Interactionism
Labelling Theory & Moral
Panics
Learning Objectives
Key Point
The interactionist view both supports and
promotes the argument that crime is socially
constructed.
Interactionists argue that criminals are created
by labels: The only difference between a
criminal and a non-criminal is the label.
Labelling
A
label is a social judgement.
 It is based on social reaction.
 The labels we give people can define
their future actions and behaviour; a selffulfilling prophecy.
 People who are labelled can become
outsiders.
 Labelling is one way in which crime can
be considered socially constructed...
Howard Becker (1973)
“Social groups create deviance by making the
rules whose infraction constitutes deviance,
and by applying those rules to particular
people and labelling them as outsiders...the
deviant is one to whom that label has
successfully been applied.”
Read through the above paragraph and interpret it
in your own words (pairs; 5mins – inc. feedback)
Ext:- Include at least one contemporary example.
Edwin Lemert (1951)
 Big
influence on Becker.
 PRIMARY and SECONDARY deviance.
 Primary
Deviance – the initial act
 Secondary Deviance – all deviance
occurring after a deviant label applied
Secondary deviance is usually on a much
larger scale than primary!
Case Studies
Individually: Read through the three case
studies
Pairs: Discuss the questions provided.
(5 mins)
Becker
1.
2.
3.
4.
Just because someone breaks a rule does
not mean that others will define it as
deviant.
Someone has to enforce the rules or, at
least, draw attention to them - these
people usually have a vested interest in the
issue...
Only when the person is successfully
labelled do consequences follow...
The label can become a master status.
Social Response
 Take
the social response quiz.
Social Response
In each example, ‘rules’ are broken – but did we define them
as such?
Score yourself:
a)
= 2 point, b) = 4 points, c) = 6 points and d) = 8 points.
This quiz is not about your own responses. It is about
differences in social responses. If everyone in the class has an
almost identical score, it suggests we share the same
interpretations of acts.
If everyone’s score is very different, it suggests we do not –
which demonstrates the social construction of crime and
deviance.
How different would results be if taken by people living within
different societies?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDanZpek5iM
Social Response/Reaction




Interactionists do not assume there is one single
response to a particular ‘trouble’. They argue that
there are numerous possible responses – and the
response is as important as the initial act.
How we respond can change everything:
Traditionally, people turned a blind eye to
domestic violence and hardly anyone was
arrested for it.
Today, the police make many arrests for domestic
violence.
The acts have not changed – but the response to
the acts have.
Crime is a social construct!
Responses & Identity
 Our
identities are constructed by the way
people act and respond towards us.
 If people treat us negatively, we may act
negatively towards them.
 If society treats us as deviant, we may
become deviant.
Individual
labelled as
‘deviant’
Individual is
rejected/treated
differently by
family, friends,
employers etc.
Possible Stages of
the Labelling
Process
Being rejected leads
to the individual
questioning their own
identity: Does being
rejected prove the
label is correct?
Note: It’s the
response that
causes the
problems!
The individual can
alter their behaviour
to conform and
therefore lose the
label….
But if they cannot
change their
behaviour, or the
label is too strong,
the individual is
stuck in a deviant
career.
Discuss: Why might it be easier for some people to
‘escape’ or ‘lose’ labels than others?
Jock Young (1971)




Studied marijuana users in Notting Hill.
Most marijuana users considered it a
‘peripheral activity’
Once labelled – and stigmatised - the
deviance became worse: As users lost their
jobs and social networks etc. they became
more reliant on the drug, as a pastime and
source of income.
Labelling led to an amplification of deviance.
Returning to Becker’s quote, he argues that ‘laws’ and
‘norms’ do not reflect the will of people. They are
constructed by particular groups to serve their own interests,
or because they think it might be good for society…
…So what we define as crime/deviance is entirely
dependent on the society, and on who is powerful within
that society…
…Labelling theorists are then particularly interested in what
happens to the individuals who break these made-up rules.
The argument is that labelling people can change their
identities and change their entire behaviour patterns –
usually for the worse, leading to them becoming more
deviant than they were in the first place.
Problems with Labelling
Theory?
Problems with Labelling
Theory?




