essay interactionism deviance

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uestion 23-------- Examine the strengths and weaknesses of an interactionist approach to deviance. he interactionist approach to deviance is an extremely popular topic for A-level sociology students. In this case, the question demands that the strengths and weaknesses of interactionism are examined. In other essays it is possible to achieve a numerical balance between the strengths and weaknesses of an approach. However,in this instance, a numerical balance is quite difficult to achieve, because interactionism is such a major departure from functionalist theories of deviance, in that it shows that it is important to look at what happens to deviants after they have been found out. This was the only sociological theory at the time which did this, and as a consequence is largely beyond reproach in this respect. The functionalist perspective on deviance focuses on the biograph- ical details of the deviant, such as what motivates the deviant to act in a particular way, and/or what social forces and pressures govern the actions of the deviant. In comparison, the interactionist approach to deviance looks at how and why individuals and groups are seen as deviant, and examines the relationship between those who are labelled as deviant and those who are able to define an act as deviant, for example, the relationship between the pupil and the teacher, or between the police officer and the criminal. According to Becker, writing from an interactionist perspective, certain groups in society have the power to make the rules and determine what constitutes deviance. For Becker an act cannot be classified as deviant until it has been labelled as deviant. Some groups in society have the power to create a label and to make that label stick - for example, a teacher can label pupils as deviant because they have been disruptive in class. Through a series of In the opening paragraph, I have briefly compared the functionalist approach to deviance with that of interactionism. This clearly spells out the difference between the two perspectives. There is no need to expand on the functionalist perspective. That is not what the essay is asking you to do. This paragraph offers an explana- tion of labelling. Note that I use an example to illustrate the point, in this instance the example of a teacher labelling a pupil. Most students can identify with this. I expect that most of you can 97

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Page 1: Essay Interactionism Deviance

uestion 23--------Examine the strengths and weaknesses of an

interactionist approach to deviance.

he interactionist approach to deviance is an extremely popular topic for A-level sociologystudents. In this case, the question demands that the strengths and weaknesses of

interactionism are examined. In other essays it is possible to achieve a numerical balancebetween the strengths and weaknesses of an approach. However,in this instance, a numericalbalance is quite difficult to achieve, because interactionism is such a major departure fromfunctionalist theories of deviance, in that it shows that it is important to look at what happensto deviants after they have been found out. This was the only sociological theory at the timewhich did this, and as a consequence is largely beyond reproach in this respect.

The functionalist perspective on deviance focuses on the biograph­ical details of the deviant, such as what motivates the deviant to

act in a particular way, and/or what social forces and pressures

govern the actions of the deviant. In comparison, the interactionistapproach to deviance looks at how and why individuals and

groups are seen as deviant, and examines the relationship betweenthose who are labelled as deviant and those who are able to define

an act as deviant, for example, the relationship between the pupiland the teacher, or between the police officer and the criminal.

According to Becker, writing from an interactionist perspective,

certain groups in society have the power to make the rules anddetermine what constitutes deviance. For Becker an act cannot be

classified as deviant until it has been labelled as deviant. Some

groups in society have the power to create a label and to makethat label stick - for example, a teacher can label pupils as deviant

because they have been disruptive in class. Through a series of

In the opening paragraph, I have

briefly compared the functionalist

approach to deviance with that of

interactionism. This clearly spellsout the difference between

the two perspectives. There is

no need to expand on the

functionalist perspective. That is

not what the essay is asking youto do.

This paragraph offers an explana­

tion of labelling. Note that I use

an example to illustrate the point,

in this instance the example of a

teacher labelling a pupil. Most

students can identify with this.

I expect that most of you can

97

Page 2: Essay Interactionism Deviance

Question 23 _think of a time when a teacher

has done this, either positively or

negatively.

In this paragraph I have explainedthe consequence of deviance.

This paragraph focuses onsupport for Becker's work withan example of an interactioniststudy which was carried out in

Liverpool.As I live in Merseyside,I tend to use a lot of examples

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measures, such as sending letters home, writing reports aboutthose particular pupils, and discussion with other members of

staff, a teacher can give pupils a negative label that can affectthem for the rest of their lives.

However, Becker claimed that it is the circumstances which

surround a particular act which determine whether or not the actis seen as deviant: it depends on who commits the act, when theact is committed, where it is committed and who sees it. For

example, spectators running onto a football pitch at the end ofthe match are seen as deviant, whereas spectators running ontoa rugby union pitch are not perceived in the same way. Inaddition, deviance has a historical aspect to it. For example, inBritain up until the 1870s it was usual for men to bathe naked atthe beach, but by 1872 it was considered improper, and men hadto wear drawers, which also came to be seen as immodest and

were replaced by bathing costumes covering most of the arms andlegs. The strength of interactionist theory is that it shows theimportance of society in creating deviance. In other words, unlikein previous functionalist theories, society, not the deviant, is seenas responsible for deviance.

Another strength of interactionism is that it points to the effectsof being labelled a deviant. According to Becker, labels are not

neutral. They designate an individual as a particular sort ofperson. In other words, a label is an evaluation of an individual.A label can become an individual's 'master status'. This is a label

which over-rides all other labels. An example is that a man mightbe a father, husband and brother, but 'paedophile' over-rides these

labels. Becker argues that the master status can become part of aperson's self-image which may result in the deviants seeking outothers like themselves, until eventually the label produces a self­

fulfilling prophecy. For example, pupils who have been labelledas troublemakers, thrown out of classes, and possibly excludedfrom school, may take up the label of troublemakers. They maystart to live up to the label. Hence, the label 'troublemakers'

becomes their master status and can become a self-fulfillingprophecy. Furthermore, they may seek out other troublemakers

and truants from school and get involved in additional deviantacts, such as shoplifting.

