Labelling Theory Sociologists

Created by: LDOakes
Created on: 25-02-23 10:09

Howard Becker (1963)

LABELLING THEORY (INTERACTIONIST)
-Focuses on the process of an act/person being labelled deviant
-No act is inherently deviant due to context
-e.g nudity, injecting yourself, even murder

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Howard Becker's labelling process (steps 1 and 2)

1. Label attached by police & courts
2. Label becomes master-status, overshadowing all others (e.g friend, brother)

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Howard Becker's labelling process (steps 3 and 4)

3. The labelled person accepts the label (how others see us reflects on how we see ourselves)
4. Self-fulfilling prophecy (act in accordance w/ the label even if it wasn't initially true, confirming people's beliefs)

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Stanley Cohen

LABELLING THEORY (INTERACTIONIST)
-researched how media demonised youth culture
-Mods & Rockers 1964
-Folk devils
-Despite minimal actual acts of deviance

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What did Stanley Cohen call what happened with the Mods & Rockers he studied?

-Deviancy amplification spiral
-Sensationalist newspaper reporting
-Distorts actual acts of crime/deviance
-Creates public awareness
-Public pressure courts and police to act
-Creates a moral panic (certain acts/groups seen as a threat to social order)

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Criticisms of labelling theory

-Doesn't explain primary deviance
-Deterministic as not everyone accepts labels
-Victim status removes responsibility
-Structural and background differeces may be the ultimate causes of deviance
-ignores positives of labelling (e.g prevents crime)

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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Howard Becker's labelling process (steps 1 and 2)

Back

1. Label attached by police & courts
2. Label becomes master-status, overshadowing all others (e.g friend, brother)

Card 3

Front

Howard Becker's labelling process (steps 3 and 4)

Back

Card 4

Front

Stanley Cohen

Back

Card 5

Front

What did Stanley Cohen call what happened with the Mods & Rockers he studied?

Back

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Labelling Theory Sociologists