Essays on Labeling Theory

In Gridiron Gang, the character of Willie Weathery had many factors that could explain why he became delinquent. Family disruption, peers, gang membership, peer pressure, strain, community disorganization, social learning, low self-control and labeling are all theories and causes used to explain delinquent behavior and are all reasons why Willie Weathery engage in the delinquent act that landed him in juvenile detention. There is no single cause of delinquency. Many factors that combine to motivate a juvenile to engage in delinquent behavior.

FAMILY DISRUPTION

In the movie, Willie Weathery appears to live with his mother and younger brother. At no time ...

Introduction 3

History of Labeling Theory 4 Critiques of Labeling Theory 5 How Do Current Criminal Justices Policies Demonstrate an Application of the Theory to Practice? 7 Reflection 8 Conclusion 9

Reference List 10

Labeling Theory Introduction Labeling theory is the model of the ways, in which the self-distinctiveness and the performance of various people might be assessed or predisposed by the expressions applied to define or categorize them. This report will explore the strengths and weaknesses of labeling theory, along with the history of the labeling theory and its critiques. This concept is related to the notions of self-fulfilling insight and typecasting of ...

About the theory

Labelling theory is a theory that proposes that society imposes certain labels on people who are perceived to commit criminal acts(Lopes et al. 2012). Criminal acts refer to actions and behaviors the society deems wrong either legally or morally(Caputo 2008). According to the labelling theory when we attach certain labels to people who have committed criminal acts such individuals may be obliged to live up to the labels thereby continuing with their crimes. Below is a case study and the integration of labelling theory in the case Ken, a 16-year-old boy, is caught taking drugs by some ...

Deviant behavior does not adhere to the cultural norms and social accepted norms (Akers, 2011). Deviance comprises of behavior that violates expectations and standards of conduct of a group or society. Crime is one of the forms of deviance. In this paper, crime has been described as major type of deviance. Crime is considered as an act of deviance because in crime norm as well as law is broken. Crime as deviant behavior can be minor or it can be major such as it can be picking an individual’s nose or it can be commitment of murder. There ...

Question 3

The society has certain expectations of an individual. The essence of labeling is the way people look at individual actions. In this case at a negative angle. If one does not conform to the cultural norms of the society one is labeled a negative name, for example, "a thief", a "cheat" or "a loser". The concept of stereotyping and self-fulfilling prophecy brings out the labeling theory. The deviance depicted, however, is seen has non-inherent rather it is the majority normalcy in labeling minorities deviant from the social norms (Fennell, Dana, and Ana 305). I witnessed a friend labeled a ...

Theories of crime

Crime has always been a part of the human society; unfortunately individuals were often involved in crime and it was widely discussed. Why does crime attract so much attention? Moreover, what can be called a crime? At different times, various behaviors were considered a crime. For instance, it was illegal to sell or drink alcohol during Prohibition in the USA so Prohibition gave rise to all types of illegal behaviors which in other countries were not seen as crimes. Another example would be the Soviet Union, where it was illegal to be involved in any kind of business; therefore, ...

In the article “Standards of Practice and Care in Forensic Mental Health Assessment. Legal, Professional, and Principal Based Consideration” the authors discuss three key principals that according to the them, "should help minimize arbitrariness in the legal decision-making process through promoting thoroughness, consistency, and impartiality." The goal is create a sense of consistency among forensic analyses.

In forensics, it is very important to produce legal sound consistent data. The use of reliable data is paramount in forming opinion. There is also a deep need to provide third party sources to insure that information is valid. Strategies are required for ...

Private Health Care, Public Health Care and Social Policy

The private health care, especially on psychotic disorders has certain impacts on the public health care and social policy. In order to understand these impacts, I will identify the theories and methods that will best explain my project on the impact of private health care of psychotic disorders on public health care and social policy. The labeling theory will best support the research goal for my project. This theory is elemental in explaining the origin of psychotic disorders. This theory postulates that other people who formulate regulations and laws that regulate human behavior determine actions and behavior of ...

How does the process of social interaction contribute to criminal behavior?

Social interaction is manner in which an individual associates with other people within their environment. In most cases, social interaction has led to the development of social groups that have certain rules and regulations designed for persons within the group to observe. Social norms are opinions constructed by a majority in the society. Therefore, deviant behavior only results from breaking rules comstructed by those in authority. This implies that criminal behavior can be an outcome of social interaction following because a given social group may be engaging in activities that are otherwise considered deviant by the society at large, but is ...

In every society existing in the world, one of the major inevitable issues affecting their well being is a crime, not only as per the law, but also according to the social (documented and undocumented) norms of that particular society. Some of these modes of behavior leading to crime are considered deviant. The identification of deviant behaviors has had many methods and ways, including various theories from professionals especially sociologists. The labeling theory, the interaction theory, the conflict theory, the control theory, the neutralization theory and biological theories are some of the examples of theories that attempt to describe deviant ...

Abstract

Social issues have been known to be present in the society for ling. They are the ones which affect the normal functioning of the societies. Social issues have laws and guides that guide them. Formal social issues will lead to criminal activities if they are not followed while the informal social issues will just be a stability effect. Social issues have been seen to control the society and a way in which social order is undertaken. This paper will focus social deviance and how it affects the society.

Introduction

The social issue that I am interested in this paper is social deviance. ...

