Module 8 -Reading
Chapter 8: Labeling and Conflict Theories
This chapter begins with the study by Howard Becker. He believed that social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infractions constitute deviance. Deviant behavior is behavior people label that way. The master status defines how others view us and how we see ourselves. A true deviant are those who commit deviant acts and have few advocates. A hidden deviant can commit an evil act but society perceives them to be nondeviant, and thus escape labeling.
Lemert addressed secondary deviation. The deviant may recognize their behavior according to society’s reaction of the original criminal act. The person thus responds in a negative way to that labeling. Schur believed that labeling required four elements; stereotyping, retrospective interpretation, looking to the past for hidden causes of behaviors that occur in the present, negotiations between the labeled and the labelers, and role engulfment, society’s response to the person now recognized as a deviant.
There are effects to labeling. Studies have shown that those with criminal convictions are less likely to have positive employment. However, labeling theory is not without criticism. There are poor and missing conceptual definitions. Most research results have been poor. There is an argument of overstatement of labeling’s importance.
Labeling theory reemerged in the 1990s. The characteristic hypothesis argues that certain characteristics such as race and sex determines whom social control agencies label. Recent research on juvenile labeling has been mixed. Public policy has resulted in the decriminalization. The diversion program provides alternatives to the CJ process. However, this can also lead to net widening. Police will charge people that would not have been charged in the past. Many critics also see trials as a shaming ceremony.
Conflict theory explains why one group has more power than another. Primary culture conflict argues that one culture brings its legal norms to bear on people socialized in a different culture. Secondary conflict occurs whenever a subculture emerges within a dominant culture that has different values and norms. Group conflict occurs when groups in power have their own values woven into the law to protect that which they hold dear. It argues that crime is the behavior of minority power groups.
There are various methods of conflict resolution. The first is negotiation, which is resolving differences with out a third party. Mediation is an impartial third party to help the two parties work out conflict. Arbitration is a neutral party who makes a binding decision, after the two sides present their arguments. Lastly, adjudication is a public forum to resolve the conflict.
There are problems with conflict theories. There is a lack of general empirical support; it relies heavily on historical and event analysis. Law is not viewed as the “cause” of behavior. There is also a lack of attention to individual motivations.
Cooley article
Cooley argues that the way we view ourselves is influenced by social factors. An ideal self has three elements; imagination of appearance to the other person, the imagination of his judgment of that appearance, and some form of self-feeling, such as pride. The thing that determines pride in one’s self is the imagined effect of their reflection upon another’s mind. Society will also shape a person’s self-perception. For example, mentally ill person may be excluded from social groups. As a result, the person suffers loss and pain.
Lemert article
The author argues that there is a gradual unconscious process over to deviant behavior – is it seldom a sudden and dramatic event. Deviations are not significant until they are organized and transformed into active roles and become the social criteria for assigning status. Secondary deviation occurs when a person begins to employ his deviant behavior as a means of defense on attack to the overt and covert problems. Personality changes are not always subtle, traumatic changes can occur, such as in times of war.
Goffman article
This article examines stigma and how it can affect a person. Stigma is applied to the disgrace itself. We will categorize people based on normative expectations. We make assumptions about how a person “ought” to be. There are three types of stigma; abominations of the body, blemishes of individual character, and tribal stigma of race, nationality, and religion.
Stigma can occur in many different forms. It can occur when a person who might have been received in ordinary social intercourse possess a trait that can obtrude itself and turn those whom he meets away. The person may make a direct attempt to correct what he sees as the basis for his stigma, for example plastic surgery. A person can attempt to correct the condition indirectly by mastering an area of activity normally felt to be closed off to them. It can also be used for secondary gained.
Mixed contacts can result when stigmas and normals are in the same social situation. Both usually want to avoid the situation all together. Stigma people worry about what people really think of them. Normals are also concerned; they see the stigma person as too aggressive or too shameful. There is usually a discrepancy between virtual and actual identity. Another task for stigmas is to appear as “speakers” in front of an audience of normals. There are those that become professionals, representing their stigmas. Stigmas can expect support from the “wise” persons who are normal but whose situation has made them privy to the life of the stigmatized, they are courtesy members. Those who can relate to the stigmas will also experience some stigma as well.
