282 pages actually discussed this new theories, the next section focuses on
formulation. exploring social constructionist explanations.
Critical reactions: This technique drew a
strong reaction from defenders of these 2. The social
positions. Cohen (1977), from an construction of and
interactionist position, suggested critical social reactions to crime
criminology was neither ‘new’ nor, in an
important respect, ‘critical’ (in that, he
and deviance, including
argued, it romanticised criminals as the role of the mass
somehow being at the vanguard of media
‘opposition to capitalism’).
In the previous section we examined a
Hirst (1975), from an orthodox Marxist
number of structuralist explanations for
position, criticised the whole ‘new
crime and deviance, so, to redress the
criminology’ project, both in terms of
balance somewhat, this section focuses on
‘romanticising criminals’ (the
both interactionist and postmodern forms of
lumpenproletariat, or ‘social scum’, as Marx
explanation.
described them) and for its application of a
Marxist methodology which, he claimed,
could not be applied to ‘sociologies of . . .’
anything.
Preparing the ground:
Left idealism: Later, in the development Interactionist
of New Left realism, Young was to argue perspectives
along the same lines in terms of critical At the start of this chapter we made a
criminology being both idealistic in its distinction between absolute and relative
representation of crime and criminals (the concepts of deviance and, in so doing, left
latter being considered in almost ‘Robin open the question of whether some people
Hood’ terms) and a form of ‘left may be inherently deviant (predisposed, for
functionalism’, where the interests of a whatever reason, to deviance). Interactionist
‘ruling class’ replaced the ‘interests of society sociology answers this question by arguing
as a whole’. that deviance is:
Socially constructed, a concept that has
Moving on two main dimensions:
Despite the heavy criticism of critical • Deviance: Every society makes rules
criminology, one point in its favour, perhaps, governing deviant behaviour and applies
was the idea that some form of theoretical: them in different ways.
Synthesis – between looking at the
• Deviants: If the same behaviour can be
structural aspects of crime (who makes rules)
deviant in one context (or society) but
and the action aspects that have traditionally
non-deviant in another, it suggests, as
focused on ideas about labelling and social
Becker (1963) puts it, ‘. . . deviance is not
reaction – was required in order to fully
a quality of the act the person commits,
understand deviant behaviour.
but rather a consequence of the
Having looked in the main at structural
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going on’ and, more significantly, know how ‘deviant’. For Lemert, this involves the
to respond to this behaviour. offender interpreting their behaviour in
Interpretations within situations can, of the light of the labelling process, where
course, be subtle – making behavioural repeated deviance becomes ‘a means of
distinctions between, for example, a private defence, attack or adaptation’ to the
motorist running through a red traffic light problems created by being so labelled.
and a fire engine doing the same. Both are
‘deviant’ (illegal), but the reaction to the
latter is mitigated and transformed by The potting
knowledge of a ‘higher moral purpose’ (the
law is being broken in order to save lives).
shed
Identify and briefly explain one example
of your own primary deviation in the
✼ SYNOPTIC LINK family, school or workplace.
We can apply the idea that others ‘define
situations’ for us to a range of Specification We can outline the amplification process
areas, such as education (where the meaning diagrammatically (including some indication
of education is defined by governments, of the role of the mass media in this general
teachers, and so forth) and family life (where process).
the meaning of different types of family is The basic idea here is that deviancy
socially defined).
amplification represents a:
Positive feedback loop involving a
An example of an interactionist explanation number of ideas.
for deviance is represented by the concept of Primary deviance is identified and
a: condemned, which leads to the deviant
Deviancy Amplification Spiral: As group becoming:
originally formulated by Wilkins (1964), Socially isolated and resentful of the
deviancy amplification (or a ‘positive attention they’re receiving. This behaviour
feedback loop’) built on ideas developed by leads, through a general labelling process, to
Lemert (1951) based on the distinction an:
between two types of deviation: Increased social reaction on the part of
the media, politicians and formal control
• Primary deviation is deviant behaviour
agencies (less toleration of deviant
in its ‘pure form’; it represents some form
behaviour, for example).
of rule breaking (real or imagined).
