Labelling Theory and Crime One of the most

Labelling Theory and Crime One of the most important theories to explain why people become and stay criminal. www. ngfl-cymru. org. uk

What is crime? • Labelling theories say that no behaviour is wrong until someone else says it is. • Crime is not about what you do – it is about how others see it. www. ngfl-cymru. org. uk

For example • Victorian people used poppies to make a popular drug, laudanum. • This is now illegal because it is similar to heroin. www. ngfl-cymru. org. uk

The speeding vehicle. . . • This vehicle is speeding at 70 mph in a built up area. • Is it the action wrong? • Is the action deviant? www. ngfl-cymru. org. uk

A deviant person • Once a person is seen as a deviant or criminal, they gain a label. • This label is known as a Master Status. The master status is the main thing about you that everyone knows. www. ngfl-cymru. org. uk

Gaining a master status • What are the first things you notice about this person? • Those first things are master statuses www. ngfl-cymru. org. uk

Master status • If you are labelled as a criminal, then this is so important a status that everyone sees you in those terms. www. ngfl-cymru. org. uk

Criminal master status HANNIBAL • How would you act if you saw this person? • Could you treat him normally? • Would his master status affect how you saw him? www. ngfl-cymru. org. uk

Outsiders • Howard Becker, a famous sociologist, said that people with a criminal master status become ‘outsiders’. • They are not treated as normal. • Other people treat them with disgust or lack of trust. www. ngfl-cymru. org. uk

Rejecting outsiders • Because people reject the people with a criminal master status, they are not part of society. • They feel like outsiders. • They mix with other people like themselves. The outsiders reject society www. ngfl-cymru. org. uk

Others feel threatened • People feel nervous of criminal groups and reject them more. • The criminal groups then develop their own way of acting. www. ngfl-cymru. org. uk

Labelling theory explained Action No witness Action witnessed Person labelled Person rejected No label Person rejects society www. ngfl-cymru. org. uk

Young people labelled • Young people are vulnerable to labels. – They act in groups – They are more likely to drink or use drugs that lower control – They are influenced by others around them – They frighten older people www. ngfl-cymru. org. uk

Older people not labelled • Older people are less vulnerable to labels – Older people tend to stay at home more – Older people have more to lose if they get labelled – People do not expect older people to be criminal and overlook things. www. ngfl-cymru. org. uk

The end If you have further ideas, see Mrs Griffiths www. ngfl-cymru. org. uk