There are four careers of the moral careers of the stigmatized. The first are those who are born in stigma, they become socialized into their situation while they are learning the standards against which they fall short. The second is capacity of family, which forms a protective and capsule. The third are those that become stigmatized later in life, such as after an accident. Lastly, there are those who are first socialized in an alien community and then must learn a second way of being.
Melossi Article
This article posses the question; has critical criminology gone beyond the labeling approach’s earlier formulation? There was a notion that reaction to a person’s deviance led to a more significant secondary deviation. American sociology of deviance in the 1960s had two schools of thought. The first was the Chicago school and the second was the root of American tradition in sociologically oriented jurisprudence. The 1970s began moving to the Marxist theory of crime and punishment. Gouldner argued that sociologists were not interested in correcting deviants, they wished to preserve them.
Labeling theory has faced critics as well. It has not been able to identify the socio structural conditioning of the “power to define”. It only points to the study of mere linguistic constructs, the labels, failing to analyze the outside world. Mead argued that the process of communication is more universal that religion or economics. To define or name something is never an idealistic procedure, it is a consequences of an act. In the 20th century “news” changed from events in which the observer is a direct witness into a product of communication media.
Criminal behavior was seen as an individual response to situations of economic deprivation and punishment was conceived as the capitalists’ attempt at controlling such responses. Critical criminologists do not need to engage in drafting new political platforms. Their role is to challenge such assumptions. Lastly, Melossi calls for a grounded labeling theory. This is a theory of social discourse about deviance and crime grounded within the social discourse about the economy and politics.
Sellin article
Conflicts between cultures may arise in three situations. The first is when codes clash on the border of contiguous culture areas. The second is when the law of one cultural group is extended to cover the territory of another. The third is when members of one culture migrate to another country. The author uses the American Indian as an example. Culture conflict is seen as a mental conflict in the person, but it can be external as well.
Fuller article
This chapter examines the peace making perspective, which emphasis social justice, conflict resolution, rehabilitation, and a belief that people need to cooperate in democratic institutions in order to develop meaningful communities. The peacemaking looks at systems of governments, economic systems, religions, criminal justice, and other institutions to develop and implement rules and policies. One of the problems with peacemaking, it that people see it as being soft on crime. It looks at the individual culpability and the contribution of the institutions of society. We have to transform both. The peacemaking perspective in CJ is not well organized at this time. There is a lack of cohesion.
The chapter examines three famous peacemakers, Tolstoy, Gandhi, and MLK. One problem with the CJ system from the peacemakers perspective is that the components of the XJ system have criminogenic influence themselves. Fighting crime can cause people to break the law themselves. We can saw that law causes crime. By declaring war on crime, the CJ system labels individuals as the enemy. There is a peacemaking pyramid as a solution to criminal justice problems. The base of the pyramid is nonviolence, followed by social justice, inclusion, correct means, ascertainable criteria, and on top categorical imperative.
Mills article
Those in power are the elite and are in position to make decisions having major consequences. The power elite has advisors and spokespersons. Immediately below the elite are professional politicians, then the upper class. The elite make all of the powerful decisions and most Americans have no contact with them. Mills argues that the elites are the major institutions of modern society. In America, major national power is in economic, political, and military domains. 200-300 giant corporations dominate the economy. The military is the largest and most expensive feature of the government.
As each domain becomes larger, consequences become greater and will overlap with other domains. In each domain, there are those at the higher circle. These elite forms the power elite of America. The military has benefited the most and the professional politician has benefited the least. The elite class in not “hidden”, although activities are not highly publicized.
Liazos article
The author argues that deviance has been humanized but not all is well in the field of deviance. The focus is still on the deviant and not the society in which he lives. After examining 16 textbooks, he found three common themes on deviance. All writers have a concern to humanize the deviant. Many fail to examine more serious forms of deviance, such as unjust tax laws. Authors show profound unconcern with power and its implications. He argues that we should not only study the popular and dramatic forms of deviance. Society should banish the concept of deviance and speak of oppression, conflicts, persecution, and suffering. We often blame the victims of deviance.
