The labeling perspective and delinquency: An elaboration of the theory and an assessment of the evidence. (1975), in their classic book Deviance in Classrooms, reported a study in which they interviewed teachers and observed classrooms, examining the process through which teachers "got to know" new students. However, according to Interactionists, when new laws are created, they simply create new groups of outsiders and lead to the expansion of social control agencies such as the police, and such campaigns may do little to change the underlying amount of deviant activity taking place. In other words, an individual engages in a behaviour that is deemed by others as inappropriate, others label that person to be deviant, and eventually the individual internalizes and accepts this label. This essay will go on to show the origins of labelling theory, the theory itself and will show its strengths and weaknesses using various case-studies and examples. Labeling theory is a criminological theory that contends that formal sanctions amplify, rather than deter, future delinquent and criminal behavior. Labeling can lead to blocked opportunities, such as reduced education and instability in employment; and, the weak conventional ties resulting from this lack of opportunity can create a long-lasting effect on adult criminal behavior. This original research found that arresting suspected perpetrators of domestic violence had a deterrent effect. Bernburg, J. G., Krohn, M. D., & Rivera, C. J. Labelling, Strain theory and Positivism Essay - Warning: TT: undefined function: 32 Warning: TT: - Studocu positivism positivism is the scientific explanation behind the behaviour of criminal. They are Bruce Links modified labeling, John Braithwaites reintegrative shaming, and Ross L. Matsueda and Karen Heimers differential social control. Labelling theory is summarized in terms of nine "assumptions" as developed by Schrag, and each assumption is related to current (1965). Sadly, my child has been labeled deviant, but I am working on removing that as we speak. Outsiders: Studies In The Sociology of Deviance. The final part of a moral panic is when the authorities respond to the publics fear, which will normally involve tougher laws, initiatives and sentencing designed to prevent and punish the deviant group question. Howard Becker (1963): his key statement about labelling is: "Deviancy is not a quality of the act a person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an 'offender'. In summary, symbolic interactionism is a theory in sociology that argues that society is created and maintained by face-to-face, repeated, meaningful interactions among individuals (Carter and Fuller, 2016). Later, Sampson and Laub (1997) argued that defiant or difficult children can be subject to labeling and subsequent stigma that undermines attachments to conventional others family, school, and peers. Deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label.. Mental patient status, work, and income: An examination of the effects of a psychiatric label. Crime and deviance over the life course: The salience of adult social bonds. The Chinese government implicitly encouraged the masses to widely revile criminals and deviants, while officially stating that they aimed to reform delinquent behavior, particularly in adolescents. The Sociological Quarterly, 48(4), 689-712. When Avery was 18-years-old, he pleaded guilty to burglary and received a 10 month prison sentence. Social process theory has several subdivisions including: social control theory, social learning theory and social reaction (labeling) theory (will only focus on social control theory). As a result, those from lower-classes and minority communities are more likely to be labeled as criminals than others, and members of these groups are likely to be seen by others as associated with criminality and deviance, regardless of whether or not they have been formally labeled as a criminal. Thus, those labeled as deviant would want to seek relationships with those who also have a deviant self-concept. Then, based on its characteristics, they label it within social and cultural conventions. Sidney Levy and Ferber Award). Sociologists such as David Gilborn argue that teachers hold negative stereotypes of young black boys, believing them to be more threatening and aggressive than White and Asian children. Labelling is a process of classification and is related to many different areas, some of them mentioned above. Management Business and Economics Marketing Case Study +59. Primary deviance refers to initial acts of deviance by an individual that have only minor consequences for that individuals status or relationships in society. Negative labelling can sometimes have the opposite effect Margaret Fullers (1984) research on black girls in a London comprehensive school found that the black girls she researched were labelled as low-achievers, but their response to this negative labelling was to knuckle down and study hard to prove their teachers and the school