Assumes deviants are normal people until
someone slaps a label on them (Akers; 1967)
Labelling theory is the study of nuts, sluts and
perverts (Liazos; 1972)
Criticises groups in society for coming up with the
labels, but fails to look at how powerful groups
benefit from people being labelled (Gouldner;
1968)
Doesn’t explain the origins of primary deviance.
Check your understanding!
Pairs: Discuss Write a short account of what a
labelling theorist like Becker might have to
say about the image (5 mins)
Recap
 In
the Sociology of Health unit, we studied
the work of Goffman and Rosenhan.
 What can you remember about their
studies?
Erving Goffman (1961)
 Labelling
theorists may believe that when
a label becomes a master status, it
changes – and replaces – their identity.
 Goffman showed how this happens
literally in total institutions through the
process of mortification.
Goffman





Labelling within total institutions results in
institutionalisation.
Patients/inmates fear being released and losing
their new identity, so often go to great lengths to
remain inside.
If they get out, they struggle to adapt to yet
another new identity and so often end up going
back in...
Such institutions therefore reinforce rather than
reduce deviance.
Possibly another example of a label as a selffulfilling prophecy.
PHENOMENOLOGY
Cicourel (1976)
 The police (and other
areas of criminal justice)
build up pictures of ‘typical
delinquents’ and are more
likely to pursue and arrest
this type of person.
 This means that some types
of people are much more
likely to have criminal
records than others.
Homework
Criminals are not born, they are made.
You wrote an essay on this as homework a
couple of weeks ago; You will now add a
second part to this, re-evaluating the
statement using labelling theory.
Deviancy Amplification &
Moral Panics
Deviancy Amplification
 Concept
developed by Wilkins (1965)
 In some conditions, society will define a
group who depart from valued norms as
deviant.
 Negative social reaction can lead to
exclusion, which can mean the group
behaves more deviantly.
 If it does, social reaction increases with it;
the two continue to rise…
Moral Panic
 In
the 1960s Stan Cohen used labelling
theory and the concept of deviancy
amplification to analyse the creation and
consequences of moral panic.
Who?
Moral Panic
Stan Cohen



Studied societal reaction – especially in the
mass media – to the 1964 clashes between
the mods and rockers subcultures.
He was there at the time and saw little
evidence of the sort of serious violence the
media was reporting...
In short, the mass media had painted a
distorted picture of events.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r61ks18Bd
7I
Stan Cohen: The
Consequences of the Moral
Panic
1.
2.
3.
Increased and heavy-handed police
presence.
Differences between groups
exaggerated; young people made to
feel they had to identify with one or the
other. Image of conflict led to further
violence at other resorts.
Continuing disturbance led to more
arrests, more media coverage, more
public concern etc. The whole justice
system was impacted, as judges were
publicly applauded for handing out
tougher sentences for minor offences.
Stan Cohen: Moral Panic
 Mods
and rockers were singled out as
‘folk devils’. Their behaviour was defined
as being a threat to the social order.
 The 1960s was a decade of social
upheaval, with many long-held norms
and values being challenged. For the
older generation, the mods and rockers
symbolised the wrongs of society.
 In subsequent decades, young people
have continued to be the focus of moral
panics.
Activity: Small Groups - 10
mins
 What
recent moral panics have there
been in UK society?
 Research
one deviant group and identify
how their behaviour – and societal
reaction to it – fits with the deviancy
amplification model.
Nameless Folk Devils…?
 Trade unionists
 Football hooligans
 Punks
 Skinheads
 Black muggers
 Ravers
 Goths
 Young Muslims
 Chavs/Neds
 ???
McRobbie & Thornton (1995):
“Moral Panic is an outdated
concept...”





Frequency
The frequency of moral panics has increased: they are no
longer noteworthy.
Context
In the past moral panics would scapegoat a group and
create ‘folk devils’. Today there are many viewpoints and
values in society.
Reflexivity
Because the concept of moral panic is well-known, some
groups actually try to create one for their own benefit.
Difficulty
Because there is less certainty about what is unambiguously
‘bad’ today, moral panics are harder to start.
Rebound
People are wary about starting moral panics as there is the
possibility of it rebounding on them, e.g. John Major’s
‘family values’ campaign.
Homework
Find a contemporary example of a moral
panic (look for recent newspaper articles
online, for example). It doesn’t necessarily
have to be about crime…
…Write a brief blog/summary of the article,
using the concepts and studies covered in
this unit so far.