The Labeling Theory

They claim that when a person becomes known as a deviant, and is ascribed deviant behaviour patterns, it is as much, if not more, to do with the way they have been stigmatized, then the deviant act they are said to have committed. In addition, Howard S. Becker (1963), one of the earlier interaction theorists, claimed that, "social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitute deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them as outsiders". Furthermore, the labelling theoretical approach to deviance concentrates on the social reaction to deviance committed by individuals, as well as, the interaction processes leading up to the labelling. INFLUENCES Labelling theory was significantly influenced by the Chicago School and Symbolic Interactionism. The sociology department in the University of Chicago is where early labelling theorists received their graduate training. These theorists were trained in terms of symbolic interaction and specific methods of participatory field research. The symbolic interaction theory exposed early theorists to the study of social interaction, as well as, the interpretation of society from the actor's point of view. Everett Hughes and Alvin Gouldner were two of the earliest theorists to train at the Chicago School. However, the foundations of this view of deviance were said to have been first established by Edwin Lemert (1951) and were subsequently developed by Howard S. Becker (1963). As a matter of fact, labelling theory has subsequently become a dominant paradigm in the explanation of deviance. Furthermore, the symbolic interaction perspective was extremely active in the early foundations of labelling theory. Labelling theory is constituted essentially by two propositions. The first is that deviant behaviour is to be seen not simply as the violation of a norm, but as any behaviour which is successfully defined or labelled as deviant.