wrong. Rist (1970) Student Social Class and Teachers Expectations: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of Ghetto Education, Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) Pygmalion in the Classroom (the famous self-fulfilling prophecy experiment!). When individuals have little social support from conventional society, they can turn to deviant groups, where having a deviant label is accepted. Before Matsueda (1992), researchers saw delinquency in adolescents as a factor of self-esteem, with mixed results. This paper Labeling Theory And Strain Theory The methodology of conducting longitudinal studies in the research above provides empirical evidence for the negative effects of labelling as it shows that the feelings of rejection are persistent and long term. Those who have the power to make the label stick thus create deviants or criminals. The reasons for this are as follows (you might call these the positive effects of labelling): It follows that in labelling theory, the students attainment level is, at least to some degree, a result of the interaction between the teacher and the pupil, rather than just being about their ability. (2006). This research was flawed for several reasons. Chriss, J. J. Developmental theories of crime and delinquency, 7, 133-161. Classic studies on teacher labelling in education, David Hargreaves: Speculation, Elaboration, Stabilization, Student Social Class and Teachers Expectations, Labelling theory and the self fulfilling prophecy, Contemporary research on labelling theory, Criticisms of the labelling theory of education, Research in one American Kindergarten by Ray C. Rist (1970), Gender and educational achievement: in school processes, Ethnicity and differential achievement: in school processes, David Hargreaves (1975) Deviance in Classrooms, R.C. <br><br>I teach introduction to Marketing at the . Bernburg, J. G., & Krohn, M. D. (2003). Simply Scholar Ltd. 20-22 Wenlock Road, London N1 7GU, 2023 Simply Scholar, Ltd. All rights reserved, 2023 Simply Psychology - Study Guides for Psychology Students, Stigma and Discrimination: The Roots of Labeling Theory. The first as well as one of the most prominent labeling theorists was Howard Becker, who published his groundbreaking work Outsiders in 1963. (2006). He distinguishes between two types of shaming: A policy of reintegrative shaming avoids stigmatising the offender as evil while at the same time making them aware of the negative impact of their actions on others. It has expanded my knowledge. Subscribe now and start your journey towards a happier, healthier you. (2016). (1984). Cicourel and Kitsuse argued that counsellors decisions were based around a number of non academic criteria related to social class such as the clothes students wore, their manners and their general demeanour. According to labelling theory, teachers actively judge their pupils over a period of time, making judgments based on their behaviour in class, attitude to learning, previous school reports and interactions with them and their parents, and they eventually classifying their students according to whether they are high or low ability, hard working or lazy, naughty or well-behaved, in need of support or capable of just getting on with it (to give just a few possible categories, there are others!). Basically the public, the police and the courts selectively label the already marginalised as deviant, which the then labelled deviant responds to by being more deviant. Lemert suggested that the problem was caused by the great importance attached to ceremonial speech-making. Haralambos and Holborn (2013) Sociology Themes and Perspectives. Thank you for responding. This lack of conventional tires can have a large impact on self-definition and lead to subsequent deviance (Bernburg, 2009). Building on the above point, a positive label is more likely to result in a good student being put into a higher band, and vice versa for a student pre-judged to be less able. It is this latter form of deviance that enabled Labeling theory to gain such immense popularity in the 1960's, forcing criminologists to reconsider how large a part Similarly, labelling theory implies that we should avoid naming and shaming offenders since this is likely to create a perception of them as evil outsiders and, by excluding them from mainstream society, push them into further deviance. Becker provides a more extreme example in his book The Outsiders(1963) in this he draws on a simple illustration of a study by anthropologist Malinowski who describes how a youth killed himself because he hand been publicly accused of incest. These theorists shaped their argument around the notion that even though some criminological efforts to reduce crime are meant to help the offender (such as rehabilitation efforts), they may move offenders closer to lives of crime because of the label they assign the individuals engaging in the behaviour. However, more inclusive reviews of studies that examine how formal labeling affects subsequent behavior show more mixed results. Briar, S., & Piliavin, I. Delinquency, situational inducements, and commitment to conformity. Principles of criminology: Altamira Press. Labeling theory can apply for both good and bad but labeling theory tends to lean toward the bad than the good. The focus of this perspective is the interaction between individuals in society, which is the basis for meanings within that society. Edwin Lemert (1972) developed the concepts of primary and secondary deviance to emphasise the fact that everyone engages in deviant acts, but only some people are caught being deviant and labelled as deviant. 