Critically Examine the Contribution of Interactionist Theory to an Understanding of Crime and Deviance

Interactionists view the idea that people are ‘self – conscious being’ thus we choose what we do. One theory is that we base our self perceptions on the reaction of others. Jock Young studied ‘The Drug takers’, using Becker’s labelling theory as the police would label hippes as scruffy, idle, dirty and good for nothing. Thus, the reaction to the hippies from the police reinforces the idea of them being outsiders; the use of drugs has become a symbol of their identity because of the increase in police activity. Eventually, deviant norms and values have developed and they tend to express and exaggerate this difference. For interactionists; the reactions of others and the labels associoated from others; (especially those with power or status) makes deviants appear more distinctive than they actually are.

This is furthered by Edwin Lemert who looked into societal reaction and how it plays a big impact on deviance. He states that there is primary deviation; these consist of being deviant without any status or being publically labelled. For example, there were two tribes, one tribe orally passed on culture and the other didn’t. However, the tribe who was speaking stuttered, such emphasis was put on stuttering even though the other tribe didn’t speak publically in order for stuttering or deviance to be pointed out. The reaction to the deviant act then leads us onto secondary deviance. This has the most impact on the individual as it can eventually cause deviant behaviour. Thus, deviance lies with the agents of social control. However, Marxists would argue that interactionists do not examine the origins of power that lie with the ruling class; the idea of why it is that these people have the ability to label.

This leads us onto a self-fulfilling prophecy that for interactionists is a consequence of labelling. Erving Goffman studied deviance in institutions such as asylums and prisons. As we as the institution being a place of safety, it enables the deviant to accept...