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Unlock This CourseLabelling theory is one of the most important approaches to understanding crime and deviance in sociology. Rather than focusing on why people commit deviant acts, it looks at how society reacts to these acts and the effects of being labelled as 'deviant'.
Key Definitions:
Think about how we use labels in everyday life - 'troublemaker', 'criminal', 'delinquent'. Labelling theory suggests these aren't just descriptions but can actually shape how people see themselves and behave in the future. When someone is labelled as 'deviant', it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy!
According to labelling theorists, no act is inherently deviant - it only becomes deviant when others define it that way. This means deviance is created by society's reaction, not by the behaviour itself. What's considered 'criminal' varies across different societies and time periods.
Howard Becker (1963) is one of the most influential labelling theorists. He argued that powerful groups in society (which he called "moral entrepreneurs") create deviance by making rules and applying them to particular people.
"Deviance is not a quality of the act a person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an 'offender'. The deviant is one to whom that label has successfully been applied; deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label."
Becker studied marijuana users in the 1960s and found that they learned to become users through a social process - they weren't inherently deviant but were labelled as such by society.
Lemert (1951) made an important distinction between two types of deviance:
The initial rule-breaking act that might have various causes (experimentation, peer pressure, etc.). This has minimal impact on a person's self-identity.
When a person begins to identify with and act according to the deviant label placed upon them. This happens after they've been caught, labelled and stigmatised for primary deviance.
The key insight here is that it's the social reaction to primary deviance that leads to secondary deviance - a cycle that can be hard to break!
Goffman (1963) explored how being labelled creates a 'stigma' - a deeply discrediting attribute that changes how society sees an individual. He described how people manage these 'spoiled identities' through various coping strategies.
Hiding the stigmatised trait to appear 'normal' (e.g., an ex-offender concealing their criminal record)
Downplaying the significance of the stigma when it can't be hidden completely
Rejecting the negative label and creating alternative identities
When a person is labelled as deviant, this label can become their 'master status' - the primary way society identifies them, overshadowing all other aspects of their identity. For example, once labelled a 'criminal', this identity often takes precedence over being a parent, employee, or community member.
Research shows that people with criminal records face significant barriers to employment, housing and social acceptance even after serving their sentences. The 'ex-offender' label becomes a master status that follows them for years, making reintegration into society extremely difficult. This often contributes to reoffending as legitimate opportunities become limited.
This concept describes how labelling can actually increase deviant behaviour rather than reduce it. The process works like this:
This creates a spiral of increasing deviance - the opposite of what punishment is supposed to achieve!
Teachers may label certain students as 'troublemakers' based on appearance, background or early behaviour. These students may then receive more scrutiny, be blamed more often for classroom disruptions and eventually accept and act according to this label. Research by Rist (1970) showed how teacher expectations and labelling affected student performance and behaviour.
Within families, children may be labelled as the 'difficult one' or the 'troublemaker'. These labels can become self-fulfilling prophecies as children internalise these identities. Siblings often develop different roles partly in response to how they're labelled by parents and other family members.
In his famous study 'Folk Devils and Moral Panics' (1972), Cohen examined how the media labelled groups of young people (Mods and Rockers) in 1960s Britain as deviant and dangerous. The exaggerated media coverage created a moral panic, which led to increased policing, harsher punishments and ultimately more deviant behaviour as the young people began to live up to their new reputation. This is a classic example of deviance amplification in action.
Understanding labelling theory has practical implications for how we deal with deviance in society:
Avoiding unnecessarily criminalising young people for minor offences through diversionary programmes
Restorative justice approaches that avoid permanent stigmatising labels
Being aware of how labelling students can create self-fulfilling prophecies
When writing about labelling theory in your exams, make sure to: