Application of Becker’s Labelling Theory

1. Discuss how Becker’s Labelling theory (Chapter 3) applies to people’s experiences of and reactions to deviant identities.
2. applied to people’s experiences based on the experience with society. The fact that they committed a crime is based on how the community translates it and defines it to make it be a deviant behaviour.

Breaking a rule is not looked at, until someone calls upon it and will say they find it to be a broken rule. Like now days we can call it deviant to someone who breaks the rule of the face mask.

We would have not though about it until now that we are going through pandemic and we seem to be so aware if others are following the new rule. Becker’s Classic Statement ” deviance is contained not within individuals’ behaviours, but in the response, others have to those behaviours.” (pg. 40, Adler & Adler)

1. Explain the relationship between primary and secondary deviance, using Pager’s study (Chapter 20) of the employment difficulties of individuals with prior arrest records.
2. The fact that having to be labelled as a deviant could give the person the idea that since he/she is labelled that way they should be that way, compared to being labelled and not want to be that way and make the change.

We have an example of those applying for a job position, being black and with a criminal record made it difficult for them, but also the ones who didn’t have a criminal record seemed to have it difficult when being compared with a white male with a criminal record.

Their colour of skin was the problem not so much the criminal record, because of stereotype. Some black people might agree that they should act deviant since they are not given fair chances and they have a more difficult time when applying for a job position.

” In fact, even whites with a criminal record received more favourably treatment than black without a criminal record.” (pg. 222, Adler & Adler)

Resources

Adler, P., & Adler, P. (2016). Constructions of Deviance (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

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