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Labeling theory was developed by sociologists during the 1960s. Howard Saul Becker's book Outsiders was extremely influential in the development of this theory and its rise to popularity. Labeling theory is also connected to other fields besides crime. For instance there is the labeling theory that corresponds to homosexuality. Alfred Kinsey ...
Labeling theory is a sociological theory that claims labels have a profound impact on individuals. Labeling theory is closely connected with criminology, and examines conceptualizations of deviance. While labeling theory is not singularly focused on the study of crime, it uses "deviance" and "the criminal" to explain the effect of labels. [2]
This theory, while very much a symbolic interactionist theory, also has elements of conflict theory, as the dominant group has the power to decide what is deviant and acceptable and enjoys the power behind the labeling process. An example of this is a prison system that labels people convicted of theft, and because of this they start to view ...
Social disorganization theory postulates that neighborhoods plagued with poverty and economic deprivation tend to experience high rates of population turnover. [36] This theory suggests that crime and deviance is valued within groups in society, 'subcultures' or 'gangs'. These groups have different values to the social norm.
For example Uggen and Inderbitzin [3] find inspiration in the work of Clifford R. Shaw, who studied the relationship between neighborhoods and crime in Chicago starting the 1920s. [6] His research formulated what is now known as Social Disorganization theory, which links crime rates in a neighborhood to other ecological characteristics.
His conception of the "Dramatization Of Evil" led to the further development of the symbolic interactionist labeling theory, widely used in both sociology and social psychology. Summarizing this theory's impact, Kerry Townsend has stated, "Frank Tannenbaum’s theory, dramatization of evil, explains the making of a criminal and the lure of ...
Critical criminologists assert that how crime is defined is socially and historically contingent, that is, what constitutes a crime varies in different social situations and different periods of history. The conclusion that critical criminological theorists draw from this is that crime is socially constructed by the state and those in power. [8]
In 1967 Clinard and Richard Quinney, a Ph.D. student at University of Wisconsin–Madison in the late 1950s, published a book which proposed, in place of a legalistic or an individualistic classification of criminal behavior, a division of eight criminal behavior types characterized by sociological properties and based on a theory of crime. [25]