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Throughout society today, crime exists in many different forms and is currently on the rise, many individuals becoming more and more deviant and participating in criminal activity today’s society have questions on why people do crime and what makes them commit the criminal activity that they do. Within today’s modern day society many criminals are impacted to do crime based on multiple reasons, such as family issues, neighborhood influence, and/ or with the influence of media. This research study will examine the influence of media and how it impacts youth offenders to commit criminal activity. The cause of youth crime and the connection with media can be influenced by films, TV programs, music, video games, and social networking. Throughout …show more content…
The labeling theory can be examined as how individual behavior may be determined and have influence by terms used to classify them. An example of this would be an individual or youth being deviant. In this case the labeling theory would have the idea of behavior and society by labeling them as deviant. The relation to this theory and today’s society the media would pose a behavior and a bias response about the youth and then with that in mind, these youth offenders commit such crimes based on what they have learned. This strives from the social norm of when individuals mark something or someone and then they believe it and make it an issue, resulting in society labeling them. Throughout a study written by Inderbitzin, he states that the eyes of the police and school officials, a boy who drinks in an alley and stands intoxicated on the street corner is committing a more serious offense than is a boy who drinks to inebriation in a nightclub or a tavern and drives around afterwards in a car” (Inderbitzin et al, 2013). This means that society is constantly making assumptions and labeling individuals based on what they …show more content…
A social networking site is something that was developed to have the world in complete discussion and allow individuals to have their friends much closer and remain in communication. This can strongly relate to youth crime because the common phrase word of mouth. What this entitles is people talking and pressuring individuals in doing certain things that necessarily they are not suppose to be doing, resulting in youth offenders taking a change in their lives and committing deviant
Many theories, at both the macro and micro level, have been proposed to explain juvenile crime. Some prominent theories include Social Disorganization theory, Differential Social Organization theory, Social Control theory, and Differential Association theory. When determining which theories are more valid, the question must be explored whether people deviate because of what they learn or from how they are controlled? Mercer L. Sullivan’s book, “Getting Paid” Youth Crime and Work in the Inner City clearly suggests that the learning theories both at the macro level, Differential social organization, and micro level, Differential association theory, are the more accurate of the two types of theory.
Labeling Theory - Labeling theory, as defined by the textbook, is "A social process perspective that sees continued crime as a consequence of the limited opportunities for acceptable behavior that follow from the negative responses of society to those defined as offenders" (Schmalleger 94). It was a theory created by Howard Becker in 1963 which takes the view that people become criminals when labeled as such and when they accept the label as a personal identity. Terms that are directly correlated with labeling theory include, primary and secondary device, stigmatization, as well as retroactive and prospective labeling, all of which relate to the reasoning behind ones criminal behavior. A website titled sociology.about.com states that "Labeling theory is one of the most important approaches to understanding deviant and criminal behavior... [It] begins with the assumption that no act is intrinsically criminal. Definitions of criminality are established by those in power through formulation of laws and the interpretation of those laws by police courts, and correctional institutions" (About.com). Furthermore, the theory denotes that labels are imposed in part because of the status of those doing the labeling and those being labeled, as well as the fact that deviant labels create problems that the one being label must adjust to and deal with, and that under certain conditions labels can lead to greater involvement in crime and deviance. An example of labeling theory would be a
When families sit down to watch television, they expect to watch family type of shows. Family type shows meaning rated PG or PG13, sitcoms and movies that do not include weapons, killing, foul language, and non-socially accepted actions. When children killing, they start to believe that it is accepted. Do children think that killing and hurting others and themselves have little meaning to the real life, children can become traumatized. Most killers or violators of the law blame their behavior on the media, and the way that television portrays violators. Longitudinal studies tracking viewing habits and behavior patterns of a single individual found that 8-year-old boys, who viewed the most violent programs growing up, were the most likely to engage in aggressive and delinquent behavior by age 18 and serious criminal behavior by age 30 (Eron, 1). Most types of violence that occur today links to what people see on television, act out in video games or cyberspace games, or hear in music. Media adds to the violence that exists today and in the past few decades. It will continue in the future if it is not recognized as a possible threat to our society. When kids go to a movie, watch television, play video games or even surf the web, they become part of what they see and hear. Soaking violence in their heads long enough becomes a part of the way they think, acts, and live. The line between pretend and reality gets blurred.
From 1990 to to the present there has been a sharp increase in juvenile crime across the United States. From 1996 to the present there has been a slight decline from the statistics in 1995(OJJDP). What was the cause for this uprise in juvenile delinquincy? I will discuss 2 different theories to why there was such an increase in juvenile crime rates. I will analyze the rise of the "Gangsta-Rap" culture in the early 1990's and how it may have affected teenagers that are in lower-income families. Many people believe that the increase in real life violence on television is a cause for violence in juveniles. I will discuss the evidence for this theory. It seems to me that the best theory to explain the rise in juvenile crime is the social constructionist theory. Different sub-cultures of teens have higher crime rates than others because of their interests, whether it be the music that they listen to or the types of television programs that they watched as child.
Labeling theory of deviance suggests that when one is labeled constantly on the basis of any minority it gives rise to deviant behavior in order to prove the strength of the minority. The minority has been labeled so by people for a long time. They have been labeled because of their race. The gang is labeled anti-social because of their criminal behavior which turns them further to deviance. The use of the labeling theory can be seen being implemented very judiciously
Few social issues get as much media attention as youth crime. Statistics Canada reported a 3% increase in crimes committed by 12- to 17-yearolds between 2005 and 2006. In the last 15 years, the rate of violent crimes among young people has increased by 30% (Youth crime, 2008). From gangland-style killings in Vancouver to the senseless beating of an elderly woman in Hali-fax, Canadian cities are struggling with a wave of youth crime that was unimaginable a couple of decades ago. According to Statistics Canada, most Canadians believe that youth crime is on the rise and 77% believe that the sentencing of young offenders is too lenient (Youth crime, 2005). Many experts attribute the spike in youth crime to the increased number of street gangs - often the perpetrators of youth crime (Catalano and Hawkins, 1996). Research indicates that youth seek comfort from those who welcome them and reinforce their sense of belonging. Unfortunate-ly, some youth have no choice but to turn to street gangs in order to satisfy their need for approv-al, belonging and self-worth (Clark, 1992). Street gangs are not just issues in big cities. Over the last few decades, there has been an increase in the presence of street gangs in non-metropolitan and rural communities. For example, in 1960, there were 54 cities in the United States with a gang population. In 1995, there were street gangs in approximately 800 cities and towns across the United States (Swetnam and Pope, 2001). There is no consensus among experts on how to reduce youth crime. Criminal involvement usually starts before the age of 15, with first-time of-fences declining markedly once young people reach 20 years of age. Young people who become involved in criminal activities before the age of 14...
There is no doubt that youth justice practises have changed throughout the years, these changes have been made to adapt to the new challenges that present themselves today. Crime in general, but particularly youth crime is a consistent problem for society.
Labeling theorists explore how and why certain acts are defined as criminal or deviant and why other such acts are not. As such, they also who is identified as a criminal, and who is not. They question how and why certain people become defined as criminal or deviant. Such theorists view criminals not as evil people who engage in wrong acts but as individuals who have a criminal status forced upon them by both the criminal justice system and the community at large. From this point of view, criminal acts themselves are not significant; it is the reactions of the rest of society to acts defined as criminal that are most crucial. Crime and its control involve a process of social definition, which involves a response from others to an individual's behavior. The external response is crucial to how an individual views himself. According to Sociologist Howard S. Becker (1963) "Deviance is not a quality of the act the 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 behavior is behavior that people so label."
