CRM 1300 Chapter Notes - Chapter 13: Erving Goffman, Symbolic Interactionism, Labeling Theory

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Criminology
• Course: CRM 1300
• Professor: Sam Alvaro

Document Summary

A sociological perspective that focuses on the dynamics of how people interpret social situations and negotiate the meanings of these situations with others. It differs from more structurally focused perspectives in seeing individuals as actively creating the social world rather than just acting within the constraints of culture and social structure. According to labelling theory, deviance is a quality not of the act but of the label that others attach to it. This raises the question of who applies the label and who is labelled. The application of a label and the response of others to the label may result in a person becoming committed to a deviant identity. In common use, this refers to the sequence of stages through which people in a particular. It has also been applied to the various stages of personal involvement with criminal occupational sector move during the course of their employment activity.