This chapter begins with the study by Howard Becker. He believed that social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infractions constitute deviance. Deviant behavior is behavior people label that way. The master status defines how others view us and how we see ourselves. A true deviant are those who commit deviant acts and have few advocates. A hidden deviant can commit an evil act but society perceives them to be nondeviant, and thus escape labeling.
Lemert addressed secondary deviation. The deviant may recognize their behavior according to society’s reaction of the original criminal act. The person thus responds in a negative way to that labeling. Schur believed that labeling required four elements; stereotyping, retrospective interpretation, looking to the past for hidden causes of behaviors that occur in the present, negotiations between the labeled and the labelers, and role engulfment, society’s response to the person now recognized as a deviant.
There are effects to labeling. Studies have shown that those with criminal convictions are less likely to have positive employment. However, labeling theory is not without criticism. There are poor and missing conceptual definitions. Most research results have been poor. There is an argument of overstatement of labeling’s importance.
Labeling theory reemerged in the 1990s. The characteristic hypothesis argues that certain characteristics such as race and sex determines whom social control agencies label. Recent research on juvenile labeling has been mixed. Public policy has resulted in the decriminalization. The diversion program provides alternatives to the CJ process. However, this can also lead to net widening. Police will charge people that would not have been charged in the past. Many critics also see trials as a shaming ceremony.
Conflict theory explains why one group has more power than another. Primary culture conflict argues that one culture brings its legal norms to bear on people socialized in a different culture. Secondary conflict occurs whenever a subculture emerges within a dominant culture that has different values and norms. Group conflict occurs when groups in power have their own values woven into the law to protect that which they hold dear. It argues that crime is the behavior of minority power groups.
There are various methods of conflict resolution. The first is negotiation, which is resolving differences with out a third party. Mediation is an impartial third party to help the two parties work out conflict. Arbitration is a neutral party who makes a binding decision, after the two sides present their arguments. Lastly, adjudication is a public forum to resolve the conflict.
There are problems with conflict theories. There is a lack of general empirical support; it relies heavily on historical and event analysis. Law is not viewed as the “cause” of behavior. There is also a lack of attention to individual motivations.
Cooley article
Cooley argues that the way we view ourselves is influenced by social factors. An ideal self has three elements; imagination of appearance to the other person, the imagination of his judgment of that appearance, and some form of self-feeling, such as pride. The thing that determines pride in one’s self is the imagined effect of their reflection upon another’s mind. Society will also shape a person’s self-perception. For example, mentally ill person may be excluded from social groups. As a result, the person suffers loss and pain.
Lemert article
The author argues that there is a gradual unconscious process over to deviant behavior – is it seldom a sudden and dramatic event. Deviations are not significant until they are organized and transformed into active roles and become the social criteria for assigning status. Secondary deviation occurs when a person begins to employ his deviant behavior as a means of defense on attack to the overt and covert problems. Personality changes are not always subtle, traumatic changes can occur, such as in times of war.
Goffman article
This article examines stigma and how it can affect a person. Stigma is applied to the disgrace itself. We will categorize people based on normative expectations. We make assumptions about how a person “ought” to be. There are three types of stigma; abominations of the body, blemishes of individual character, and tribal stigma of race, nationality, and religion.
Stigma can occur in many different forms. It can occur when a person who might have been received in ordinary social intercourse possess a trait that can obtrude itself and turn those whom he meets away. The person may make a direct attempt to correct what he sees as the basis for his stigma, for example plastic surgery. A person can attempt to correct the condition indirectly by mastering an area of activity normally felt to be closed off to them. It can also be used for secondary gained.
Mixed contacts can result when stigmas and normals are in the same social situation. Both usually want to avoid the situation all together. Stigma people worry about what people really think of them. Normals are also concerned; they see the stigma person as too aggressive or too shameful. There is usually a discrepancy between virtual and actual identity. Another task for stigmas is to appear as “speakers” in front of an audience of normals. There are those that become professionals, representing their stigmas. Stigmas can expect support from the “wise” persons who are normal but whose situation has made them privy to the life of the stigmatized, they are courtesy members. Those who can relate to the stigmas will also experience some stigma as well.