This article talks about the effects of media exposure on adolescents and the violence that is can bring. Using the social conflict theory it portrays the media as having a harmful impression on today’s children. The article shows how crime statistics have decreased the arrests for violent crimes committed by youth offenders has not (Fowler, 2002). The article also shows how the APA is teaming up with federal programs to help resolve these harmful effects that the media is portraying. The article shows that media is responsible for the social conflict that these adolescents are dealing with. The APA and other organizations along with the federal government are combating this problem from every angle (Fowler, 2002). While the article does speak of some statistics it may be inflating them by not including a breakdown of what violent crimes are being committed.
The labelling theory became dominant within society during the 1940’s and 1950’s, when a group of graduate students from the Chicago school tried a different approach to applying theory to deviant behaviour. Within this group was a highly influential young man, Howard S.Becker who became the person most recognised for his work with the labelling of crime (Williams.F. McShaneM. 2010.p110). Becker argued that labels could be applied through the social reaction of others when a deviant or criminal act had been committed he stated that “Labelling is the process of identifying, categorising and stereotyping social categories such as delinquents” (Davies.M.et.al.2010.p30). When an individual becomes labelled a criminal, people do not consider all the praiseworthy things they may have done previously, they just see that they have committed some form of deviance and are now judged within societ...
In conclusion, it would be safe to suggest that the labelling theory and the learning theory both have abundant influence over people’s lives, conceivably because of their susceptibility and the way they look at different behavior within their society. With both criminal and deviant acts being shaped and fabricated by society, the behavior displayed by an individual will certainly be labelled if they do not live up to the norms and value’s that are in place in their society. However, as the essay explains young people will gather characteristics of deviance from society’s influential structures.
Some of the explanations of delinquency insinuates that education, politics, social factors, family issues among others are the main causes of delinquency (Rutter, 2013).Just as these were some of the factors in “There Are No Children Here”. In addition, criminal investigators formulated several theories which explain causes of delinquency. Among them are social factors which are explained through several theories which include Social Reaction Theory also referred to as Labeling theory and Power control
Labelling theory, stemming from the influences of Cooley, Mead, Tannenbaum, and Lemert, has its origins somewhere within the context of the twentieth century. However, Edwin Lemert is widely considered the producer and founder of the original version of labelling theory. This paper, not a summary, provides a brief history of labelling theory, as well as, its role in the sociology of deviance. It attempts to explore the contributions made by labelling theorists, the criticism towards labelling theorists, and the discussion surrounding its reality as an actual theory. In essence, the main focus of this paper besides proving an understanding of Howard Becker, is to describe and evaluate `labelling theory` to the study of crime and deviance, by way of an in depth discussion.
In England, conforming to the Civitas’s Crime report Youth Crime in England and Wales (2010) the youngest age that someone can be prosecuted is as young as ten years old. It is also mentioned that trailing, patrolling and applying penalties on young offenders costs almost four billion pounds annually. The numbers of first time offences committed by a young person has decrease over the years; according to the Youth Justice Statistics (2014) youth crime is down by 63% since 2002. In regards to the offences themselves, nearly every offence category has decreased in reoccurrence with exception to drug offences declares Civitas’s Youth Crime in England and Wales (2010). The same report states that theft and handling remains the highest volume category taking up 21% of all youth crime. It is shortly followed by violence against a person, 19.5%, and criminal damage, 11.9%. It can be concluded from both aforementioned reports that crime in the UK is decreasing. Contrariwise to this, youth reoffending rates are soaring concludes Civitas’s Youth Crime in England and Wales (2010).
Labelling theory outlines the sociological approach towards labelling within societies and in the development of crime and deviance (Gunnar Bernburg, and D. Krohn et al., 2014, pp. 69-71). The theory purposes that, when an individual is given a negative label (that is deviant), then the individual pursues their new (deviant) label / identity and acts in a manner that is expected from him/her with his/ her new label (Asencio and Burke, 2011, pp. 163-182).