SOC211H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Labeling Theory, Young Offenders Act, Moral Panic
Document Summary
Agnew and merton, need to know them for final. Around 1960"s took some of this theory and combined it with marxist theory to make- labeling theory: labelling theory time of social rebellion. 1960s: suspicion of authority exploitation, oppression: this was a society based on exploitation and oppression, crime/delinquency, crime is seen to be the result of inequality, criminal justice system: (1) criminalization of dissent. Deviance at this point is a normal response to an exploitative system normal response: inequality/oppression criminal justice: deviant labels. Cjs tells you that people who disagrees with the government are criminals, outlaws (2) oppression of weak: having the power to create criminals, to label them. Bc once you label them, usually the weak are the oppressed oppression and weakness has to do with power (3) production: crime/criminals you have the power to criminalize them. This is the basic premise of labeling theory. Now lets look at some of the nuances of this theory.
