Interactionism
Positives Negatives Howard Becker - ‘The Outsiders’
↑ It is an action theory. No such thing as a ‘deviant’ act - it only
- Shows how law is enforced - Wrongly implies that once
in a discriminatory way someone is labelled, a The key idea is that becomes deviant once others perceive
deviant career is inevitable focuses on ability to and define it as such.
- Highlights the role of the create the social world
media in defining and - Fails to explain why people through our actions and Whether a label of ‘deviant’ or ‘criminal’ is applied
creating deviants and for commit primary deviance in interactions depends on:
producing moral panics the first place before they
are labelled - How the act is interpreted by others
- Who commits the act
- Doesn’t explain where the - When and where the act is committed
power to label comes from - Who observes it
- The interaction between the various actors involved.
- Fails to explain why labels
are applied to certain Becker believes that there are always ‘moral crusaders’ who want to
groups and not others change the law. By changing the law, it creates a new group of
‘outsiders’ - people who are now deemed as ‘criminals’.
It also creates a need for an agency of social control (normally the
police) to enforce the rules and impose the label of criminal on
Crime and offenders.
Deviance - Once people have become ‘outsiders’, they associate with other
Interactionist outsiders; solidarity among outcasts in society.
Cooley Theory
Slowly, more and more people consider them
He believed that we build our sense of identity based on how others see to be ‘deviant’ and treat them as such.
us and react towards us.
So… A criminal has been
He called this the ‘looking glass self’. created!
The ‘deviant’ now chooses
If we think that others view us positively, then we feel positive to either live up to society’s
about ourselves and vice versa; if others view us negatively, we
Why do certain acts come expectations of them, as a
feel negative about ourselves. to be defined as ‘criminal’ criminal, or reject the label.
By accepting the label, it creates a self-fulfilling
Therefore, our sense of identity is built on our No acts are inherently
prophecy.
interactions with others. criminal by themselves, it’s
only when people choose to
Therefore, if people ‘label’ us a certain way, we come to label them as such. Deviance
think of ourselves in that way. is in the eye of the beholder. The label now becomes that individual’s
master status - it overrides all other
aspects of their identity. They are now
‘Criminal’!
Positives Negatives Howard Becker - ‘The Outsiders’
↑ It is an action theory. No such thing as a ‘deviant’ act - it only
- Shows how law is enforced - Wrongly implies that once
in a discriminatory way someone is labelled, a The key idea is that becomes deviant once others perceive
deviant career is inevitable focuses on ability to and define it as such.
- Highlights the role of the create the social world
media in defining and - Fails to explain why people through our actions and Whether a label of ‘deviant’ or ‘criminal’ is applied
creating deviants and for commit primary deviance in interactions depends on:
producing moral panics the first place before they
are labelled - How the act is interpreted by others
- Who commits the act
- Doesn’t explain where the - When and where the act is committed
power to label comes from - Who observes it
- The interaction between the various actors involved.
- Fails to explain why labels
are applied to certain Becker believes that there are always ‘moral crusaders’ who want to
groups and not others change the law. By changing the law, it creates a new group of
‘outsiders’ - people who are now deemed as ‘criminals’.
It also creates a need for an agency of social control (normally the
police) to enforce the rules and impose the label of criminal on
Crime and offenders.
Deviance - Once people have become ‘outsiders’, they associate with other
Interactionist outsiders; solidarity among outcasts in society.
Cooley Theory
Slowly, more and more people consider them
He believed that we build our sense of identity based on how others see to be ‘deviant’ and treat them as such.
us and react towards us.
So… A criminal has been
He called this the ‘looking glass self’. created!
The ‘deviant’ now chooses
If we think that others view us positively, then we feel positive to either live up to society’s
about ourselves and vice versa; if others view us negatively, we
Why do certain acts come expectations of them, as a
feel negative about ourselves. to be defined as ‘criminal’ criminal, or reject the label.
By accepting the label, it creates a self-fulfilling
Therefore, our sense of identity is built on our No acts are inherently
prophecy.
interactions with others. criminal by themselves, it’s
only when people choose to
Therefore, if people ‘label’ us a certain way, we come to label them as such. Deviance
think of ourselves in that way. is in the eye of the beholder. The label now becomes that individual’s
master status - it overrides all other
aspects of their identity. They are now
‘Criminal’!
