...Finally it will look at some of the criticisms labelling theorists face. This essay will draw information from academic books, websites and articles to illustrate and support the points of few being put forward in the essay. Interactionist generally sees society from the point of view of individuals. They believe that individuals are creative free thinking people who are able to choose their own behaviour and the also believe that behaviour is self-directed based on the interactions we have with one another. The labelling views on deviance is generally grounded in what is now known as labelling theory which emerged in the 1960’s from the work of American sociologist Howard Becker. Labelling theorists are mainly concerned with how and why certain people and actions are labelled as criminal or deviant, and they also look at what effects this has on those who are labelled as such. Edwin Lemert is regarded by many sociological theorists as the founding father of the labelling theory. Lemert theorised labelling theory as the process through which a person may well become classed as a social deviant due to public reaction. He...
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...(Broom and Selzsnck, 1963 p540, 541). Deviance can be defined as behaviour which does not conform to certain norms of a specific society. (Haralambos & Holborn, 2008). Defining crime or deviance is diverse amongst the many different cultures, history and from one social context to another (new texts p138) which causes big problems whilst defining and measuring crime or deviance as what is believed to be criminal or deviant behaviour in one society may be seen as legal or normal behaviour be another society. There are many theories relating to deviance and crime with each theory illustrating a different aspect of the procedure by which people break rules and are classed as deviants or criminals. (New texts p 138) This highlights the problems in defining crime or deviance. Many believe crime and deviance developed on separate tracks over the years as criminologist serve only for legality, crime and crime-related phenomena. The study of deviance however serves for a wide range of behaviours that are not necessarily illegal for example suicide, alcoholism, homosexuality, mentally disordered behaviours. (Bader et al) the man difference between crime and deviance is deviant behaviour is when a social norm has been broken. Meaning crime can also be classed as deviant behaviour but deviance cannot be construed as crime (Jones p32). Deviance is relative means that there is no absolute way of defining a deviant act. Deviance can be defined in relation to a particular standard and...
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...university lecturer, who in August of 2015 was accused of one of the most heinous crimes considerable after one of his colleagues found naked videos of his children on his work cell phone. The videos were interpreted to be inappropriate and in effect caused immediate concern. After the videos were brought to the attention of authorities, he was publicly shamed by means of being escorted off the campus during lunch time and taken into custody under the suspicion...
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...twenty percent of women who have been victimized this way during their own childhood and adolescence, while 1 to 3 percent of men have had the same experience. ( Deviant Behaviour ,120: 2) Honestly these numbers appear very large due to the fact that this happened from childhood to about the teen years in these children's lives that's about an 18 year abuse span. (Deviant Behaviour, 121: 1) My paper will prove that Child abuse is an important topic to discuss due to the fact that it is sometimes neglected or overlooked due to its reality. Deviance is defined by relativistic and pathological behaviours. When deviance is expressed a pathological behaviour, it looks at people who are sick or with a mental disease. While when deviance is expressed as a relativistic behaviour it is seen as someone failing to obey group or society rules. This person can be seen as a threat to society because they do not comply with the rule of law. In term of my topic of child abuse the term deviance can be applied by both realistic and pathological behaviours. The Realistic behaviour can relate to the Parent or the abuser of the child who is failing to follow basic social rules of knowing not to beat your children. Some children suffer abuse at the hands of family members, mostly their fathers or step fathers. (Deviant Behaviour, 120:2) The Pathological...
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...Outsiders The author defines a deviant as one who deviates from the rules of some social group (and who therefore is an outsider to that group). An outsider is also defined from the point of view of the deviant as those from the social group who act as judges and arbiters of the rules. The author explores deviant behaviour as a phenomenon of definition, as opposed to one of characteristics. That is to say that deviant behaviour is more a question of judgement by a group than a characteristic of the deviant person. Therefore accepting the label 'deviant' means implicitly accepting the values of the social group making the judgement. Chapter 2 - Kinds of Deviance - A Sequential Model In order to discuss models of deviance, the author introduces four types of deviant behaviour: 1. conforming; 2. pure deviant; 3. falsely accused (i.e. perceived as deviant but exhibiting obedient behaviour) and 4. secret deviant (i.e. exhibiting rule-breaking behaviour but not perceived as deviant). The author examines two types of models that could be used to investigate what causes the deviant behaviours to develop:- 1. simultaneous - which assumes that the behaviour develops simultaneously through many causes 2. sequential - where patterns of behaviour develop according to an orderly sequence of stages Simultaneous models are often used in investigations of pathology, to determine the combination of variables that may predict the behaviour and therefore explain the...
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...Deviance in general is seen as violating social norms. Numerous researchers and individuals such as Robert Merton (1938) and William Sheldon (1949) have tried to present ways to explain deviant behaviours in the past. The two main theories that have been developed to explain deviance are biological theories and the social constructionist theories. This essay will examine social theories such as Becker’s labelling theory, and biological theories such as Sheldon’s body type theory, and contrast between the theories mentioned. Finally this essay will examine the differences between the theories and whether the biological explanation or the social constructionist explanation can be better used to explain deviance. Looking at social control can help clarify definitions of what crime and deviance are. Social control refers to both the formal and informal means by which society responds to social deviance. While there are many possible explanations for what could be the underlying causes behind deviant individuals, the social constructivist theory is that deviance is a “failure to conform to culturally expected norms of behaviour” (Llewellyn, Agu & Mercer 2008: 90). What is viewed as deviant in one particular culture or society may be considered normal practice in another. Social norms are not universal; they are contextual to the culture in which they are formed. Without deviance, society would remain the same, restricted to tradition and stagnant social norms, because no individual...