Lemert, however, argued that unless and This develops into:
until attention is drawn – and sanctions Secondary deviation if the deviant group
applied – to primary deviation, it has recreates itself in the image portrayed by
little or no impact on the ‘psychological these agencies. Once this happens the:
structure of the individual’ (they may not, Reaction from ‘the authorities’ is likely to
for example, see themselves as deviant). increase, leading to new laws
• Secondary deviation refers to how (criminalisation of deviants) or increased
someone responds to being labelled as police resources to deal with ‘the problem’.
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Increased Deviance
reasonably coherent terms (they may, for Moral clampdown on the deviant and
example, accept the ‘deviant label’ as a form their behaviour.
of resistance). A possible role for the media These ideas and processes, Miller and
here is in areas like: Reilly (1994) argue, reflect ideological social
control as a prelude to political action. In
• Publicising deviant behaviour to a wider
other words, a moral panic represents a way
audience (some of whom may, ironically,
of ‘softening up’ public opinion so that
decide they want to participate in the
people are prepared to accept repressive
‘deviant subculture’).
social controls (new laws, for example) as
• Labelling deviant groups (‘chavs’, ‘goths’, ‘solutions to a particular problem’.
‘predatory paedophiles’) and suggesting
they represent a coherent social grouping
(rather than, perhaps, a disparate group of The potting
individuals).
shed
Moral panic: Cohen (1972) suggests that
Identify further examples of the way
this is a situation where a group is ‘defined as public opinion has been ‘ideologically
a threat to societal values’ and is presented softened up’ through the media in recent
in a ‘stereotypical fashion by the mass media’ times.
as a prelude to the demand for ‘something to
be done’ about their behaviour. Moral Finally, an idea that arises from the above
panics have attendant attributes of a: discussion, and has implications for social
Moral crusade, where ‘the media’ take up policies designed to limit and control
arms against a particular type of offender – deviance, is a:
paedophiles being an obvious example – and Deviant career: Becker (1963) argued
demand a: that the successful application of a label
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frequently has the effect of ‘confirming the • Moral panics: McRobbie (1994) argues
individual’ as deviant, both to themselves that this concept has become such
and others around them (teachers, common currency in our society that its
employers and the like). This may block off meaning and use have changed in ways
participation in ‘normal society’ (a criminal, that reflect a certain ‘knowingness’ on the
for example, may be unable to find work), part of the media and, in some respects,
which, in turn, means the deviant seeks out well-organised political targets (such as
the company of similar deviants, resulting in environmentalist groups). In this respect,
increased involvement in deviant behaviour. McRobbie suggests we should neither
The public stigmatisation (‘naming and automatically assume ‘the media’, in
shaming’) of paedophiles in the UK media, every instance, is part of the overall
for example, may illustrate this process; control structure in society (slavishly
paedophiles are shunned by ‘normal society’ following whatever moral line the
and so start to move in organised groups political authorities would like people to
whose development, arguably, increases the believe), nor should we ignore the ability
likelihood of deviance. of some groups to use the media to defuse
moral crusades.
McRobbie and Thornton (1995) also
Weeding the path
contend that the media has become so
Although deviancy amplification demonstrates
sophisticated in its understanding of how
how the behaviour of control agencies may
amplification and moral panics work that
have ‘unintended consequences’ in terms of
‘moral panics, once the unintended outcome
creating a class of deviant behaviour (such
of journalistic practice, seem to have
as crime) out of a situation that was only a
become a goal’. Miller and Reilly (1994)
minor social problem, it’s not without its
also point out the problem of
problems or critics.
understanding how and why moral panics
• Prediction: Although the concept uses a ever end.
range of constructionist ideas (labelling, Power: Although interactionist sociology
for example), it was originally presented clearly sees power as a significant variable in
by Wilkins (1964) as a model for the creation (and possible negation) of
predicting the development of social labels, there’s no clear idea about where such
behaviour. However, the general power may originate. In addition, the power
unpredictability of the amplification process of:
– sometimes a spiral develops, but at The state to commit various forms of
other times it doesn’t – means its strength crime (against humanity, for example)
is in descriptive analyses of behaviour ‘after doesn’t fit easily into constructionist
the event’. Young’s (1971) classic concepts of deviance.
analysis of drug takers is a case in point, as
is Critcher’s (2000) explanation for the
development of moral panics surrounding
‘rave culture’ and its use of Ecstasy.
