Crime and Deviance – Interactionism/Labelling
Interactionism/labelling theory – looks at how + why some
people are labelled as deviant. C+D is seen as a social
construct created through social interactions. It is more about
individual interactions.
The social construction of crime:
- No act is criminal/deviant in of itself, it’s the act of labelling
which makes it so.
- Becker – For Becker + interactionists, a deviant is simply
someone who has been labelled so.
- So how do laws + rules get made in the first place?
Becker says it starts with a group of individuals called
‘moral entrepreneurs’ (people who are concerned/worried
about society changing. Parents are an example of a
moral entrepreneurs.
- As a result of these new rules, this leads to new
outsiders/deviants + the empowering of asocial control
agency (e.g., police). Example: juvenile delinquents
(young people committing small acts of anti-social
behaviour/criminality/deviance). In Victorian period, there
was a campaign made by the upper class Victorian moral
entrepreneurs want to protect young people. Then, there
were juvenile courts established. So, then the state
extended powers in to ‘status’ offenders such as
promiscuity + truancy (failing to turn up to school/work if
you’re a Victorian child)
Interactionism/labelling theory – looks at how + why some
people are labelled as deviant. C+D is seen as a social
construct created through social interactions. It is more about
individual interactions.
The social construction of crime:
- No act is criminal/deviant in of itself, it’s the act of labelling
which makes it so.
- Becker – For Becker + interactionists, a deviant is simply
someone who has been labelled so.
- So how do laws + rules get made in the first place?
Becker says it starts with a group of individuals called
‘moral entrepreneurs’ (people who are concerned/worried
about society changing. Parents are an example of a
moral entrepreneurs.
- As a result of these new rules, this leads to new
outsiders/deviants + the empowering of asocial control
agency (e.g., police). Example: juvenile delinquents
(young people committing small acts of anti-social
behaviour/criminality/deviance). In Victorian period, there
was a campaign made by the upper class Victorian moral
entrepreneurs want to protect young people. Then, there
were juvenile courts established. So, then the state
extended powers in to ‘status’ offenders such as
promiscuity + truancy (failing to turn up to school/work if
you’re a Victorian child)