32 pages of revision notes covering the entire A-level sociology crime and deviance specification, Seven colour mind maps covering sociological perspective on crime and deviance. They see crime as the product of micro-level interactions between certain individuals and the police, rather than the result of external social forces such as socialisation or blocked opportunity structures. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). In Handbook on crime and deviance (pp. Beyond the prison gates: The state of parole in America. Outsiders-Defining Deviance. Explains the labelling theory, which describes the process of deviance in which an individual is given a negative identity and is forced to suffer the consequences of outcast status. Bernburg, J. G., Krohn, M. D., & Rivera, C. J. It is the agencies of social control that produce delinquents. Those from middle class backgrounds were more likely to be placed onto higher level courses even when they had the same grades as students from lower class backgrounds. This notion of social reaction, reaction or response by others to the behaviour or individual, is central to labeling theory. Labeling Theory Case Study: Hire a Writer. Because these labeled youth are not necessarily rejecting other labeled youths, it thus makes sense that deviant groups can form where deviants provide social support to other deviants. Other theorists, such as Sampson and Laub (1990) have examined labeling theory in the context of social bonding theory. The issue of ethnicity and education is covered in more depth here: Ethnicity and differential achievement: in school processes. The focus of these theorists is on the reactions of members in society to crime and deviance, a focus that separated them from other scholars of the time. ID 14317. Formal labels are labels ascribed to an individual by someone who has the formal status and ability to discern deviant behavior. Labeling theory is a unique sociological approach that looks at how social labels play a role in the rise of crime and other kinds of wrongdoing. This type of deviance, unlike primary deviance, has major implications for a persons status and relationships in society and is a direct result of the internalization of the deviant label. Rather, it stresses the importance of the process through which society defines acts as deviant and the role of negative social reactions in influencing individuals to engage in subsequent acts. Firstly, labeling can cause rejection from non-deviant peers. Primary and Secondary Deviance (Edwin Lemert), The Deviant Career, the Master Status and Subcultures (Howard Becker), Labelling and the Self-Fulling Prophecy applied to education (Howard Becker and Rosenthal and Jacobson), Labelling theory applied to the Media Moral Panics, Folk Devils and Deviancy Amplification (Stan Cohen), This is the stage at which the label may become a, That the law is not set in stone it is actively constructed and changes over time, That law enforcement is often discriminatory, That attempts to control crime can backfire and may make the situation worse. Students can also use this material to illustrate some of the key ideas of social action theory more generally when they study social theory in more depth in their second year. Conceptualizing stigma. Liberalism key thinkers; 1.9 Pure Economic loss - Tort Law Lecture Notes; EU LAW CASE LIST Labelling theory is one of the major in-school processes which explains differential educational achievement see here for in-school processes in relation to class differences in education. Updated on February 03, 2020. As those labeled as deviants experience more social interactions where they are given the stereotypical expectation of deviance, this can shape that persons self-concept. Sociological frameworks are those used to study and social phenomena contained by a specific school of thought. As deviant labeling is stigmatizing, those with deviant labels can be excluded from relationships with non-deviant people and from legitimate opportunities. Three classic works, summarised below include: David Hargreaves et al (1975) in their classic book Deviance in Classrooms analysed the ways in which students came to be typed, or labelled. Thank you, I found this most helpful and enlightening. For example, the teachers and staff at a school can label a child as a troublemaker and treat him as such (through detention and so forth).