Week Eight

        

    Labeling theory says that deviance lies in people’s reaction to a person’s behavior, not in the behavior itself. Stigma is a form of secondary deviance that marks the start of a deviant career by acquiring a stigma; a powerful negative label that greatly changes a person’s self-concept and social identity. A primary deviant act provokes a slight reaction while secondary deviance is the process of a deviant identity, integrating it into conceptions of self, potentially affecting the individual long term. Secondary deviance is what can cause a person to think of themselves as a rebel, or criminal. Once this mindset is confirmed by others labeling the person as so, they can become really dangerous. All morals and values can be thrown out the window for this new identity. For example, a teenager doing bad in their high school classes, might be continually punished for having bad grades, leading to teachers and other authorities to believe this kid is a trouble maker. Since this teenager is being treated like he’s the worst kid in school, when he is only having trouble in class, he/she will begin to believe they are actually deviant. Since grades aren’t working out and teachers and advisors already view him as trouble, why not start to cause trouble? Why not cheat on tests, or take other kids homework, or become a bully to the “nerds?”

            Retrospective labeling is when someone re-interprets someone else’s past. Projective labeling

is predicting someone’s future by using their deviant identity. These terms come into play with first impressions and specifically when people with a criminal record try to get a job. Interviewers will see their criminal past and either judge them for what they’ve done or be fearful that their past will predict their future, meaning that they will become deviant again if given the chance.

The Hirschi Control Theory has four main principles. Attachment, meaning your family and friends. Opportunity, meaning the amount of money you have, the school you go to, and the people you know. Involvement, is the time and energy put in to social activities. Finally, belief, is the conventional morality and religion you practice.