Deviation is about breaking rules, searching for the factors in individual’s personality and situations in life that accounts for infractions. Individuals are treated and labeled in many ways when they tend to believe in individualism. Self-identity and people’s behavior greatly influence how they will be treated by society members. Individualism is characterized by a self-fulfilling prophecy and they are many stereotypes that accompany deviance. The labeling theory explains how self-identity shapes the way that a person will be treated; it states that deviation is rejected and those who hold on are avoided by the society. Stigmatization therefore occurs and ...

Evil is often confused with what we consider “deviant” behavior.Deviance is any behavior that does not fit within social norms (Ferris & Stein, 2011). Even if something is determined to be deviant in one culture it doesn’t mean that it is deviant in all cultures (Ferris & Stein, 2011). Although there are many theories, labeling theory seems to be especially accurate in the understanding of deviancy and evil. Labeling theory works to combine different theoretical perspectives, like conflict theory and symbolic interactionism (Ferris & Stein, 2011). This theories goal is not to label one person as deviant or not, it ...

Abstract

For many years, there has been a protracted argument about whether deviance really exists. Some people argue that deviance exists in reality, while others argue that deviance is just a term invented by some people who would like to label others as such. Whether this is true or not is neither here nor there; what we are sure about is that some behaviors can be explained better using the labeling theory. The labeling theory argues that some people become the labels that people give them, and therefore it is good to be careful with the labels that we give to others – ...

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Introduction Criminal offenses have social underpinnings. One who commits a particular crime may know that his act is against the law, but several social factors may have led him to push through. Given that criminal acts happen in almost every setting where humans thrive, it is essential to examine the subject matter more closely for one to understand it better. Understanding crime paves way for its prevention in the form of socially held mechanisms such as upbringing and law enforcement, on one hand, and self-help procedures, on the other. Given ...

Report

Latimer, J., Dowden, C., & Muise, D. (2005). The Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Practices: A Meta-Analysis. The Prison Journal, 85(2), 127-144.

The article aims to provide an empirical synthesis of various existing literature which delve into the question of how effective restorative justice practices are. The article utilizes meta-analytic techniques in the analysis of data retrieved from various studies that compare traditional approaches to criminal justice that are nonrestorative in nature, to restorative justice programs. In particular, the article attempts to highlight the differences in the efficacy levels of the two approaches based on rates of recidivism, restitution compliance, ...

Introduction

Labeling theory refers to the ideology that one becomes deviant only in circumstances that they are labelled deviant by the society. Labeled individuals include criminals, prostitutes, alcoholics, drug addicts, and sex offenders. People with negative labels are more likely to hate themselves, have lower self-esteem, and may even act more deviant in some instances. The reactions of labeled persons are as a result of an attempt to modify self-image and stigmatization. Moreover, individuals who assent the labels normally have a rough time in changing people`s perspectives and opinions towards them even if the labels do not hold. Behaviour is viewed ...

Introduction

Considered by film critiques as the funniest and yet the most provocative documentary film of 2008 is Bill Maher’s “Religulous”. The title itself is a combination of religion and ridiculous, implying an idea of religion’s ridicule and inconsistencies. Maher went to several places to interview Muslims, Jews, and Christians to find the unlikeliest believers in the possible. Maher wanted to prove a point that more and more Americans are becoming non-believers and point out the inconsistencies he found in the bible. However, this essay will not talk about the ridiculous characteristic of religion as Maher conveys in his documentary. ...

“Dr. Phil” is a one hour program that airs daily on day time television. This show has been an innovator of the “talk show genre” by employing a real psychologist as its host. Dr. Phil McGraw spends that hour addressing and advising individuals who are going through crisis. Sometimes those problems are everyday issues, such as getting along with in-laws or dealing with a problem child. Other times more complex issues are explored, such as counseling the victim of a heinous crime or giving insight into high profile media stories. “Dr. Phil” presents a very clinical approach to the portrayal of gender on their ...

Strengths and Weaknesses of Symbiotic Interactionism

Symbiotic Interactionism is one of the sociological theories which focus on the relationships and individual perspectives of people. It states that even if people belong to families, they have individual interpretation of things. Their reactions and actions towards them are according to their understanding of such. It involves tries to understand how social interaction is done in simple everyday activities of people, like communication, interpretation of actions and responding to them. Self-awareness or reflexive thinking, the symbols used and a negotiated order are keys that help the two interacting bodies understand and communicate with each other. (Ferrante, 2011) Specifically, focuses ...

In the 21st century, there are many problems that affect human beings. Globally, both developed and developing countries are universally affected by conflicts, incurable diseases, natural disasters, as well as global financial crisis. Certainly, these problems have social, psychological, physical, economic, as well as political impacts, what varies is the intensity of its effects. As a matter of fact, many people and nations tackle these issues differently, depending on personal traits, economic status, cultural issues, as well as availability of resources. One of the main problems that affect the world today is HIV/AIDS; it affects families, individuals and nations. In ...

Introduction

The paper herein examines "The Saints and The Roughnecks," by William J. Chambliss. It seeks out to evaluate and bring a connection between the article and the sociological theories and perspectives that are discussed in the book, Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach, by James M. Henslin. Several theories have been reflected by the author, and therefore, the paper shall explicitly reflect on at two sociological theories that link the article to the book. The theories to be analyzed include; conflict theory and labeling theory. The conclusion shall criticize the article from a sociological perspective.

Conflict theory

The theory herein is best applicable ...