Name: Ayesha Nazir
Class: 5-C
Enrollment no. 05-171201-089
DEVIANT BEHAVIOR
ASSIGNMENT “12 ANGRY MEN”
The movie “12 Angry Men” illustrates many social psychological theories. This is an attractive
film, which is characterized by a group of jurors who have to decide the innocence or guiltiness
of an accused murder. They are simply introspecting the destiny of a Puerto Rican teenaged boy
accused of murdering his father. As the film begins, except the juror Davis (Henry Fonda), all
other jurors voted guilty.
When a junior Puerto Rican boy is on trial for the alleged murder of his father, eleven of the
twelve jurors are quick to vote that he is guilty in an ostensibly straightforward case. The
remaining juror seems doubtful about the evidence at hand, and claims a thorough deliberation of
the facts from each juror before passing the judgment to death: prove the defendant's guilt far off
a reasonable doubt.
Application of Theories:
Following are the theories which are applied to the concepts described in the movie “12 Angry
Men”.
Labelling Theory
Social Learning Theory
Functionalist Theory
Control Theory
, Labelling Theory:
Labeling theory is an approach in the human science of deviance that points on the ways in
which the people of social control attach stigmatizing stereotypes to specific gatherings or
individuals, and the ways in which the stigmatized convert their behavior once label.
In the movie “12 Angry Men” few jurors while disclosing the facts and details about the
poor kid, showed labelling behavior towards different kinds of people from different
backgrounds. When The secret ballot was held, and a new "not guilty" vote appeared.
Which had acquired extreme analysis from Juror 3 (Lee J. Cobb), who blatantly accused
Juror 5 (Jack Klugman) who had grown up in a slum of switching out of sympathy
toward slum children. He labelled the slum area people as victims and mentioned that
they grow up in criminal activities. He was influenced in his decision on the basis of this
racial prejudice
As the main character is juror #8 who is played by Henry Fonda. The film focuses on
labeling theory and how that effects a juror’s opinions and thoughts. It is extremely
interesting to watch how most of the jurors had their minds made up about the case even
before deliberation; however, as the film progresses the jurors stop labeling the defendant
and instead make their verdict decision based on facts.
There are several instances in the movie where the jurors would refer to the defendant as
they or them referring to their financial and foundation status. By labeling the defendant
the juror is contradicting them their constitutional right to an equitable trial. Because of
labeling, large numbers of the members of the jury rushed to condemn the defendant. At
certain points in the film some jurors would refuse to receive that there could be a
possibility the defendant did not commit the violation. The more disturbing fact was that
some jurors appeared to accept the labels placed on the defendant and based their votes
on what the majority decided as conformity.
Class: 5-C
Enrollment no. 05-171201-089
DEVIANT BEHAVIOR
ASSIGNMENT “12 ANGRY MEN”
The movie “12 Angry Men” illustrates many social psychological theories. This is an attractive
film, which is characterized by a group of jurors who have to decide the innocence or guiltiness
of an accused murder. They are simply introspecting the destiny of a Puerto Rican teenaged boy
accused of murdering his father. As the film begins, except the juror Davis (Henry Fonda), all
other jurors voted guilty.
When a junior Puerto Rican boy is on trial for the alleged murder of his father, eleven of the
twelve jurors are quick to vote that he is guilty in an ostensibly straightforward case. The
remaining juror seems doubtful about the evidence at hand, and claims a thorough deliberation of
the facts from each juror before passing the judgment to death: prove the defendant's guilt far off
a reasonable doubt.
Application of Theories:
Following are the theories which are applied to the concepts described in the movie “12 Angry
Men”.
Labelling Theory
Social Learning Theory
Functionalist Theory
Control Theory
, Labelling Theory:
Labeling theory is an approach in the human science of deviance that points on the ways in
which the people of social control attach stigmatizing stereotypes to specific gatherings or
individuals, and the ways in which the stigmatized convert their behavior once label.
In the movie “12 Angry Men” few jurors while disclosing the facts and details about the
poor kid, showed labelling behavior towards different kinds of people from different
backgrounds. When The secret ballot was held, and a new "not guilty" vote appeared.
Which had acquired extreme analysis from Juror 3 (Lee J. Cobb), who blatantly accused
Juror 5 (Jack Klugman) who had grown up in a slum of switching out of sympathy
toward slum children. He labelled the slum area people as victims and mentioned that
they grow up in criminal activities. He was influenced in his decision on the basis of this
racial prejudice
As the main character is juror #8 who is played by Henry Fonda. The film focuses on
labeling theory and how that effects a juror’s opinions and thoughts. It is extremely
interesting to watch how most of the jurors had their minds made up about the case even
before deliberation; however, as the film progresses the jurors stop labeling the defendant
and instead make their verdict decision based on facts.
There are several instances in the movie where the jurors would refer to the defendant as
they or them referring to their financial and foundation status. By labeling the defendant
the juror is contradicting them their constitutional right to an equitable trial. Because of
labeling, large numbers of the members of the jury rushed to condemn the defendant. At
certain points in the film some jurors would refuse to receive that there could be a
possibility the defendant did not commit the violation. The more disturbing fact was that
some jurors appeared to accept the labels placed on the defendant and based their votes
on what the majority decided as conformity.
