Labeling, Law, and America's Drug Policy

3280 Words7 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Crime in sociological perspective

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." Labeling theory focuses on the reactions of other people and the consequent results of those reactions. A person who is exposed to have engaged in deviant acts is shunned from society and labeled, "prostitute," "crook," "addict," "molester," and so on. According to Becker, this process creates a group of "outsiders", who then begin to associate with other outcasts. When more and more people begin to think of these individuals as deviants, they respond to them as such; thus the deviant reacts to such a response by continuing to engage in the behavior society now expects from them. In this pape... ... middle of paper ... ...http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/history/deahistory_03.htm#19 Helmick, D. 1999. Operation Pipeline. California Caucus Task Force on Government Oversight. Human Rights Watch. 2000. Racial disparities in the war on drugs. Human Rights Watch. Washington, DC. Progressive Information Network. 2003. Editorial. Education vs. prisons: jail/yale. Ricky Brown, Et al, v. State of New York, 89 N.Y.2d 172, 674 N.E.2d 1129, 652 N.Y.S.2d 223, 65 USLW 2355 (1996) Ruderman, W. Tuesday, November 28, 2000. Profiling was used in war on drugs. Bergen Record Welch, Ronald H., and Angulo, Carlos T. 2000. Justice on trial: racial disparities in the american criminal justice system. Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. Washington, DC United States Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2003. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/.

Show More
Related

  • Crime is a contested and complex concept. Discuss

    820 Words  | 2 Pages

    Labelling theory: The theory that the terms crime, deviance, or punishment are labels, variously applied by act of power and not some natural reflection of events – American criminologist Howard Becker

    Read More

  • Racial Disparities In Sentencing

    1536 Words  | 4 Pages

    This research essay discusses racial disparities in the sentencing policies and process, which is one of the major factors contributing to the current overrepresentation of minorities in the judicial system, further threatening the African American and Latino communities. This is also evident from the fact that Blacks are almost 7 times more likely to be incarcerated than are Whites (Kartz, 2000). The argument presented in the essay is that how the laws that have been established for sentencing tend to target the people of color more and therefore their chances of ending up on prison are higher than the whites. The essay further goes on to talk about the judges and the prosecutors who due to different factors, tend to make their decisions

    Read More

  • Gangs in America

    2717 Words  | 6 Pages

    Bernburg, J., Krohn, M. D., & Rivera, C. J. (2006). Official Labeling, Criminal Embeddedness, and Subsequent Delinquency: A Longitudinal Test of Labeling Theory. Journal Of Research In Crime & Delinquency, 43(1), 67-88. doi:10.1177/0022427805280068

    Read More

  • The Conflict Theory Of Deviance In American History X

    1043 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • A Comparison of Conflict and Labeling Theory in the Context of Youth Gangs

    1544 Words  | 4 Pages

    As mentioned in lecture, labeling theory asks two critical questions: what is crime, and who is criminal? This is the central tenet of labeling theory because the focus is on what activities constitute criminal behaviour within the context. This means that over time, the general perspective changes in regards to what can be labeled 'crime.' For instance, society is known to react negatively towards prostitution in the past; whereas the contemporary reaction is primarily to legalize it.

    Read More

  • Racial Discrimination in the U.S. Justice System

    4767 Words  | 10 Pages

    In modern-day America the issue of racial discrimination in the criminal justice system is controversial because there is substantial evidence confirming both individual and systemic biases. While there is reason to believe that there are discriminatory elements at every step of the judicial process, this treatment will investigate and attempt to elucidate such elements in two of the most critical judicial junctures, criminal apprehension and prosecution.

    Read More

  • Racial Inequalities in the Justice System

    1738 Words  | 4 Pages

    Reducing Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System: A Manual for Practitioners and Policymakers. Retrieved from http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_reducingracialdisparity.pdf New Century Foundation. (2005). The Color of Crime: Race, Crime and Justice in America. Retrieved from http://www.colorofcrime.com/colorofcrime2005.pdf Pearson Education. (2008).

    Read More

  • Diversity within the Criminal Justice System

    2181 Words  | 5 Pages

    This paper proposes that three major factors play a role in the high rate of convictions of black men versus whites and Hispanics. These factors are the lack of diversity among legal professionals in positions of power for decision-making, specifically those in the criminal justice system; secondly, the racial disparities that exist in arrest conviction and sentencing and thirdly, the incidence of discriminatory actions within the justice system. The paper seeks to examine litera...

