Labelling Theory & Action Theories SCLY4

Labelling theorists believe that 'deviance' is a social construction - Becker (1963) E.G. killing an individual is not labelled as deviant if it is committed by a soldier at war

What is differential enforcement?

When did Piliavin and Briar coin this term - and what did they find?

What perspective does Labelling Theory derive from? and why/how is this?

What does Interactionism focus on?

What is a typification? And who came up with the concept?

Who, in accordance to Cicourel (1976) are more likely to be stopped, arrested and search as a result of this typification?

Marxists criticise the theory of Typification by Cicourel (1976) as it fails to explain where these stereotypes had originated from - and overlook the influence of the Capitalist structure of society.

Crime Statistics, in accordance to Cicourel should be approached with caution - and analysed as TOPICS, not as RESOURCES.

Will labelling certain individuals as 'deviant' encourage them to become more deviant? (In accordance to Lemert - 1972)

What is primary deviance?

What is secondary deviance?

A self fulfilling prophecy refers to the crisis that an individual may feel as a result of being labelled, and a shift in their self concept whereby they live up to the label. (Secondary Deviance)

Who studied Hippy, Marijuana users as a way to illustrate the process of a self-fulfilling prophecy? And when?

A moral entrepreneur is an individual or a group who believes it is their duty to label particular behaviour and continuing to speed this label throughout society. They seek to influence a particular group to maintain or abide to particular norms.

The Deviance Amplification Spiral refers to the attempt to control deviance leading to it increasing rather than quashing it. This results in greater attempts to control it, thus more deviance occurs and ultimately an escalating spiral.

Is there a similarity between Deviance Amplification and Lemert's idea of secondary deviance?

What are the key principles of Interactionism in accordance to Blumer (1969)

Blumer argues that although the action we take is partly predictable, because we internalise the expectations of others (so for example, a little boy whose mother openly does not wish for him to eat the last cookie out of the cookie jar may, more often than not, not consume the cookie - due to the expectation by his mother that he won't) - however, there is always some room for choice in how we perform our roles. (he may choose to ignore his mother's wishes.)

What are the 3 Interactionist concepts that Labelling Theorists use?

The criticisms of labelling theory include that it fails to take into account the origins of that label, which may have occurred as a result of the wider social structures such as class inequality. It also fails to explain the consistent patterns of behaviour that humans have.

Who came up with the Dramaturgical Model?

Goffman assumes that human beings are:

What are two key Dramaturgical Concepts?

Role distancing describes a gap that exists between our 'real selves' and our roles. They are loosely scripted by society but allow for a lot of freedom in how we play them. (e.g. the role of a teacher is to educate those you associate with, however - there are numerous ways in which one can seek to play the role of teacher)

Phenomenology is a philosophical term used to describe things as they appear to our senses. We can never really have definite knowledge of our surroundings, as all we know is based on what our minds tell us.

Who applied Phenomenology to the Social World?

Sharing the categories we have created to explain the social world with others is a key part of Phenomenological Theories

A typification, in Schutz's theory, refers to the organisation of our experiences into a world of shared meanings. Contrasts to G H. Mead who argues that the meanings we create are entirely individual.

The meaning of an action is dependent on the context. Not the actual action itself. This means that 'meanings' are unclear and unstable. For example, the meaning of an individual making sexual advances towards you when you have known them for a significant amount of time and are comfortable with them, would be different to an individual with whom you had no previous social contact with approaching you with sexual implications in a club. Same act, different context.

Do typifications make social order possible?

What is another term used to describe the concept of 'Common Sense Knowledge?'

What does Recipe Knowledge refer to?

What does inter-subjective refer to?

What does Schutz conclude:

Who is the key Ethnomethodological Sociologist?

Who is the key Ethnomethodological Sociologist?

Does the process of the construction of social order start from the top (e.g. those in power) or from the bottom? (e.g. the everyday citizens)

In accordance to Garfinkel.. what is the role of the sociologist?

Indexicality refers to the idea of meanings being unclear and unstable. This can lead to a loss of social order because a lack of communication can result in social relationships breaking down.

Reflexivity refers to one's use of the shared common sense knowledge to create social order and meaning, thus preventing Indexicality. Therefore, how can we achieve this?

What is the name of the type of experiment Garfinkel used to illustrate the existence of common-sense knowledge?

One of the criticisms of Ethnomethodology is that they spend a lot of time uncovering trivial taken for granted rules that then don't appear to surprise anybody.

What is the name of Giddens theory that combines both action and structural theories?

What is key term used to describe Gidden's idea that structure and action theories cannot exist without each other?

What is key term used to describe Gidden's idea that structure and action theories cannot exist without each other?

An example of how our actions produce, reproduce and change structure over time is LANGUAGE.

What are the two elements of structure?

What does ontological security refer to?

Social change can occur because we actively can change structures through our actions. If we disagree with someone, we can form campaign groups to raise awareness for the subject matter and ultimately alter the structure that exists.