Labelling Theory

Labeling possible action had its origins in Suicide, a book by French sociologist Emile Durkheim. He plant that plague is not so much a violation of a penal code as it is an act that outrages society. He was the world-class to suggest that pervert labeling satisfies that break away and satisfies societys need to control the behavior. As a contri only ifor to American Pragmatism and later a member of the Chicago School, George Herbert Mead posited that the self is soci totallyy constructed and reconstructed through and through the interactions which each person has with the community.The labeling theory suggests that people obtain labels from how others view their tendencies or behaviors. Each individual is aware of how they are judged by others because he or she has essay many different roles and dutys in social interactions and has been able to gauge the reactions of those present. This theoretically builds a subjective c erstwhileption of the self, further as others intrud e into the reality of that individuals life, this represents design data which may require a re-evaluation of that conception depending on the authoritativeness of the others judgment.Family and friends may judge differently from random strangers. More socially representative individuals such as police officers or judges may be able to make more globally respected judgments. If deviance is a failure to conform to the rules notice by to the highest degree of the group, the reaction of the group is to label the person as having offended against their social or moralistic norms of behavior. This is the power of the group to designate breaches of their rules as deviant and to treat the person differently depending on the seriousness of the breach.The more differential the treatment, the more the individuals self-image is affected. Labeling theory concerns itself mostly not with the normal roles that define our lives, but with those very special roles that society provides for devian t behavior, called deviant roles, stigmatic roles, or social stigma. A social role is a set of expectations we devour round a behavior. Social roles are necessary for the organization and functioning of any society or group. We expect the postman, for example, to adhere to certain fixed rules near how he does his job. Deviance for a sociologist does not mean morally wrong, but rather behavior that is condemned by society. Deviant behavior can include twain barbarous and non-criminal activities. Investigators found that deviant roles powerfully affect how we perceive those who are depute those roles. They also affect how the deviant actor perceives himself and his relationship to society. The deviant roles and the labels attached to them function as a form of social stigma. Alship canal inherent in the deviant role is the attribution of some form of pollution or exit that marks the labeled person as different from others.Society uses these stigmatic roles to them to control an d limit deviant behavior If you proceed in this behavior, you will reverse a member of that group of people. Whether a breach of a given rule will be stigmatized will depend on the significance of the moral or other tenet it represents. For example, adultery may be considered a breach of an informal rule or it may be criminalized depending on the post of marriage, morality, and religion within the community. In most Western countries, adultery is not a crime.Attaching the label adulterer may have some unfortunate consequences but they are not generally thoroughgoing(a). But in some Islamic countries, zina is a crime and proof of extramarital activity may require to severe consequences for all concerned. Stigma is usually the result of laws enacted against the behavior. Laws protecting slavery or outlawing homosexuality, for instance, will over time form deviant roles connected with those behaviors. Those who are assigned those roles will be seen as less human and reliable.Devia nt roles are the sources of negative stereotypes, which tend to support societys disapproval of the behavior. editGeorge Herbert Mead One of the founders of social interactionism, George Herbert Mead focused on the internal processes of how the mind constructs ones self-image. In Mind, Self, and Society (1934),1 he showed how infants come to know persons first and only later come to know things. According to Mead, purpose is both a social and pragmatic process, found on the model of two persons discussing how to solve a problem.Our self-image is, in fact, constructed of ideas about what we think others are thinking about us. eyepatch we make fun of those who visibly talk to themselves, they have only failed to do what the rest of us do in keeping the internal talk to ourselves. Human behavior, Mead stated, is the result of meanings created by the social interaction of conversation, both real and imaginary. editFrank Tannenbaum Frank Tannenbaum is considered the grandfather of la beling theory. His Crime and Community (1938),2 describing the social interaction involved in crime, is considered a pivotal foundation of modern criminology.While the criminal differs little or not at all from others in the original impulse to first commit a crime, social interaction accounts for continued acts that develop a pattern of interest to sociologists. Tannenbaum first introduced the idea of tagging. 3 While conducting his studies with delinquent youth, he found that a negative tag or label often contributed to further involvement in delinquent activities. This initial tagging may cause the individual to scoop up it as part of their identity operator.The crux of Tannenbaums argument is that the greater the attention placed on this label, the more likely the person is to identify themselves as the label. Kerry Townsend writes about the transmutation in criminology caused by Tannenbaums work The roots of Frank Tannenbaums theoretical model, known as the dramatization of evil or labeling theory, surfaces in the mid- to late-thirties. At this time, the rising Deal legislation had not defeated the woes of the Great Depression, and, although dwindling, immigration into the United States continued (Sumner, 1994). 4 The social climate was one of disillusionment with the government. The class structure was one of heathen isolationism cultural relativity had not yet taken hold. The persistence of the class structure, despite the welfare reforms and controls over big business, was unmistakable. 