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...however, it might be useful to briefly map-out the various general areas covered by the syllabus. In this respect, we will be looking at a major aspect of deviant behaviour in our society (crime) and the way such behaviour is associated with various social categories such as: Class Age Gender Ethnicity Locality / Region In simple terms, we need to look at the various explanations of crime and deviance that have been produced by sociologists over the past 100 or so years. The concept of power is a very significant one in relation to the way social rules are created and applied and, for this reason, we need to examine this concept as a means of understanding the nature of social conformity and deviance. A significant aspect of (deviant) behaviour is the reaction of others to that behaviour and, in this respect, we will be particularly concerned with an examination of the role of the mass media in the process of Deviancy Amplification. The concern here will be to outline the role of "official" agencies of social control in our society. Over the past 20 - 30 years a number of "deviant sub-cultures" (Mods, Hippies, Punks and so forth) have surfaced in both our own and other cultures and the concern here will be to both examine the nature and purpose of such subcultural groupings and their relationship to deviant behaviour in general. www.sociology.org.uk Sociology Central...
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...CHAPTER 7 DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL Deviance 171 Social Policy and Social Control: Illicit Drug Use in Canada and Worldwide 193 What Is Deviance? 171 Explaining Deviance 175 Social Control 182 Conformity and Obedience 182 Informal and Formal Social Control Law and Society 186 Crime 185 187 Types of Crime 188 Crime Statistics 190 The Issue 193 The Setting 193 Sociological Insights 193 Policy Initiatives 193 Boxes RESEARCH IN ACTION: Street Kids 183 sOCIOLOGY IN THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY: Singapore: A Nation of Campaigns 186 TAKING SOCIOLOGY TO WORK: Holly Johnson, Chief of Research, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada 192 Cigarette smoking has become stigmatized in Canada. This newspaper advertisement, sponsored by Health Canada, reverses the typical advertising strategy of equating smoking with sexiness. 169 H eidi Fleiss was in her late twenties when she was arrested for operating a call girl service. At the time, her pediatrician father had reacted flippantly, “I guess I didn’t do such a good job on Heidi after all.” Later, he would be convicted of conspiring to hide profits from his daughter’s call girl ring. Fleiss had dropped out of school when she was sixteen and established a liaison with a playboyfinancier who gave her a Rolls-Royce for her twenty-first birthday. In her early twenties, Fleiss interned in the world of prostitution by working for Madame Alex (Elizabeth Adams)...
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...is used as a sociological theory of crime influential in challenging positivity criminology. The key people to this theory were Becker and Lemert. While it was Lemert who introduced the key concepts of labelling theory, it was Howard Becker who become their champion. He first began describing the process of how a person adopts a deviant role in a study of dance musicians, with whom he once worked. He later studied the identity formation of marijunana smokers. This study was the basis of his Outsiders published in 1963. Labelling theory claims that deviance and conformity results not so much from what people do but from how others respond to the actions, it highlights social responses to crime and deviance. The foundations for this view of deviance are said to have to have been first established by Lement, (1951) and were subsequently developed by Becker, (1963). The labelling theory has subsequently become a dominant example in the explanation of deviance.The labelling theory is constituted by the assumption that deviant behaviour is to be seen not simply as the violation of a norm but as any behaviour which is successfully defined or labeled as deviant....
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...a persons thinking or behaviour is statistically unusual or rare then it is classed as abnormal behaviour. 2) Give an example to illustrate how this definition could be used. Mother Teresa is a good example of someone who falls under the category of statistical infrequency. A person who is a millionaire could be classed as abnormal because the number of people in the world that are millionaires is low compared to the rest of the population so being a millionaire is a rare position to be in, and it occurs infrequently. Another example is how anxiety is measured; it is considered that if you score either low or high when measured for levels of anxiety that you are considered as abnormal. You could also say that in Britain that it is understood that most people wash themselves on a daily basis so therefore according to this definition, it is abnormal not to wash on a regular basis, because it is classed as a statistical infrequency. 3) Explain at least two criticisms of this definition First criticism The first criticism of this definition is that it is a bit ambiguous as to how rare does a persons behaviour have to be before it is classed as abnormal behaviour. How rare is too rare. Second criticism This definition doesn’t consider social desirability of the ‘abnormal behaviour’, some statistically infrequent behaviours such as having a high IQ is desirable and wouldn’t be seen as abnormal. We as a society tend to see abnormal behaviour as something that is undesirable...