There are four careers of the moral careers of the stigmatized. The first are those who are born in stigma, they become socialized into their situation while they are learning the standards against which they fall short. The second is capacity of family, which forms a protective and capsule. The third are those that become stigmatized later in life, such as after an accident. Lastly, there are those who are first socialized in an alien community and then must learn a second way of being.
Melossi Article
This article posses the question; has critical criminology gone beyond the labeling approach’s earlier formulation? There was a notion that reaction to a person’s deviance led to a more significant secondary deviation. American sociology of deviance in the 1960s had two schools of thought. The first was the Chicago school and the second was the root of American tradition in sociologically oriented jurisprudence. The 1970s began moving to the Marxist theory of crime and punishment. Gouldner argued that sociologists were not interested in correcting deviants, they wished to preserve them.
Labeling theory has faced critics as well. It has not been able to identify the socio structural conditioning of the “power to define”. It only points to the study of mere linguistic constructs, the labels, failing to analyze the outside world. Mead argued that the process of communication is more universal that religion or economics. To define or name something is never an idealistic procedure, it is a consequences of an act. In the 20th century “news” changed from events in which the observer is a direct witness into a product of communication media.
Criminal behavior was seen as an individual response to situations of economic deprivation and punishment was conceived as the capitalists’ attempt at controlling such responses. Critical criminologists do not need to engage in drafting new political platforms. Their role is to challenge such assumptions. Lastly, Melossi calls for a grounded labeling theory. This is a theory of social discourse about deviance and crime grounded within the social discourse about the economy and politics.
Sellin article
Conflicts between cultures may arise in three situations. The first is when codes clash on the border of contiguous culture areas. The second is when the law of one cultural group is extended to cover the territory of another. The third is when members of one culture migrate to another country. The author uses the American Indian as an example. Culture conflict is seen as a mental conflict in the person, but it can be external as well.
Fuller article
This chapter examines the peace making perspective, which emphasis social justice, conflict resolution, rehabilitation, and a belief that people need to cooperate in democratic institutions in order to develop meaningful communities. The peacemaking looks at systems of governments, economic systems, religions, criminal justice, and other institutions to develop and implement rules and policies. One of the problems with peacemaking, it that people see it as being soft on crime. It looks at the individual culpability and the contribution of the institutions of society. We have to transform both. The peacemaking perspective in CJ is not well organized at this time. There is a lack of cohesion.
The chapter examines three famous peacemakers, Tolstoy, Gandhi, and MLK. One problem with the CJ system from the peacemakers perspective is that the components of the XJ system have criminogenic influence themselves. Fighting crime can cause people to break the law themselves. We can saw that law causes crime. By declaring war on crime, the CJ system labels individuals as the enemy. There is a peacemaking pyramid as a solution to criminal justice problems. The base of the pyramid is nonviolence, followed by social justice, inclusion, correct means, ascertainable criteria, and on top categorical imperative.
Mills article
Those in power are the elite and are in position to make decisions having major consequences. The power elite has advisors and spokespersons. Immediately below the elite are professional politicians, then the upper class. The elite make all of the powerful decisions and most Americans have no contact with them. Mills argues that the elites are the major institutions of modern society. In America, major national power is in economic, political, and military domains. 200-300 giant corporations dominate the economy. The military is the largest and most expensive feature of the government.
As each domain becomes larger, consequences become greater and will overlap with other domains. In each domain, there are those at the higher circle. These elite forms the power elite of America. The military has benefited the most and the professional politician has benefited the least. The elite class in not “hidden”, although activities are not highly publicized.
Liazos article
The author argues that deviance has been humanized but not all is well in the field of deviance. The focus is still on the deviant and not the society in which he lives. After examining 16 textbooks, he found three common themes on deviance. All writers have a concern to humanize the deviant. Many fail to examine more serious forms of deviance, such as unjust tax laws. Authors show profound unconcern with power and its implications. He argues that we should not only study the popular and dramatic forms of deviance. Society should banish the concept of deviance and speak of oppression, conflicts, persecution, and suffering. We often blame the victims of deviance.