5 The Positivist School of Criminological thought was still dominant, and in many states, the sterilization movement was underway. The emphasis on biological determinism and internal explanations of crime were the preeminent force in the theories of the early thirties.This government agency by the Positivist School changed in the late thirties with the introduction of conflict and social explanations of crime and criminality One of the central tenets of the theory is to support the end of labeling process. In the words of Frank Tannenbaum, the way out is through a refusal to dramatize the evil, the justice system attempts to do this through sport programs. The growth of the theory and its current application, both practical and theoretical, provide a solid foundation for continued popularity. 6 editEdwin Lemert It was sociologist Edwin Lemert (1951) who introduced the concept of secondary deviance. The primary deviance is the date connected to the overt behavior, say drug addiction and its practical demands and consequences. Secondary deviation is the role created to deal with societys condemnation of the behavior. With other sociologists of his time, he saw how all deviant acts are social acts, a result of the cooperation of society. In studying drug addiction, Lemert observed a very powerful and subtle force at work.Besides the physical addiction to the drug and all the economic and social disruptions it caused, there was an intensely i ntellectual process at work concerning ones own identity and the justification for the behavior I do these things because I am this way. There might be certain subjective and personal motives that might first lead a person to drink or shoplift. But the activity itself tells us little about the persons self-image or its relationship to the activity. Lemert writes His acts are repeated and organized subjectively and transformed into active roles and become the social criteria for assigning status..When a person begins to employ his deviant behavior or a role based on it as a means of defense, attack, or adjustment to the overt and covert problems created by the consequent societal reaction to him, his deviation is secondary 7 editHoward Becker While it was Lemert who introduced the key concepts of labeling theory, it was Howard Becker who became 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 marijuana smokers. This study was the basis of his Outsiders published in 1963.This work became the manifesto of the labeling theory movement among sociologists. In his opening, Becker writes social groups create deviance by making rules whose infraction creates deviance, and by applying those roles to particular people and labeling them as outsiders. From this point of view, deviance is not a musical note of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by other of rules and sanctions to an offender. The deviant is one to whom that label has been successfully applied deviant behavior is behavior that people so label. 8 While society uses the stigmatic label to justify its condemnation, the deviant actor uses it to justify his actions. He wrote To put a complex argument in a few words instead of the deviant motives leading to the deviant behavior, it is the other way around, the deviant behavior in time produces the deviant motivation. 9 Beckers immensely popular views were also subjected to a barrage of criticism, most of it blaming him for neglecting the influence of other biological, genetic effects and personal responsibility.In a later 1973 edition of his work, he answered his critics. He wrote that while sociologists, while dedicated to studying society, are often careful not to look too closely. Instead, he wrote I prefer to think of what we study as collective action. People act, as Mead and Blumer have made clearest, together. They do what they do with an eye on what others have done, are doing now, and may do in the future. One tries to fit his own line of action into the actions of others, just as each of them likewise adjusts his own maturation actions to what he sees and expects others to do. 10 Francis Cullen reported in 1984 that Becker was probably too generous with his critics. After 20 years, his views, far from being supplanted, have been corrected and absorbed into an expanded structuring perspective. 11 editAlbert Memmi In The Colonizer and the Colonized (1965) Albert Memmi described the deep psychological effects of the social stigma created by the domination of one group by another. He wrote The protracted the oppression lasts, the more profoundly it affects him (the oppressed).It ends by becoming so familiar to him that he believes it is part of his own constitution, that he accepts it and could not imagine his recovery from it. This credenza is the crowning point of oppression. 12 In Dominated Man (1968), Memmi turned his attention to the motivation of stigmatic labeling it justifies the exploitation or criminalization of the victim. He wrote Why does the accuser facial expression obliged to accuse in baseball club to justify himself? Because he feels guilty toward his victim. Because he feels that his attitude and his behavior are essentially unjust and fraudulent. produce? In almost every case, the punishment has already been inflicted. The victim of racism is already living under the weight of disgrace and oppression. In order to justify such punishment and misfortune, a process of rationlization is set in motion, by which to explain the ghetto and colonial exploitation. 13 Central to stigmatic labeling is the attribution of an inherent misapprehension It is as if one says, There must be something wrong with these people. Otherwise, why would we treat them so badly? editErving GoffmanPerhaps the most important contributor to labeling theory was Erving Goffman, President of the American Sociological Association, and one of Americas most cited sociologists. His most popular books include The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life,14 Interaction Ritual, 15 and Frame Analysis. 16 His most important contribution to labeling theory, however, was Stigma Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity published in 1963. 17 Unlike other authors who examined the process of adopting a deviant identity, Goffman explor ed the ways people managed that identity and controlled information about it.