An example would be drug users who believe that using marijuana or other illegal drugs is no more deviant than drinking alcoholic beverages and therefore should not be stigmatized.Ĭan labeling theory be applied to high school peer groups and gangs? a classic study, the sociologist William Chambliss (1973) documented how the labeling process works in some high schools when he studied two groups of adolescent boys: the "Saints" and the "Roughnecks." Members of both groups were constantly involved in acts of truancy drinking, wild parties, petty theft, and vandalism. A few people engage in tertiary deviance, which occurs when a person who has been labeled a deviant seeks to normalize the behavior by relabeling it as nondevlant (Kitsuse, 1980). is labeled as a "thief ' and subsequently accepts that label. then the person may shoplift items from stores on numerous occasions. However. if the person shoplifts the item. The person may subsequently decide to forgo such behavior in the future. a person may shoplift an item of clothing from a department store but not be apprehended or labeled as a deviant. Secondary deviance occurs when a person who has been labeled a deviant accepts that new identity and continues the deviant behavior.įor example. they are more likely to continue to participate in the type of behavior that the label was i'tially meant to control. ![]() if individuals accept the negative label that has been applied to them as a result of the primary deviance. Primary deviance refers to the initial act of rule breaking (Lernert, ) 951). several stages may occur in the labeling process. Becker (1963: 9) concludes that the deviant is "one to whom the label has successfully been applied deviant behavior is behavior that people so label As the definition oflabeling theory suggests. these rules are enforced on persons with less power than the moral entrepreneurs. Becker believes that moral -urepreneurs use their own perspectives on "right" and "wrong» to establish the rules by which they expect other people to live, They also label others as deviant. moral entrepreneurssr« often the nes who create the rules about what constitutes deviant or conventional behavior. According to the sociologist Heward Becker (1963). is not devian and of itself it is defined as such by a social audience (Erikson. such as "crime or "rnenraliy ill is directly related to the power ar, status of those persons who do the labeling and tho who are being labeled. How docs the process oflabcling occur? The act of a person with a negative identity. including "troublemaker ' "mentally ill." and "stupid help stigmatize their targets and reduce their self-image. ![]() Research shows that people who are labeled with one positive trait. ![]() can improve f self-image and social standing. Valued labels. including "smart." "honest and "hard worker which suggest overall competence. people labeled "insane" are assumed to be dangerous. Sociologist Larry J. Siegel (1998: 212) explains the link between labeling and deviance as follows: Labels imply a variety of behaviors and attitudes labels thus help define not just one trait but the whole Bfson. labeling theory focuses on the variety of symbolic labels that people are given in their interactions with others. ![]() Based on the symbolic interaction theory of Charles. Labeling theory states that deviance is a socially constructed 'Process In which social control agencies designate certain people as deviants, and they, in turn, come to accept the label placed upon them and begin to act accordingly.
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