How does labelling theory explain crime

How does labelling theory explain criminal behaviour.

Home Politics, Law & Government Law, Crime & Punishment labeling theory, in criminology, a theory stemming from a sociological perspective known as “symbolic interactionism,” a school of thought based on the ideas of George Herbert Mead, John Dewey, W.I. Thomas, Charles Horton Cooley, and Herbert Blumer, among others.

The first as well as one of the most prominent labeling theorists was Howard Becker, who published his groundbreaking work Outsiders in 1963.A question became popular with criminologists during the mid-1960s: What makes some acts and some people deviant or criminal? During this time, scholars tried to shift the focus of criminology toward the
effects of individuals in power responding to behaviour in society in a negative way; they became known as “labeling theorists” or “social reaction theorists.”In 1969 Blumer emphasized the way that meaning arises in social interaction through communication, using language and symbols. The focus of this perspective is the interaction between
individuals in society, which is the basis for meanings within that society. These theorists suggested that powerful individuals and the state create crime by labeling some behaviours as inappropriate. The focus of these theorists is on the reactions of members in society to crime and deviance, a focus that separated them from other scholars of the
time. These theorists shaped their argument around the notion that even though some criminological efforts to reduce crime are meant to help the offender (such as rehabilitation efforts), they may move offenders closer to lives of crime because of the label they assign the individuals engaging in the behaviour. As members in society begin to treat
these individuals on the basis of their labels, the individuals begin to accept the labels themselves. In other words, an individual engages in a behaviour that is deemed by others as inappropriate, others label that person to be deviant, and eventually the individual internalizes and accepts this label. This notion of social reaction, reaction or response by
others to the behaviour or individual, is central to labeling theory. Critical to this theory is the understanding that the negative reaction of others to a particular behaviour is what causes that behaviour to be labeled as “criminal” or “deviant.” Furthermore, it is the negative reaction of others to an individual engaged in a particular behaviour that
causes that individual to be labeled as “criminal,” “deviant,” or “not normal.” According to the literature, several reactions to deviance have been identified, including collective rule making, organizational processing, and interpersonal reaction.Becker defined deviance as a social creation in which “social groups create deviance by making the rules
whose infraction constitutes deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and labeling them as outsiders.” Becker grouped behaviour into four categories: falsely accused, conforming, pure deviant, and secret deviant. Falsely accused represents those individuals who have engaged in obedient behaviour but have been perceived as
deviant; therefore, they would be falsely labeled as deviant. Conforming represents those individuals who have engaged in obedient behaviour that has been viewed as obedient behaviour (not been perceived as deviant).
Pure deviant represents those individuals who have engaged in rule breaking or deviant behaviour that has been recognized as such; therefore, they would be labeled as deviant by society. Secret deviant represents those individuals who have engaged in rule breaking or deviant behaviour but have not been perceived as deviant by society; therefore,
they have not been labeled as deviant.According to sociologists like Emile Durkheim, George Herbert Mead, and Kai T. Erikson, deviance is functional to society and keeps stability by defining boundaries. In 1966 Erikson expanded labeling theory to include the functions of deviance, illustrating how societal reactions to deviance stigmatize the
offender and separate him or her from the rest of society. The results of this stigmatization is a self-fulfilling prophecy in which the offenders come to view themselves in the same ways society does. Primary deviance refers to initial acts of deviance by an individual that have only minor consequences for that individual’s status or relationships in
society. The notion behind this concept is that the majority of people violate laws or commit deviant acts in their lifetime; however, these acts are not serious enough and do not result in the individual being classified as a criminal by society or by themselves, as it is viewed as “normal” to engage in these types of behaviours.

Speeding would be a good example of an act that is technically criminal but does not result in labeling as such. Furthermore, many would view recreational marijuana use as another example. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content.
Subscribe Now Secondary deviance, however, is deviance that occurs as a response to society’s reaction and labeling of the individual engaging in the behaviour as deviant.

This type of deviance, unlike primary deviance, has major implications for a person’s status and relationships in society and is a direct result of the internalization of the deviant label. This pathway from primary deviance to secondary deviance is illustrated as follows: primary deviance → others label act as deviant → actor internalizes deviant label →
secondary deviance There are three major theoretical directions to labeling theory. They are Bruce Link’s modified labeling, John Braithwaite’s reintegrative shaming, and Ross L. Matsueda and Karen Heimer’s differential social control. Jump to Other Articles: Up Active Offender Research Actus Reus Adler, Freda Adversarial System of Justice
Adverse Childhood Experiences Aging Prison Population, The Airport and Airline Security Alcohol and Drug Prohibition Alcohol Use, Policy and Crime Alt-Right Gangs and White Power Youth Groups Animals, Crimes Against Anomie Arson Art Crime Back-End Sentencing and Parole Revocation Bail and Pretrial Detention Batterer Intervention
Programs Bentham, Jeremy Big Data and Communities and Crime Biosocial Criminology Blackmail Black's Theory of Law and Social Control Blumstein, Alfred Boot Camps and Shock Incarceration Programs Burglary, Residential Bystander Intervention Capital Punishment Chambliss, William Chicago School of Criminology, The Child Maltreatment
Chinese Triad Society Civil Protection Orders Collateral Consequences of Felony Conviction and Imprisonm... Collective Efficacy Commercial and Bank Robbery Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children Communicating Scientific Findings in the Courtroom Community Change and Crime Community Corrections Community Disadvantage and Crime
Community-Based Justice Systems Community-Based Substance Use Prevention Comparative Criminal Justice Systems CompStat Models of Police Performance Management Confessions, False and Coerced Conservation Criminology Consumer Fraud Contextual Analysis of Crime Control Balance Theory Convict Criminology Co-Offending and the Role
of Accomplices Corporate Crime Costs of Crime and Justice Courts, Drug Courts, Juvenile Courts, Mental Health Courts, Problem-Solving Crime and Justice in Latin America Crime, Campus Crime Control Policy Crime Control, Politics of Crime, (In)Security, and Islam Crime Prevention, Delinquency and Crime Prevention, Situational Crime Prevention,
Voluntary Organizations and Crime Trends Crime Victims' Rights Movement Criminal Career Research Criminal Decision Making, Emotions in Criminal Justice Data Sources Criminal Justice Ethics Criminal Justice Fines and Fees Criminal Justice Reform, Politics of Criminal Justice System, Discretion in the Criminal Records Criminal Retaliation
Criminal Talk Criminology and Political Science Criminology of Genocide, The Critical Criminology Cross-National Crime Cross-Sectional Research Designs in Criminology and Crimin...

