There are five well known theories of criminal justice: rational choice theory, critical theory, labeling theory, strain theory and social disorganization theory. These theories attempt to understand the reasons for which people commit crimes, whether that be from outside forces or reasons from within the criminal themselves. Labeling theory, originally created by Howard Becker, says that other people's opinions of us can change the way we see ourselves and therefore act. When this is applied to criminology, it means that when people, especially those who are young, are surrounded by others who believe that they are going to commit a crime or who normalize criminal behaviors it will therefore lead them to commit a crime.
How we are viewed by society is a large part of who we are. For example, if we are told we are smart or pretty and viewed as such by the people around us, we most likely will come to believe that we are smart or pretty. The labeling theory takes this concept and applies this to people who are labeled as deviants or delinquents, believing that it is a big reason that they become deviants or delinquents. In an article by Jón Gunnar Bernburg, he says “learning of criminal stereotypes is a part of childhood socialization” (2009). This means that when a person is labeled as a criminal, then not only do they view themselves as a criminal, which is seen as a negative trait, but also other people view them as criminal. This can lead to isolation and distrust by the people around them and only reinforces the idea that they are ‘bad’.
Labeling theory is especially applicable when it comes to juvenile delinquents. In the modern age, this labeling comes from a lot of places, such as the media. It also comes from more formal places such as law enforcement and the legal system. When targeted by police, which many minorities and lower-income people are, people are viewed as ‘bad’ because it is widely believed that the police are the ‘good guys’. This kind of reaction from the public is called by Frank Tannenbaum, a historian and sociologist, a “dramatization of evil” (Ashley, 2023). Bernburg says “stereotypes of minorities and disadvantaged groups often entail images of criminality and dangerousness, and hence members of such groups may be more readily policed, sanctioned, and stigmatized, even net of actual criminal offending" (2009). This means that the labeling of those who are targeted by police can lead to even more policing in those disadvantaged areas.
Although there may be truth in all five of the criminology theories that were mentioned earlier, there is especially truth in the labeling theory. In order to change crime in the way that it comes about through this theory, we must begin to destigmatize crime and incarceration as a whole.
References
Ashley, Sean. “Labeling Theory.” Introduction to Criminology, Kwantlen
Polytechnic University, 1 Mar. 2023, kpu.pressbooks.pub/introcrim/chapter/8-
6-labelling-theory/#:~:text=In%20an%20 earlier%20 formulation%20
of,seeing%20 themselves%20as%20a%20 criminal. Accessed 27 Sept. 2023.
Jón Gunnar Bernburg (2009). Labeling theory. In: Marvin D. Krohn, Alan Lizotte &
Gina Penly Hall (eds), Handbook on Crime and Deviance (187-207). Springer
Science + Business Media.
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