Social explanations

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why do we use labels?
to gage what is inside someone/something- the label define someone
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what did Becker find 1963?
dominant groups in society create rules that others should conform to, anyone who doesn't conform to expectations are labelled deviant
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what is crime and anti-social behaviour?
a social construct - only becomes it if dominant group think its socially unacceptable
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what does labelling involve?
a majority group considering a minority groups behaviour and using inferior terms when talking about them
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what is an example of labelling applying to crime?
labelling someone as a thief
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what is sterotyping?
using evidence from one member of a group and assuming that their characteristics are the same as all members in the group
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what makes labelling as an explanation of crime valid?
has support from studies - Besemer and LIvingstone et al which highlights the cause of labelling (crime in family) and being in certain positions links with criminal behaviour and brings stigma. also support evidence from SFP
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what is are the weaknesses of labelling theory?
-hard to say that all criminal and anti-social behaviour comes from labelling as there are many explanations for crime
-it is hard for studies to focus on the one aspect of someones development
-isolating factors for studies is not easily done in methodo
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what is the self-fulfilling prophecy?
claims that people fulfill the expectations of others and become what others think and say they will become
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what is this theory also known as?
the pygmallon effect because the play pygmallon shows the effect SFP can have in a positive way
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what are the five stages of SFP?
-person is labelled
-person is treated according to the label
-person reacts to the expectations by internalising those beings and starts to behave according to that label
-this behaviour then confirms the label so behaviour continues
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what is an crime example of SFP?
-person is labelled 'thief'
-label is internalised by person 'I am a thief'
-society treats person according to label 'don't let them see valuables'
-person responds by living up to the label/expectations society has of them 'I might as well steal'
-this
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who found evidence to support SFP?
Rosenthal and Jacobson
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what was their aim?
to see if SPF can occur specifically in a school environment
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what was their procedure?
tested children at the beginning of the year and teachers were told some students were 'bloomers' (randomly picked students)
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what were the results?
at the end of the year those who were labelled 'bloomers' has a higher IQ and the children's average IQ had fallen
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what was their conclusion?
teachers must have treated the 'bloomers' differently from the rest. that additional attention made the pupils do better or perhaps they gained more confidence as teachers perceived them to be brighter
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what is a crime example study of SFP?
Jahoda
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what was the procedure of this study?
- shanti tribe in africa children were named after the day of the week that they were born
-child born on monday was labelled peaceful and child born on wednesday was labelled aggressive
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what were the results?
22% of boys arrested were born on a wednesday and 6.9% who were born on a monday.
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what was the conclusion?
people expected the children born on a wednesday to be aggressive so they treated them as such
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what are some strengths of this study?
-data is valid as it came from court records
-naturalistic study - high ecological validity
-no other factors are clear that could have affected them
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what are some of the weaknesses of the study?
-hard to replicate as it was not a standardised procedure - low reliability
- factors other than the name wednesday may have led to convictions
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what does Madon suggest?
people with high self esteem are more likely to be affected by their parents predictions and social class is not a factor on whether parent-child relationship leads to SFP
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what do suggestions about format criminals lead to?
A SFP depending on the relationship between the labeller and the labelled
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what are some weaknesses of SFP?
-a lot of the research has been on education, expectation can be fulfilled in a teacher - child relationship but other relationships may not have the same effect
- problem with studying the effects of labelling on an individual level is finding a false be
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

what did Becker find 1963?

Back

dominant groups in society create rules that others should conform to, anyone who doesn't conform to expectations are labelled deviant

Card 3

Front

what is crime and anti-social behaviour?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

what does labelling involve?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

what is an example of labelling applying to crime?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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