Cultural Diversity in Criminal Justice There are many deviance theories that can be apply to the criminal justice system. Theories examine how individuals engage in crime. Deviance is any behavior that does not conform to the normal norms of a society and behavior is unacceptable to culture. Deviance is measured by society’s reaction to the violation of their social order is defined by a culture as deviant. Deviance is a label used to maintain the power, control, and position of a powerful individual or group. People deviate from social norms while some conform because of their raising and social pressures (Hayes, T.A. (2010).
Labeling theory focus on individuals who society has judged to be criminal and thus label them as such. This theory looks at how a criminal, interacts with their society. Labeling theory was quite popular in the 1960s and early 1970s. Howard Becker (1963), states that criminal behavior changes throughout time. Becker says that personal motives and the influence by society have nothing to do with criminal behavior. Specific attention is giving to those that have been label a criminal and society react and operate with them. Once a person has the label of’ criminal, it becomes a constant status, even if they are mother or father criminal is the one that sticks with them. Becker states that individuals with this label begin to be associated with the word criminal (Becker, H. (1963)). The media is one of the key contributors of stereotyped characters. They can make anything appear to be true thus labeling people. Take the blonde hair women who often are portraying as an unintelligent and sexually promiscuous, or that portrayed African-Americans as being lazy or violence-prone. Gives those who believe such portray to believe such and thus prejudice against this group starts.
Stereotypes are developing when people are not receiving all of the