Component 3 Section B (Crime and deviance): interactionist labelling theory (Becker, Lemert, Cicourel, the self-fulfilling prophecy and deviancy amplification) and Marxist and critical theories of crime (selective law enforcement, the crimes of the powerful, ideology), with their criticisms.

What this dot point is asking

This statement covers two critical theories of crime: interactionist labelling theory (Becker, Lemert, Cicourel, the self-fulfilling prophecy, deviancy amplification) and Marxist and critical criminology (selective enforcement, the crimes of the powerful, ideology), with their criticisms. Both reject the consensus view: labelling theory asks how deviance is defined, while Marxism asks how power and capitalism shape crime and the law.

The answer

Interactionist labelling theory

The key ideas are:

• Becker: those with power create the rules and label rule-breakers as "outsiders". A label can become a master status that overrides a person's other identities, so they are seen first as a "criminal".
• Lemert: primary deviance is the initial act, often unnoticed and not affecting the self-concept; secondary deviance is the deviance that follows once a person is labelled and responds to it, often through a deviant career and a self-fulfilling prophecy as conventional roles close off.
• Cicourel: justice is negotiated. Police use stereotypes of the typical delinquent (often working-class), so labelling shapes who ends up in the statistics, supporting the social-construction view of crime data.
• Deviancy amplification: the reaction can create more deviance. Cohen's moral panics, in which the media label a group as folk devils, can drive a deviancy amplification spiral, as with the Mods and Rockers.

Marxist and critical criminology

Marxists argue capitalism itself causes crime and shapes the law:

• Capitalism causes crime: it breeds greed and competition at the top and poverty and frustration at the bottom, so crime is found at all levels of society.
• Selective law-making and enforcement: laws are made and enforced to protect the interests of the powerful. The working class are targeted and criminalised, while the crimes of the powerful (corporate, white-collar, state crime) are under-policed, under-prosecuted and often invisible.
• Ideological function: the occasional prosecution of the powerful, and the focus on working-class "street" crime, make the system appear fair and direct attention away from the harms of capitalism.

Criticisms

Both theories are criticised. Labelling theory is accused of being too deterministic (implying labels inevitably produce deviant careers), of ignoring the causes of primary deviance, and of giving offenders a victim status. Marxism is criticised by left realists for neglecting the reality of working-class victimisation, by feminists for ignoring the crimes of women, and for being deterministic, since not all the poor commit crime.

Examples in context

A strong answer connects Becker, Lemert and Cicourel as a labelling tradition, distinguishes primary from secondary deviance, and uses left realist and feminist points to evaluate Marxism.

Try this

Q1. Explain the difference between primary and secondary deviance (Lemert). [6 marks]

• What the marker wants. A clear distinction (AO1): primary deviance is the initial rule-breaking act, often unnoticed and not affecting the self-concept; secondary deviance is the deviance that follows once a person is labelled and responds to it, often through a deviant career and self-fulfilling prophecy, with an example.

Q2. Analyse two ways in which Marxists argue the law serves the interests of the powerful. [12 marks]

• Cue. Two developed points: laws are made and enforced selectively, targeting the working class while the crimes of the powerful are under-policed, and the law performs an ideological function that makes the system appear fair, each explained and linked to the Marxist view of crime and capitalism.