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Labeling Theory

Labeling Theory is a sociological approach to explaining how criminal behavior is perpetuated by the police and others. This theory looked at how labels applied to individuals influenced their behavior; particular negative labels (such as "criminal" or "felon") promote deviant behavior (online). Emphasis is being placed on rehabilitation of offenders through an alteration of their labels. Labeling theory has been accused of promoting impractical policy implications, and criticized for failing to explain society's most serious offenses (Wikipedia.org). In 1958, James F. Short Jr. and F. Ivan Nye published an article called self-report, which studied delinquency. The study used a question and interview techniques that asked juveniles what sort of illegal acts they had committed (McShane, & Williams III 2nd Ed.). Howard Becker approach to the labeling theory was described in his book, Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance (1963), views deviance as the......

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Approximate Pages: 3 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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