Topic Sociologist/Theory Key findings
Social Becker (1963) Labelling theorists examine how and why society decides an act becomes criminal. Thus, deviance ‘is the eye of the
construction beholder’. For Becker, a deviant is simply someone to whom the label has been successfully applied. Deviant
of crime behaviour is behaviour that society labels as deviant. Labelling theorists are interested in how and why laws get
made. They are interested in how moral entrepreneurs lead crusades to change laws. Moral Entrepreneur- when
power individuals spot an opportunity to right a perceived wrong e.g., journalist or politicians. New laws create new
groups of ‘outsiders’ which may increase the powers of the police/courts. E.g., the Federal Bureau of Narcotics
wanted to make marijuana illegal in order to extend its power and influence in 1937. This is an example of how
powerful groups redefine behaviour as unacceptable.
Who gets Not everyone who commits an offence is punished for their crimes. Whether a person is arrested, charged, and
labelled? convicted depends on the three factors: interactions with the police, appearances, and the circumstances of the
offence.
Pilivan and Briar Found that police decisions to arrest a youth were mainly based on physical appearances. It was also influenced by
(1964) gender, class, ethnicity and time and place e.g., late at night in a high crime area.
Typification A common-sense theory or stereotype of what the typical delinquent is like. Thus, the decision to arrest someone can
be based on appearances, not just the deviant act. This makes statistics unrepresentative and can lead to a cycle of
institutional racism.
Cicourel (1968) Officers’ decisions to arrest are influenced by stereotypes of offenders. Police will concentrate on certain ‘types’.
Thus, working class areas will be patrolled more intensively, leading to more arrests/crimes recorded, leading to a
confirmation of stereotypes. By contrast middle class parents can negotiate with the police to avoid prosecution.
Official statistics For labelling theorists, official statistics are invalid: they only tell us about the types of people the control agencies
have recorded, not the real patterns of crime e.g., the police.
Dark figure of crime – this is the difference between the official statistics and the ‘real’ rate of crime. Sociologists
don’t know for certain how much crime goes undetected, unreported, and unrecorded.
Alternative statistics- these can include victim surveys (asking what crimes they’ve been a victim of) and self-report
studies (asking what crimes a person has committed). Uncover the dark figure of crime.
Impact of Social Interactionists argue that crime statistics are subjective rather than objective because the decision to arrest someone in
Labelling construction of the first place is taken subjectively based on their appearance etc. Therefore, statistics produced by the criminal justice
crime statistics system, tell us about the activities of the police/prosecutors, rather than the amount of crime or who commits it.
Decisions if to proceed to the next ‘stage’ are based on labels and those labelled as deviant are more likely to be
recorded as criminal. Interactionists would therefore argue that official statistics are a false representation of offending
rates in society because not all criminal offence will be reported or recorded by the police.
Primary and Primary deviance = the original behaviour e.g., drug dealing or benefit fraud.
secondary Secondary deviance = how society reacts to the behaviour e.g., police officers cracking down on drug dealing or
deviance local newspapers exposing benefit fraud.
Social Becker (1963) Labelling theorists examine how and why society decides an act becomes criminal. Thus, deviance ‘is the eye of the
construction beholder’. For Becker, a deviant is simply someone to whom the label has been successfully applied. Deviant
of crime behaviour is behaviour that society labels as deviant. Labelling theorists are interested in how and why laws get
made. They are interested in how moral entrepreneurs lead crusades to change laws. Moral Entrepreneur- when
power individuals spot an opportunity to right a perceived wrong e.g., journalist or politicians. New laws create new
groups of ‘outsiders’ which may increase the powers of the police/courts. E.g., the Federal Bureau of Narcotics
wanted to make marijuana illegal in order to extend its power and influence in 1937. This is an example of how
powerful groups redefine behaviour as unacceptable.
Who gets Not everyone who commits an offence is punished for their crimes. Whether a person is arrested, charged, and
labelled? convicted depends on the three factors: interactions with the police, appearances, and the circumstances of the
offence.
Pilivan and Briar Found that police decisions to arrest a youth were mainly based on physical appearances. It was also influenced by
(1964) gender, class, ethnicity and time and place e.g., late at night in a high crime area.
Typification A common-sense theory or stereotype of what the typical delinquent is like. Thus, the decision to arrest someone can
be based on appearances, not just the deviant act. This makes statistics unrepresentative and can lead to a cycle of
institutional racism.
Cicourel (1968) Officers’ decisions to arrest are influenced by stereotypes of offenders. Police will concentrate on certain ‘types’.
Thus, working class areas will be patrolled more intensively, leading to more arrests/crimes recorded, leading to a
confirmation of stereotypes. By contrast middle class parents can negotiate with the police to avoid prosecution.
Official statistics For labelling theorists, official statistics are invalid: they only tell us about the types of people the control agencies
have recorded, not the real patterns of crime e.g., the police.
Dark figure of crime – this is the difference between the official statistics and the ‘real’ rate of crime. Sociologists
don’t know for certain how much crime goes undetected, unreported, and unrecorded.
Alternative statistics- these can include victim surveys (asking what crimes they’ve been a victim of) and self-report
studies (asking what crimes a person has committed). Uncover the dark figure of crime.
Impact of Social Interactionists argue that crime statistics are subjective rather than objective because the decision to arrest someone in
Labelling construction of the first place is taken subjectively based on their appearance etc. Therefore, statistics produced by the criminal justice
crime statistics system, tell us about the activities of the police/prosecutors, rather than the amount of crime or who commits it.
Decisions if to proceed to the next ‘stage’ are based on labels and those labelled as deviant are more likely to be
recorded as criminal. Interactionists would therefore argue that official statistics are a false representation of offending
rates in society because not all criminal offence will be reported or recorded by the police.
Primary and Primary deviance = the original behaviour e.g., drug dealing or benefit fraud.
secondary Secondary deviance = how society reacts to the behaviour e.g., police officers cracking down on drug dealing or
deviance local newspapers exposing benefit fraud.
