Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Labeling Theory of Deviance
Labeling theory integrate well into radical criminology as it perceives criminal behavior to be defined by society. The powerful in the society like the judges, parents, police, to mention but a few tend to label the less powerful. Ones conduct is never classified as right or wrong but as a deviant behavior. It is not only criminal behaviors that are treated as deviant. The society's alcoholics and the mentally hill are also perceived to be showcasing deviant behaviors. Labeling leads to creation of stigma and modification of self-image (Wright, Gronfein, & Owens, 2000). The element of stigma comes about when the public takes to condemning and exclusion of a criminal. The criminal is avoided and treated with suspicion. He is barred from certain types of employments (Macionis & Gerber, 2011). Their own families may even reject them. The police also give them undue attention. The element of modification of self-image sets in as a result of the stigma that a given criminal is subjected to. There is a self-fulfilling prophecy where an individual becomes the person being described by the label. The label becomes a role and the individual changes that life to suit that role. As more crimes are committed an individual forms an identity that of criminal and its associated values, attitudes, and beliefs a process that is called deviance amplification. Intervention like punishment meted out on these behaviors reinforces an individual's perception of being a criminal (Macionis & Gerber, 2011). According to labeling theory of deviance, crime is not a violation of a penal code but an act that outrages a society. The society labels to control behaviors. The self is constructed and reconstructed through the interactions...
People obtain labels from how others view their interactions. Deviance is perceived to be a failure to conform to the rules observed by members of the society. A person is labeled to have offended against a society's social or moral norms of behavior. Society's cardinal role in this respect is to designate breaches or rules as deviant. The person considered to have breached the norms is treated differently depending on the seriousness of the breach. The more differential the treatment, the more an individual self-image is affected. The society provides very special roles for deviant behaviors. And once more these are called deviant and stigmatic roles (Macionis & Gerber, 2011). To build more on what had been ventilated earlier, social roles are expectations people have about behavior. For a society or a group to function there has to be social roles which are necessary for organization. Deviant behaviors include criminal and non-criminal activities. Deviant roles affect how an individual perceives those who are assigned the roles. It also affects how deviant actors perceive themselves and their relationship to the society. Attaching labels to deviant roles lead to some sort of social stigma (Macionis & Gerber, 2011). A labeled person is considered to be different from others. Stigmatic roles are used to control and limit deviant behaviors. Members of the society who exhibit deviant behaviors are considered to be social deviants. One is to be stigmatized upon breaching given rules depending on the significance of the moral or the tenet it represents. As a matter of fact, adultery may be considered a breach of an informal rule or it may as well be criminalized, depending on the status of the parties'…
References List
Gottfredson, M.R. & Hirschi, T. (1990). A General Theory of Crime. Stanford, California:
Macionis, J.J. & Gerber, L.M. (2011). Sociology. Toronto: Pearson Canada.
Paternoster, R. (1987). The Deterrent Effect (If the Perceived Certainty and Severity Of
Punishment: A Review of the Evidence and Issues. Justice Quarterly 4, 173-218.
Labeling Theory Originating in sociology and criminology, labeling theory (also known as social reaction theory) was developed by sociologist Howard S. Becker (1997). Labeling theory suggests that deviance, rather than constituting an act, results from the societal tendency of majorities to negatively label those individuals perceived as deviant from norms. Essentially, labeling theory involves how the self-identity and behavior of individuals determines or influences the terms used to describe or classify
Labeling Theory and Juvenile Crime Do we perform to expectations? One study of gifted children suggested that this was the case: in an experiment, teachers were told that certain pupils in their classroom had tested as 'gifted.' Almost immediately, the teachers began to treat these children differently, and the children began to perform at a higher standard. However, the teachers had actually been intentionally misinformed -- the children had been selected
This in turn more often than not leads the stigmatized to acquire more and more deviant and possibly criminal identities (Lanier & Henry, 1998). There can, of course, be other antecedents prior to labeling that can enhance the process of delinquency in juveniles. Mental and/or psychological impairments must also be considered as a contributing factor. Certain of these attributes can also contribute to highly suggestible levels in regards to behavior
Labeling Theory: Theories of Deviance In sociology and criminology, labeling theorists were among the first to suggest that crime was not produced by inherent defects within the individual’s biology or character, but rather was a social construction. Labeling theorists suggested that crime was the result of society’s need to label certain individuals as deviant. This labeling became a self-fulfilling prophesy, to the point that the labeled individuals made their deviant label
Labeling theory The labeling theory is one of the various social behavior theories that seek to explain the cause of deviant behaviors within the society. Here, the theorists tend to describe deviant behavior as behavior that which becomes deviant only when labeled so. This approach tends to explain why the labeling theorists are not much interested in what causes the primary deviation. They tend to shelve the question of what causes
Crime and Social Theory Deviance Interpreted by Social Theories Illicit Drug Use Illicit drug use has historically been seen as a global threat towards society and a primary contributing factor for the prevalence other crimes, such as smuggling, home invasions, property crimes, assault, and murder. In 1969 President Nixon stated publicly that illicit drug use is a serious national problem and in 1971 declared the "War on Drugs" (National Public Radio, 2007). Over