evaluation o labelling theory (around crime and deviance)
- Created by: becca ellis
- Created on: 05-01-13 20:02
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- evaluation of labelling theory (around crime and deviance)
- pros
- shows that the laws isn't fixed set of rules
- it shows that the law is often enforced in discriminatory ways
- it shows crime statistics are more a record of the activities of control agents than of criminals
- it shows that society's attempts to control deviance can often backfire and create more rather than less
- it was the first theory to recognise the role of power in creating deviance
- criticisms
- it is deterministic implying that once someone is labelled a deviant career is inevitable
- emphasis on the negative effects of lebelling gives the offender a kind of victim status
- realists sociologist argue that this ignores the real victims of crime
- assuming that offenders are passive victims of labelling it ignores the fact that individuals may actively choose deviance
- fails to explain why people commit primary deviance
- implies that with out labelling deviance wouldn't exist.
- it leads to the strange conclusion that someone who commits a crime but is not labelled has not deviated . it also implies that deviants are unaware that they are deviant until labelled. yet most are aware that they are going against social norms.
- although it recognises the role of power but fails to analyse the source of this power
- pros
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