Interactionism and Labelling Theory

Interactionism offers a fundamentally different approach to crime and deviance from the structuralist perspectives (functionalism and Marxism). Rather than asking "Why do some people commit crime?", interactionists ask: "Why are some people and some behaviours labelled as criminal or deviant, while others are not?" The focus shifts from the criminal to the agencies of social control — the police, courts, media, and other institutions that define, detect, and punish crime.

Key Definition: Labelling is the process by which certain individuals and behaviours are defined as criminal or deviant by those with the power to do so. A label is not simply a description — it becomes a master status that overrides all other aspects of a person's identity.

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Howard Becker: Moral Entrepreneurs and the Deviant Career

Howard Becker (1963) is the most influential labelling theorist. His central argument is that deviance is not an inherent quality of an act but is the product of social definition: