Labelling Theory by Becker: Summary and Evaluation

Labelling Theory by Becker Summary and EvaluationPart of the assumption about the way policing and the law works is that punishing criminal demeanour has a deterrent effect. Whatever controversies surround the efficacy of deterrence and they are myriad it seemed hard for many early theorists to believe that punishing criminal conduct does any actual harm to society. What labelling theorists introduced was the idea that, ironically, the singling out of those who had transgressed societys laws actually perpetuated the behaviours it was intended to curb (Lilly, Cullen Ball, 2002). The idea that the way in which shames are socially constructed might pack important consequences has, however, proved controversial and sparked considerable debate. This essay looks first at labelling hypothesis and then moves on to examine the possibleness more than critically and tax its reach in rationalizeing crime and deviance.Becker (1973) clearly lays out labelling supposition in his book Ou tsiders Studies in the Sociology of Deviance. He explains that the interactionist perspective sees crime as an infraction of the rules created by society. It then seeks to find the reasons that a person infringed those rules within both their personality and in the their social and economic environment. Becker (1973) believed that this placed the wrong emphasis on where the parameters for crime are set. It is non in the quality of a persons action the deviant act or, as it were, a deviant person but rather in the imposition of the label of deviance by society. It is society that prescribes which acts are lawful and which acts are not lawful and, that act of successfully applying the label illegal or deviant to a person, has a number of important consequences.One assumption often made, once a person has been labelled a deviant, is that they fit into a homogenous category. Becker (1973) repugns that this assumption is often made by researchers in criminology looking for a root cau se or at least some vulgarity in deviance and crime. This assumption, though, is not correct. Some quite a little may not be possessed of transgressed societys laws and yet are, through the failure of the appropriate systems, still labelled deviant. Others may have transgressed but have not been caught in their transgression these people remain unlabelled. As a settlement of this analysis, Becker (1973) is most interested in how people come to be labelled deviant rather than their particular social or personal circumstances.This attack on the absolutist personality of deviance or criminal behaviour highlights a number of variables within the system of labelling. What is labelled a crime varies from one prison term to another at one time there is crackdown on, for example, drug offences, and the investigation and penalties are stepped up. At another time there may be much more leniency. Another variable is the nature of the person caught breaking the law. The example is drawn by Becker (1973) of the difference between a middle class person and someone from the lower classes evidence is cited to press out that it is the middle class person who is more likely to avoid prosecution. Similarly, crimes committed by individuals tend to be prosecuted by the criminal law, while crimes committed by corporations prosecuted by the civil law. These distinctions emphasise the fact that criminality is not an independent quality of a person, but is intimately related to other peoples perceptions or, alternatively in the modern terminology, to crimes social construction.After the initial instance in which a person is labelled as a criminal, Becker (1973) asserts that a number of things are of course attendant. To understand the results of labelling it is useful to make a distinction introduced by Edwin Lemert. Lemert (1951) introduced the idea that deviance could be seen as first primary and then secondary. Primary deviancy refers to the home where a person commits a criminal offence because of sociocultural and psychological circumstances. At this stage, however, the person does not see themselves as deviant, merely as a person who has temporarily strayed from the straight and narrow. Having been caught committing a criminal offence this person is then subjected to societys vilification and labelling through the criminal arbiter system. As a result of this the person then has to find a method of dealing with this clash between the way they think about themselves and the way other people this instant view them. This is normally dealt with by accepting the label with all its meaning and consequences attached.Lilly, Cullen Ball (2002) explain that labelling theorists used the idea of a self-fulfilling prophecy (developed by Merton, 1968) to explain the effect of labelling. Falsely applying the label of criminal to a person leads to them being seen as morally reprehensible in themselves, even though, at that point, this is probably not true. In peoples minds, the fact that a person has committed a criminal offence leads to them being thought of as a criminal, which again leads to them being seen only in this context, above any other. The police, seeing that person as more likely to transgress in the future, will be more likely to cry them to investigate further crimes. A person is socially isolated from their non-criminal friends and probably incarcerated with others who have been labelled criminals this all serves to reinforce the label. It is this constant pressure from people close to them that encourages those who have committed a criminal offence to accept the label of criminal themselves along with all that it entails. The effect is that, perversely, that crime is perpetuated because of the effectiveness of the systems of criminal justice the label of criminal becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy (Williams, 2004).Labelling theory has been criticised on a number of grounds. Many researchers have attempted to brin g empirical evidence to hold in on labelling theory. Gove (1975), for example, found no evidence of the influence of negative sanctions on sustained criminal careers. Sherman Berk (1984) compared, in a field experiment, those who had been arrested for domestic violence, with those who had not. They found that those who had been arrested