Labelling People Essay example -- essays research papers

LabellingA label defines an soulfulness as a certain kind of person. Defining an act as unnatural or criminal is not a simple truthful forward process. A label is not neutral, it contains an evaluation of the person to whom it is applied. It is a Master Status in the sense that it overshadows all the other statuses feature by the s perpetuallyal(prenominal). If an individual is tagged as criminal, mentally ill or gay, such labels tend to override the individuals status as father, husband, worker, friend or neighbour. Whether or not the label is applied will consider on how the act is interpreted by the audience. This in turn will depend on who commits the act and where and when it was committed.Deviance is amongst other things a consequence of the rejoinder of others to a persons act. Students of deviance can not assume that they are transaction with a homogenous category. When they study people who control been labelled deviant (Howard Becker)If the agents of social control define youngsters as delinquents for breaking the law, those youngsters become deviant. They have been labelled as such by those who have the power to exercise labels stick. However Becker argued deviance is not a quality that lies in doings itself but in the interaction amid the person who commits an act and those who serve to it. From this point of view, deviance is produced by a process of interaction between the potential deviant and the agents of control. Becker then examined the possible effects on an individual being labelled as deviant and that a deviant label can lead to further deviance. However, Becker argued that this process is by no mode inevitable, ex-convicts do get jobs and go straight, drug addicts do sometimes slip by up their habit ... ...e due to lack of a posteriori support and a conservative political climate (www.mpcc.cc.ne.us). Becker (1963) believes the future of labelling lies in the widespread empirical study of deviance and the var ious kinds of deviance.In conclusion, once an individual is labelled deviant, the pressure within society to conform to the said norm is an ever demanding and increasing pressure. Whilst the intention of the said individual may well be to follow the path of normal individuals, once labelled, for whit ever moderateness it is ever increasingly difficult to return to the normal way of emotional state without this shadow overwhelming most.ReferencesBecker H.S. 1963 Outsiders The Free squeeze New York (Pg 9)Becker H.S. 1963 Outsiders The Free Press New York (Holstein 1993, www.sscf.ucsb.edu)(www.mpcc.cc.ne.us)