Title: Labeling, Subcultures
1Labeling, Subcultures Learning
- Subculture
- Subcultures provide a lens to interpret the
world they provide context and meaning to social
life - Major source of values/beliefs
- Subcultures may support values that encourage or
condone deviance - Deviance may be seen as conformity to subculture
norms
2Labeling, Subcultures Learning
- The Social Learning Approach to Understanding
Deviance - Socialization is critical as a deviance-promoting
force - People learn (sub-cultural) values/beliefs that
are consistent with deviant behavior
3Labeling, Subcultures Learning
- Differential Association Theory
- (Sutherland 1947 Chapter 6)
- Sutherland argues that deviance is an outcome of
socialization. (Contra Durkheim) - Deviance is only possible through learning
- Learning crime involves 2 elements
- criminal techniques (the how-tos of crime)
- criminal motivations (the whys of crime)
4Labeling, Subcultures Learning
- 9 Principles of Differential Association
- 1) Crime is learned
- 2) Crime is learned in a process of communication
with others (symbolic interactionist idea) - 3) Crime is learned in intimate personal settings
- 4) Learning includes the techniques (sometimes
simple, sometimes complicated) the motives,
rationalizations, drives to commit crime - 5) The specific direction of motives is learned
from perceptions of aspects of the legal code as
being favorable or unfavorable - 6) Persons become criminal when they perceive
more favorable than unfavorable consequences to
law violation
5Labeling, Subcultures Learning
- Scope Conditions or caveats of Diff. Assoc.
- 7) DA may vary in frequency, duration, priority,
and intensity - 8) Learning criminal behavior is like any other
learning - 9) Criminal and non-criminal behavior are
expressions of the same needs, values, and thus
crime cannot be explained by needs and values
6Labeling, Subcultures Learning
- How is this related to Labeling, Stigma and
Identity? - Among the key outcomes of the labeling process
is? - OSTRACISM
- Ostracism encourages the development of
subcultures dedicated to coping with the stigma
of a deviant label. - Differential Association provides us with a
better understanding of how people cope with
labeling. For example, by becoming integrated
into deviant subcultures that are consistent
with, even supportive of, the deviant label.
7Harris, Anthony R. 1976. "Race, Commitment to
Deviance, and Spoiled identity." Amer. Soc.
Review. 41432-443.
statistically significant N.S.not
statistically significant Also note that surveys
have consistently shown that Af-Am have higher
self-esteem scores in the U.S. general population.
8Do all groups experience stigma similarly?
- Harris analysis shows that the answer is No.
- Why?
- General exclusionary processes stigma redundancy