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and the like). For postmodernism, this is pollution, corporate corruption and the
expressed in terms of: like) in any definition of harm and, more
Intertextuality: Both ‘reality’ and ‘fiction’ importantly, crime (which, as Henry and
are interwoven to construct an almost Milovanovic put it, involves ‘the exercise
seamless web of ‘fear and fascination’, where of the power to deny others their own
the viewer is no longer sure whether what humanity’).
they are seeing is real or reconstruction.
Kooistra and Mahoney (1999) argue that Redefining crime
tabloid journalism is now the dominant In this respect, a constitutive criminology
force in the representation of crime and ‘redefines crime as the harm resulting from
deviance. Presentation techniques once the investing energy in relations of power that
preserve of tabloid newspapers, for example, involves pain, conflict and injury’. In other
have been co-opted into the general words, some people (criminals) invest a
mainstream of news production and great deal of their time and effort in
presentation (where ‘entertainment and activities (crime) that harm others
sensationalism’ are essential components for physically, psychologically, economically,
any news organisation trying to break into and so forth. In this respect, Henry and
particular economic markets or preserve and Milovanovic characterise such people as:
enhance market share in those markets). Excessive investors in the power to harm
others – and the way to diminish their
excessive investment in such activities is to
✼ SYNOPTIC LINK empower their victims. Thus, rather than
Mass media: Think about how this analysis seeing punishment in traditional terms
cuts into the debates we encountered in the
(imprisonment, for example, that does little
study of media effects and representations.
or nothing for the victim), we should see it
in terms of:
We can outline an example of a Redistributive justice, something that
postmodern criminology in the shape of: De Haan (1990) suggests involves redefining
Constitutive criminology: The basic idea ‘punishment’, away from hurting the
here is to adopt what Henry and offender (which perpetuates the ‘cycle of
Milovanovic (1999) call a holistic approach, harm’), to redressing the offence by
involving a ‘duality of blame’ that moves the ‘compensating the victim’. This form of
debate away from thinking about the ‘causes peacemaking criminology focuses on
of crime’ and the ‘obsession with a crime reconnecting offenders and their victims in
and punishment cycle’, towards a ‘different ways that actively seek to redress the
criminology’ theorised around what Muncie balance of harm.
(2000) terms:
• Social harm: To understand crime we
have to ‘move beyond’ notions centred
Weeding the path
Constitutive criminology moves the focus on
around ‘legalistic definitions’. We have to
to an assessment of ‘harm’ caused to the
include a range of ideas (poverty,
victims of crime and, by extension, the
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social relationship between offender and not cause too much of a problem;
victim. It draws on a range of sociological however it does raise questions of where
ideas, both theoretical (holistic approaches to such a definition should begin and end (it
understanding deviance, for example) and may, for example, have the unintended
practical (such as the concept of ‘redress’), to consequence of criminalising large areas
argue for a less punitive approach to deviance of social behaviour that are currently not
and a more consensual approach to criminalised).
understanding the complex relationship • Redress: Without a radical
between crime, deviance, social control and rethink/overhaul of the way we see and
punishment. There are, however, a couple of deal with crime and deviance as a society,
points we need to consider here. ‘redistributive justice’ may simply be
• Harm: As Henry and Milovanovic incorporated into conventional forms of
(1999) define it, ‘harm’ results ‘from any crime control. In this respect we might
attempt to reduce or suppress another’s characterise this type of criminology as:
position or potential standing through the Idealistic, in the sense that, rather than
use of power’. The danger here, however, providing an alternative to conventional
is that it broadens the definition of crime forms of ‘crime and punishment’, ideas
and deviance in ways that redefine these about redistributive justice simply provide
concepts out of existence (which may, of another link in the chain of social control.
course, be the intention). Such a
definition could, for example, apply Moving on
equally to a teacher in the classroom or With these ideas in mind, the next section
an employer in the workplace. examines and develops the concept of
• Crime: Extending the notion of crime to power, in terms of its relationship to both
include, for example, ‘linguistic hate social control and deviance.
crimes’ (such as racism and sexism) may
379