Cultural Criminology Cultural Theories Cybercrime Cybercrime Investigations and Prosecutions Cycle of Violence Day Fines Deadly Force Defining "Success" in Corrections and Reentry Desistance Deterrence Developmental and Life-Course Criminology Digital Piracy Driving and Traffic Offenses Drug Control Drug Trafficking, International Drugs
and Crime Elder Abuse Electronically Monitored Home Confinement Employee Theft Environmental Crime and Justice Experimental Criminology Extortion Family Violence Fear of Crime and Perceived Risk Felon Disenfranchisement Femicide Feminist Theories Feminist Victimization Theories Fencing and Stolen Goods Markets Firearms and Violence
Forensic Science For-Profit Private Prisons and the Criminal Justice–Indust... Fraud Gambling Gangs, Peers, and Co-offending Gender and Crime Gendered Crime Pathways General Opportunity Victimization Theories Genetics, Environment, and Crime Green Criminology Halfway Houses Harm Reduction and Risky Behaviors Hate Crime Hate Crime
Legislation Healthcare Fraud Hirschi, Travis History of Crime in the United Kingdom History of Criminology Homelessness and Crime Homicide Homicide Victimization Honor Cultures and Violence Hot Spots Policing Human Rights Human Trafficking Identity Theft Immigration, Crime, and Justice Incarceration, Mass Incarceration, Public Health
Effects of Income Tax Evasion Indigenous Criminology Institutional Anomie Theory Integrated Theory Intermediate Sanctions Interpersonal Violence, Historical Patterns of Interrogation Intimate Partner Violence, Criminological Perspectives on Intimate Partner Violence, Police Responses to Investigation, Criminal Juvenile Delinquency Juvenile
Justice System, The Kidnapping Kornhauser, Ruth Rosner Labeling Theory Labor Markets and Crime Land Use and Crime Lead and Crime Legitimacy LGBTQ Intimate Partner Violence LGBTQ People in Prison Life Without Parole Sentencing Local Institutions and Neighborhood Crime Lombroso, Cesare Longitudinal Research in Criminology
Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Mapping and Spatial Analysis of Crime, The Mass Media, Crime, and Justice Measuring Crime Mediation and Dispute Resolution Programs Mental Health and Crime Merton, Robert K. Meta-analysis in Criminology Middle-Class Crime and Criminality Migrant Detention and Incarceration Money Laundering Motor
Vehicle Theft Multi-Level Marketing Scams Murder, Serial Narrative Criminology National Deviancy Symposia, The Nature Versus Nurture Neighborhood Disorder Neutralization Theory New Penology, The Offender Decision-Making and Motivation Offense Specialization/Expertise Organized Crime Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs Panel Methods in
Criminology Peacemaking Criminology Peer Networks and Delinquency Performance Measurement and Accountability Systems Personality and Trait Theories of Crime Persons with a Mental Illness, Police Encounters with Phenomenological Theories of Crime Plea Bargaining Poaching Police Administration Police Cooperation, International Police
Discretion Police Effectiveness Police History Police Militarization Police Misconduct Police, Race and the Police Use of Force Police, Violence against the Policing and Law Enforcement Policing, Body-Worn Cameras and Policing, Broken Windows Policing, Community and Problem-Oriented Policing Cybercrime Policing, Evidence-Based Policing,
Intelligence-Led Policing, Privatization of Policing, Proactive Policing, School Policing, Stop-and-Frisk Policing, Third Party Polyvictimization Positivist Criminology Pretrial Detention, Alternatives to Pretrial Diversion Prison Administration Prison Classification Prison, Disciplinary Segregation in Prison Education Exchange Programs Prison Gangs and
Subculture Prison History Prison Labor Prison Visitation Prisoner Reentry Prisons and Jails Prisons, HIV in Private Security Probation Revocation Procedural Justice Property Crime Prosecution and Courts Prostitution Psychiatry, Psychology, and Crime: Historical and Current ... Psychology and Crime Public Criminology Public Opinion, Crime and
Justice Public Order Crimes Public Social Control and Neighborhood Crime Punishment Justification and Goals Qualitative Methods in Criminology Queer Criminology Race and Sentencing Research Advancements Race, Ethnicity, Crime, and Justice Racial Threat Hypothesis Racial Profiling Rape and Sexual Assault Rape, Fear of Rational Choice
Theories Rehabilitation Religion and Crime Restorative Justice Risk Assessment Routine Activity Theories School Bullying School Crime and Violence School Safety, Security, and Discipline Search Warrants Seasonality and Crime Self-Control, The General Theory: Self-Report Crime Surveys Sentencing Enhancements Sentencing, Evidence-Based
Sentencing Guidelines Sentencing Policy Sex Crimes Sex Offender Policies and Legislation Sex Trafficking Sexual Revictimization Situational Action Theory Snitching and Use of Criminal Informants Social and Intellectual Context of Criminology, The Social Construction of Crime, The Social Control of Tobacco Use Social Control Theory Social
Disorganization Social Ecology of Crime Social Learning Theory Social Networks Social Threat and Social Control Solitary Confinement South Africa, Crime and Justice in Sport Mega-Events Security Stalking and Harassment State Crime State Dependence and Population Heterogeneity in Theories ... Strain Theories Street Code Street Robbery
Substance Use and Abuse Surveillance, Public and Private Sutherland, Edwin H. Technology and the Criminal Justice System Technology, Criminal Use of Terrorism Terrorism and Hate Crime Terrorism, Criminological Explanations for Testimony, Eyewitness Therapeutic Jurisprudence Trajectory Methods in Criminology Transnational Crime Truth-In-
Sentencing Urban Politics and Crime US War on Terrorism, Legal Perspectives on the Victimization, Adolescent Victimization, Biosocial Theories of Victimization Patterns and Trends Victimization, Repeat Victimization, Vicarious and Related Forms of Secondary Tr... Victimless Crime Victim-Offender Overlap, The Violence Against Women Violence,
Youth Violent Crime White-Collar Crime White-Collar Crime, The Global Financial Crisis and White-Collar Crime, Women and Wilson, James Q. Wolfgang, Marvin Women, Girls, and Reentry Wrongful Conviction Down