INTERACTIONIST THEORY ON CRIME Who gets labelled as a criminal and why?

Starter – ‘Who dun it?’  On the night of the 20 th September the suite of the Matthews Industries was gutted by fire. Police and Fire Brigade found that the outer door had been forced and no trace could be found of a petty cash box containing £500. The fire is an obvious case of arson since there is evidence that petrol had been splashed about in the office. No fingerprints had been found except for those who work in and around the offices every day. Although an outsider may be responsible, the police are considering the following as suspects. 1. Read the cards and discuss, in pairs, who you think committed the offence. Consider their possible motives. Justify your choice.

Objectives  All will be able to outline the Interactionist theory’s explanations of crime by working in groups of 4 to make posters about a particular Interactionist study into crime.  Most will be able to work independently to draw a flow diagram to show, with an example, how labelling can lead to crime.  Some will be able to work independently to draw a flow diagram to show how labelling can lead to crime.

Interactionist perspective  Interactionism focuses on studying how human behaviour is influenced by interaction between individuals.  Interactionists argue that: a) The vast majority of people have broken the law and are, therefore, criminals. b) Some groups, e.g. working class, ethnic minority, men and the young are more likely to be labelled as criminal by those with power in society.  So, for Interactionist, the question is not ‘why do people break the law?’, the question is, if everyone breaks the law, ‘why are only some labelled as criminal?’. 

Task 1  Marketplace  Work in groups of 4.  Read the handout about the Interactionist theory on crime, pay special attention to the real life example of a sociological study that proves the Interactionist theory.  Make a poster for the class about that study.  Include:  The name of the Sociologist.  Research method used to carry out research.  Findings of the study.  Explanation of how these findings back up the Interactionist theory on crime.  Images which relate to the study.  You have 20 minutes.

Task 2  Fill in the worksheet with information from your poster. You have 5 minutes.  Choose one member of your group to be the ‘seller’ – this person needs to have excellent presentational skills. The remaining 3 members of the group will be the ‘buyers’.  The seller has to stay with your poster and ‘sell’ your knowledge to ‘buyers’ from other groups.  The ‘buyers’ have to go to the other groups to ‘buy’ their knowledge – listen to the ‘seller’s’ explanation and fill in the worksheet. Judge how good their product (knowledge, poster, explanation, etc.) was and pay them accordingly. The group that makes the most money wins!  You have 10 minutes.

Task 3  The ‘buyers’ have to return to their original groups and take turns to explain what they found out. You must explain, not just let them copy your notes!  Everyone else has to fill in the worksheet.  You have 15 minutes.

Task 4  Use the example of a one-off instance of cannabis use to show how labelling leads to a person becoming a drug addict. Use key words and explanations. A teenage boy smokes a small amount of cannabis. He is caught by a teacher and is labelled as a ‘druggie’. Self-fulfilling prophecy – he starts to think of himself as a drug addict. Master status – the label ‘druggie’ becomes his main characteristic. Everyone thinks of him as a ‘druggie’. Criminal career – he takes more and more drugs and steals to get money.

Extension  Draw a flow diagram to show how labelling leads to an increase in deviance. An individual commits an act. The act is labelled as deviant. Self-fulfilling prophecy - the individual starts to believe the label is true. Master status – the label becomes the main characteristic. Criminal career – the individual starts to continually act in a deviant manner.

Learning journey Difference between crime and deviance, legal and illegal deviance Social control (informal and formal) Media representations of crime How do Sociologists study crime: victim and self-reporting studies? Who breaks the law? – age, ethnicity and gender Explaining crime – biological vs. sociological theories: peer group pressure, opportunity, socialisation Official crime statistics – detecting, reporting and recording of crime, the dark figure of crime Victims of crime, government solutions to crime, social problems of youth crime and racism Revision and end of Topic exam question Who breaks the law? – social class and locality Explaining crime – labelling theory and subcultural theory Explaining crime – Functionalist theory and Marxist theory

Review  Which of these is more likely to be labelled as a deviant?  Why?

Drug use

Wearing facial masks

Youth groups

Pregnancy

Homework  Complete the three tasks on the worksheet about each of the three scenarios.  Deadline –