Labeling Theory :: Labeling Theory in Sociology

Deviance, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder. There is nonhing inherently unnatural in any human act, something is deviant only because some tidy sum have been successful in labeling it so. J.L. SimmonsINTRODUCTIONLabelling theory, stemming from the influences of Cooley, Mead, Tannenbaum, and Lemert, has its origins somewhere within the scope of the twentieth century. However, Edwin Lemert is widely considered the producer and founder of the original version of labelling theory. This typography, not a summary, provides a brief history of labelling theory, as salubrious as, its eccentric in the sociology of deviance. It attempts to explore the contributions made by labelling theorists, the criticism towards labelling theorists, and the discussion skirt 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 contract of plague and deviance, by way of an in depth discussion. THEORETICAL IMAGES The theoretical study of societal reaction to deviance has been carried out under different names, such as, labelling theory, interactionist perspective, and the favorable constructionist perspective. In the sociology of deviance, the labelling theory of deviant behaviour is often utilize interchangeably with the societal reaction theory of deviancy. As a thing of fact, both phrases dapple equally to the fact that sociological explanations of deviance dish out 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 atomic number 18 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.INFLUENCESLabelling theory was significantly influenced by the loot School and Symbolic Interactionism.