Social Deviance Research Paper

Crime

Labelling theory

Bob was labeled as a criminal from a simple act of taking money from the bag of one of the teachers. This act of the school authorities and the parents calling him a criminal and eventually subjecting him to the legal system traumatized him and being among other criminals who might have engaged in bigger crimes than a simple act of delinquency made Bob to think of himself as a criminal. According to the labeling theory, if Bob could be taken away from the criminal system where is bundled together with harder criminals, and he be handled informally, it will make him think of himself as a lesser criminal or even a delinquent and reform. This kind of handling is the best for delinquents since according to the labeling theory, which is a social interaction theory, the personality and the character of an individual is shaped by the interaction between the individual and the society, and everyone has the potential to be a criminal, meaning everyone has the potential to stop criminal behaviors too (Becker H.s., n.d). If the delinquents are placed in an environment that is devoid of crimes and labelling, then they are bound to be free from misdemeanors.

Social labelling is not flawless, indeed like all the other social theories explaining crime and delinquency, it fails to capture some aspects of crime like the reason behind some crimes that are innate or are not learned from another person. For instance, this theory cannot help explain why a person could be a serial killer yet no one taught him to kill nor has he seen someone kill another. Another such crimes that seem innate is rape, the theory cannot explain why rapists may….....