law with labels which are unflattering is a way in which to control society and prevent others from perpetrating crimes. Even more than fear of incarceration and punishment, this theory claims that the reason people choose not to commit crimes is because they do not wish their identities to be defined by broken laws they have left in their wake (Wellford 332). This particular aspect of the labeling theory is debatable because it seems to counter the initial position of the theory which states that socially imposed labels actually perpetuate criminality and increase the amount of crimes that are committed. Rather, there is plenty of evidence that by including a component of psychiatry into rehabilitation, which includes reexamination of the self and a new social identification will lead to scenarios wherein convicts are less likely to recommit crimes (Siegel 254). This would indicate that it is positive labels, rather than the threat of negative ones which lead to a decrease in recidivism.

The labeling theory is generally credited as the popularization if not the outright creation, at least in part, of one Howard Becker who wrote about labeling in his book Outsiders. In the text, he examines the ways in which the labels that are applied to an individual effect their psychology and thus impact their behaviors and the actions that they choose to perform. When someone is brandished with the labels of criminal or juvenile delinquent, whether or not those labels have been earned through action, they will have a direct correlation in the choices that the individual makes.