    Read More

  • Secondary Deviance Theory

    1024 Words  | 3 Pages

    With the stigmatization that is placed on acts of deviance and deviant individuals, many of these individuals feel pressured by society to conform, or else be shamed and cutoff. Therefore, the deviant individuals in question need to be able to manage the stigma given to them. Managing a stigma plays a significant part of secondary deviance. Secondary deviance is a type of deviance associated with the Label theory, which was put forth by Edwin Lemert and Howard Becker. Secondary deviance only makes up one part of the Label theory. The other part of the theory is primary deviance. Primary deviance only involves individuals that commit and acts of deviance once and learns from their “mistake.” However, when it comes to secondary deviance, it is not defined by one act. Secondary deviance is a label that sticks with an individual for either as long as the lifestyle resides in the individual or for the rest of the individual’s life. Stealing a cookie and learning a lesson from that act would be an example of primary deviance. On the other hand, robbing ten houses over the course of two months would constitute as

    Read More

  • The Labeling Theory and its Effect on Devience

    593 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to labeling theory, deviance is a product of a societal reaction to behaviour. A label is created as a reaction to an isolated incident by agents of social control. The recipient then internalizes the label and absorbs it into their self identity. Once they identify with the label, the individual will act in ways that fulfill the label. The focus of labeling theory is on the process of how the label leads to further delinquent behaviour. The cause of the initial act of deviance is of less concern than how societies reaction to the act creates a condition for further deviance. Thus the focus of study on labeling theory is more concerned with secondary deviance. While the initial deviant act is known as the primary deviance, all deviant acts following the absorption of the label are known as secondary deviance. Primary deviance may be committed for a variety of different reasons and labeling theory looks not to provide a cause for the initial act but for any act of deviance caused by the internalization of a label. Labels can be formally or informally imposed. A formal label...

    Read More

  • Office of National Drug Control Policy

    1578 Words  | 4 Pages

    Reduce the Threat, Incidence and Prevalence of Violent Crime and Drug Trafficking: FY 2011 Overview. (2011).Intelligence (p. 6). Washington, D. C. Retrieved from http://www.justice.gov/jmd/2011factsheets/pdf/reduce-drug-trafficking.pdf

    Read More

  • deviance

    543 Words  | 2 Pages

    Labeling theorists attempt to explain how cultural and individual perceptions create and sustain deviant idetities. A deviant is not different from you or I, they are just labeled deviant successfully.

    Read More

  • Labeling Theory

    3342 Words  | 7 Pages

    The theoretical study of societal reaction to deviance has been carried out under different names, such as, labelling theory, interactionist perspective, and the social constructionist perspective. In the sociology of deviance, the labelling theory of deviant behaviour is often used interchangeably with the societal reaction theory of deviancy. As a matter of fact, both phrases point equally to the fact that sociological explanations of deviance function as a product of social control rather than a product of psychology or genetic inheritance. Some sociologists would explain deviance by accepting without question definitions of deviance and concerning themselves with primary aetiology. However, labelling theorists stress the point of seeing deviance from the viewpoint of the deviant individual. They claim that when a person becomes known as a deviant, and is ascribed deviant behaviour patterns, it is as much, if not more, to do with the way they have been stigmatized, then the deviant act they are said to have committed. In addition, Howard S. Becker (1963), one of the earlier interaction theorists, claimed that, "social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitute deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them as outsiders". Furthermore, the labelling theoretical approach to deviance concentrates on the social reaction to deviance committed by individuals, as well as, the interaction processes leading up to the labelling.

    Read More

  • The Implications of Labelling Theory and how It Affects Individuals

    1254 Words  | 3 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • The Labeling Theory In The United States

    311 Words  | 1 Pages

    The labeling theory was first developed in the early 1960s. Interaction is when a person does an activity that isn’t normal. It involves more than persons act. Positivist sociologists tend to focus on a deviant person a lot and that is not the right thing to do. Sometimes the labeling starts off because of law enforcement. When ever someone does something bad police officers label them as deviants.

    Read More

More about Labeling, Law, and America's Drug Policy

Open Document