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...‘procedural self’ where ones identity is continuously constructed and recognised in interaction with significant others, this results in the individual’s behaviour, including that related to crime and deviance. Significant others are those who are in high social power and thus able to dictate influence and actively determine an individual’s life. Such individuals may include police officers, prison officers, politicians, parents and teachers. Feminists would argue however that these are all the males in society, determining and controlling the lives of females, keeping society patriarchal. The influence that significant others place on individuals lives is through the use of labels, the labels aren’t usually based on individual characteristics, more so stereotypes, working assumptions and professional knowledge. For example Cicaurel found that police patrolled working class areas more intensively, resulting in more arrests, this is due to the police’s stereotypical view that delinquent individuals are part of the working class. Lemert distinguishes between primary and secondary deviance in society. Primary deviance involves minor offences such as vandalism or smoking underage and these acts are usually uncaught or insignificant. However an individual may be caught for such acts and inturn be labelled as delinquent or deviant, the social reaction of this label results in the development of secondary deviance: more serious crimes such as assault or drugs. This therefore illustrates...
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...Outline and evaluate two or more definitions of abnormality? (12 Marks) Deviation from social norms is a definition of abnormality. The word ‘deviation’ in this definition is referring to deviant behaviour (behaviour which is considered anti-social or undesirable by the majority of society members). In society there are social norms (standards of acceptable behaviour that are set by the social group). These standards are often in place for good reason. An example of a social norm is politeness as this is the start of interpersonal relations. People who are being rude or are behaving in an anti-social way because others find it difficult to interact with them. Social standards are not restricted to rules of etiquette but also more serious issues, such as what is acceptable in sexual behaviour. Our culture permits sex between consenting adults of any gender but regards some other behaviours as sexually deviant. For example in the past homosexuality was classified as deviant behaviour in the UK but nowadays it isn’t so things change with time. The main difficulty with the deviation from social norms is that it varies as times change. So what is socially acceptable now may not have been acceptable 50 years ago. In our time now homosexuality is acceptable but in the past it was included under sexual and gender identity disorders. Its something like in Russia 50 years ago, anyone who disagreed with state ran the risk of being regarded as insane and placed in a mental institution...
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...that lawbreakers are different from law abiding * Most people commit deviant or criminal acts – only some caught and stigmatized for it * Unique theories – as argues pointless trying to search for differences between deviants and non-deviants – stress should be upon understanding the reaction to, and definition of, deviance rather than on the cause of the initial act Becker: * No act is criminal or deviant until it has been labelled such by others * Criminal act in itself isn’t important – social reaction to act is * Agrees CD socially constructed * Becker studies – being labelled as deviant can have important consequences for persons identity * If label successfully applied – negative label becomes master status – cancels out any other statuses that indiv. has * Can result in excluding indiv from different social activities e.g. work and other mainstream society – left to find support with others in similar situations * Likely to reinforce deviant lifestyle – leading to dev of further deviant acts and career * Could ultimately lead to the creation of deviant subcultures * However – criticisms – fails to explain why people commit crimes and completely neglects power and social structure – cant explain why certain types of people regularly and repeatedly identified as criminal or deviant – although LT claim to provide voice for those who are labelled as deviant – outsiders – underdog Malinowski: * Working with Malinowski – beckers...
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...Function of Punishment: * According to Durkheim the function of punishment is not to remove crime but to ‘heal the wounds done to collective sentiment’. * Without Punishment – collective sentiments would lose their force and strength * Crime and punishment are both inevitable and functional. Function of Punishment: * According to Durkheim the function of punishment is not to remove crime but to ‘heal the wounds done to collective sentiment’. * Without Punishment – collective sentiments would lose their force and strength * Crime and punishment are both inevitable and functional. Crime is Inevitable: * Durkheim argued that crime in an inevitable and normal aspect of social life. * Crime is present in all types of society; indeed the crime rate is higher in more advanced, industrialized countries. * It is inevitable because not every member of society can be equally committed to the collective sentiments (shared values and beliefs). Crime is Inevitable: * Durkheim argued that crime in an inevitable and normal aspect of social life. * Crime is present in all types of society; indeed the crime rate is higher in more advanced, industrialized countries. * It is inevitable because not every member of society can be equally committed to the collective sentiments (shared values and beliefs). Crime is Functional: * Durkheim argues that it only becomes dysfunctional when it is rate is unusually low or high. ...
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...homosexuality in countries where such actions are illegal or heavily frowned upon. Therefore, such deviance according to Functionalists, when projected on a world scale, is seen as fundamental for social change and creating equality. However other perspectives would perceive this as the victimisation of people. Cohen’s work on Folk Devils and Moral panics directly highlights such issues. His study addresses the harsh challenges met by those with different norms, values and morals have to be accepted. The result was that this new group is outcasted in society and victimised for their different values. Similarly, Jock Young’s study of the Drug Takers was met with similar results. The ‘hippies’ used in a participant observation whilst using the drugs, was picked up by the media as criminal and deviant activity. Agents of social control such as the police responded by arresting and labelling the group and ‘junkies’. Therefore, the activity has grown in numbers as the acceptance of the label has become a part of their self-fulfilling prophecy, or, as stated by Lemert, their secondary deviance. Therefore the role of the media led to the labelling of the deviant subculture which resulted in its growth, through...
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