This element of Becker's argument can be seen in Gill's work,Luke Street. This is an interactionist study of a 'tough' area ofLiverpool. Gill claims that employers saw 'Luke Street' as a bad

neighbourhood and were reluctant to employ anyone with a LukeStreet address. In addition, Gill argues that men from Luke Streetfelt obliged to fight simply because they were expected to be 'hard'

Exam Success Guide

Page 3: Essay Interactionism Deviance

and had to live up to the expectation of being 'tough'. The inter­

actionist approach to deviance is stronger than positivism, becauseit looks at the effects of criminalisation on the individual.

This strength is clearly demonstrated in Young's study of'hippy' marijuana smokers. Young looked at the meanings whichthe police put on the hippies and their behaviour as a conse­quence of this label. The police perceived the hippies as dirty,

lazy, scruffy, drug-smoking individuals. Young claims that as aresult, the hippies withdrew into themselves and excluded all

outsiders, and that marijuana-smoking became a central lifeconcern. He also suggests that the hippies went on to exaggeratethe difference between themselves and wider society by growingtheir hair even longer and wearing even more outlandish clothes.It would seem that police reaction to deviant behaviour 'caused'the deviance to escalate.

Lemert takes labelling theory a stage further by emphasising

the importance of societal reaction. He distinguishes betweenprimary deviation and secondary deviation. Primary deviation is

deviance which has not been labelled. For example, most peoplesteal something at least once in their life, but they are not

perceived as deviant until they are caught stealing. Secondarydeviation consists of the response of the individual to societalreaction to the deviant act, so in this case it would be how thedeviant acts as a result of the reaction to the theft.

Another interactionist, Cicourel, looked at the delinquency rates

in two similar Californian cities. If positivist theories of devianceare accurate, both cities should have similar rates of delinquency,

because according to this approach social forces are the cause ofdeviance, and the social forces would be the same for both cities.

However, Cicourel found a significant difference in the delin­quency rate for the two cities. One city employed more juvenile

officers than the other city. Consequently, this city had a higherdelinquency rate. In the other city the delinquency rate went up

and down according to police activity, which itself was determinedby pressure from outside agencies such as the local newspaper orthe Mayor. Cicourel's study clearly demonstrates the importanceof societal reaction.

In addition, Cicourel studied the process by which offenders

became labelled as deviants. According to Cicourel, justice issubject to negotiation, that is, the interaction which takes placebetween the offender and the agencies of social control. He foundthat the police have a stereotypical picture of what constitutes a

'typical delinquent'. This image is based on the appearance,language, accent, and social class of the offender. It could beargued that the police do not have unlimited budgets and prisonsdo not have unlimited spaces, so agencies of social control are

which relate to the area. You

might like to see if any famousstudies have been carried out in a

locality near you. It helps to makethe issue under investigationmore relevant to you personally.

Cicourel provides a usefulexample of an interactionist

study, as it not only explains theimportance of societal reaction,

but also how stereotyping canlead to labelling. Cicourel's work

can be used in other essays, inparticular essays on crimestatistics.

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Page 4: Essay Interactionism Deviance

Question 23 _forced to be selective. On the other hand, this does not make it

right. Cicourel found that middle-class offenders were more likelyto be let off with a caution, whereas working-class offenders weremore likely to be arrested and charged. Again, a strength in theinteractionist approach to deviance as used by Cicourel is that it

uncovers relationships which would go undetected in othermethods of investigation.

This paragraph looks at thetwo major weaknesses of theinteractionist approach todeviance. All in all, it is difficultto criticise the interactionist

approach because of the uniquecontribution it makes to our

understanding of deviance. Youcould make individualcriticismsabout each interactionist's work

as you go through the essay, butthese would not necessarily

detract from the strengths ofthe theory.

In the concluding paragraph I

have summarised the strengthsof the interactionist approach todeviance. In addition, I alsoadvocate a combination of

approaches. This is known as

methodological pluralism and itshows the examiner that you

have a good awareness of whichapproaches could work together.

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There are two major weaknesses in the interactionist approach todeviance. Firstly, interactionism offers no explanation for primarydeviation, that is why individuals commit a deviant act in the firstplace. Bank robbers do not become bank robbers because someonehas labelled them as bank robbers. Secondly, interactionists failto explore the relationship between deviance and power. Why is

it that some have the power to label, and others do not? It is easyfor teachers to label a pupil as a troublemaker, for example, butdifficult for a pupil to label a teacher as inadequate.

The interactionist study of deviance can also be criticised for

making the assumption that nothing is deviant until it has been

labelled as such. It can be argued that some things, such asmurder or rape, are always wrong.

In conclusion, the interactionist study of deviance has obvious

strengths: it takes a new approach to deviance and uncoversattitudes held by law-enforcement agencies. It also explores theresults of labelling on the individual, while not regarding theoffender as abnormal. It may be that the study of deviance

requires a synthesis of approaches in order that the strengths ofone approach may counteract the weaknesses in another, and viceversa. One possible combination would be to use interactionism

alongside Marxism for a fuller understanding of deviant activity.

Exam Success Guide

Page 5: Essay Interactionism Deviance

In order to achieve a sufficient level of understanding on this topic, you must read a number of

A-level texts. Do not rely on your lesson notes or anyone text. Many students believe that labelling

theory has more validity than other theories because they themselves have been labelled. Even

so, it is absolutely critical to make sufficient evaluations in order to achieve the highest grade

possible.

Related questions

1 How far is it true to say that both the nature and the extent of deviance are sociallyconstructed?

2 'Deviance is in the eye of the beholder.' Discuss.

3 Assess the argument that the police have the power to choose who and what is deviant.