did, in fact, show a reduced level of violence compared to those who had not. Foster, Dinitz Reckless (1972) found that self-reports of problems amongst apprehended boys did not affect the relationship between deviance and sanctions. Other evidence, however, has back up the contentions of labelling theory. Kaplan Johnson (2001) describe some of this evidence. Palamara, Cullen Gersten (1986) found that juvenile delinquency was affected both directly and through other interactions by contact with the police, as well as mental health services. Importantly, the level of the effect was found to be different depending on the type of behaviour that wa s being measured.Kaplan Johnson (2001) assert that part of the explanation for the involved empirical results may be methodological problems. For example, measuring levels of delinquency before and after intervention by the criminal justice system is extremely problematic. Kaplan Johnson (2001) argue that, in the research carried out by Foster et al. (1972), it is possible the boys were trying to protect their self-image which was why they didnt report any problems to researchers. Similarly, though, the results of Palamara et al. (1986), which relied on the opinions of mothers and teachers, might simply deliberate the effects that labelling has on labelling obviously a circular argument.Gove (1975) argues that part of the problem with testing labelling theory is that it is simply untestable in many of the ways that researchers have applied. deflexion from empirical evidence, researchers have also criticised labelling theory on theoretical grounds. Gove (1975) argues that ther e is no solid evidence that being labelled and then committing crimes is a self-fulfilling prophecy. In addition, Gove (1975) criticises labelling theory on the grounds that it is has difficulty explaining all the different types of deviant behaviour. Plummer (1979) characterises this as a problem with explaining how primary deviance occurs in the first place. Labelling theory, therefore, has a particular problem with paedophilia, for example, which is generally thought to result from abnormal psychology. For this reason it cannot be largely affected by labelling and self-fulfilling prophecies.More phenomenological problems are pointed to in labelling theory by, amongst others, Philipson Roche (1971). They point out that labelling theory makes many perhaps unwarranted assumptions. The way that society reacts to the labelling of criminals is mostly assumed by the original researchers, and hardly investigated. Theoretically, there is especial(a) linkage between the processes that oc cur at an everyday level and how these translate into the societal reaction. There is too much reliance on ideas that are deemed parkland sense and also on anecdotal evidence. Plummer (1979) states that labelling theory tends to minimise, or not to address, the question of power and the effects this has on the criminal justice system. A more general criticism is its compatibility with social determinism, the idea that people may have no choice, or at least little choice, in their behaviour. These ideas are also linked to moral criticisms, that labelling theory excludes the moral aspects of crime choosing to commit a criminal act is a moral choice.In defence of labelling theory, and the criticisms that have been levelled at it, Becker (1973) ascribes a more limited role to its applicability. Becker (1973) argues that labelling theory was not intended to explain why people commit crimes, but the focus of it is on the synergistic elements. It is the interactional elements in explaini ng crime that had previously been ignored or minimised labelling theory was an attempt to highlight the fact that crime cannot be explained without considering the effects that people have on each other. It is clear that many criticisms of labelling theory are based on different conceptions. Indeed, modern theorists now often see labelling theory as split into three different parts. Davies Tanner (2003) splits it into the strain that concentrates on secondary deviance, the strain that focuses on social psychological effects and, finally, the strain that examines the effect of labelling on life chances.In conclusion, what many proponent of labelling theory claim is that it attempts to demystify acts of crime and deviancy. Rather than seeing them as discrete and recognisable categories that are somehow other from the normal law-abiding citizens, it sees them as part of a fluid process within which all members of society, or a collective, exert some influence. It acknowledges a cont inuum and attempts to describe the processes involved in moving along that continuum. Critics of labelling theory have attacked with both theoretical arguments and empirical evidence. As can clearly be seen, though, labelling theory is difficult to test empirically and, perhaps, with the defence provided by Becker (1973) is impossible to test this way. Criticisms of theoretical aspects are somewhat muddied by different understandings of what labelling theory constitutes. condescension this, it is possible that more detailed and precise research could provide a clearer empirical result whether positive or negative. ReferencesReferencesBecker, H. S. (1973) Outsiders studies in the sociology of deviance. New York Free Press.Davies, S., Tanner, J. (2003) The immense Arm of the Law Effects of Labeling on Employment. The Sociological Quarterly, 44(3) 385404.Philipson, M., Roche, M. R. (1971) Phenomenology, Sociology and the Study of Deviance. In Carson, W.G., Wiles, P. (Eds.) The Socio logy of Crime and Delinquency in Britain, vol 2. Oxford Martin Robertson.Foster, J. D., Dinitz, S., Reckless, W. C. (1972) Perceptions of stigma followingpublic intervention for tumble-down behavior. Social Problems, 20, 202-209Gove, W. R. (1975). The labeling of deviance Evaluating a perspective. New York Halsted Press.Kaplan, H. B., Johnson, R. J. (2001) Social Deviance Testing a General Theory. New York Springer.Plummer, K. (1979) Misunderstanding Labelling Perspectives. In Downes, D. Rock, P. (Eds.) Deviant Interpretations problems in criminological theory. Oxford Oxford University PressLemert, E. (1951) Social pathology A systematic approach to the theory ofsociopathic behavior. 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