Describe how sociologists arrived on labeling theory and its reception

Question

What does this theory say about deviance? Provide an example of a behavior that was labeled deviant but has since become virtually normalized, that is, relabeled, and the persons in authority who contributed to it happening.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

One of the new theories that emerged during the 1960s, when it became clear how deviant, criminal, and abnormal behaviors were being defined by people in positions of authority, was labeling theory. It challenged the idea that there are real and objective differences in behavior that is normal versus what is deviant. Most sociologists now argue that the process by which a behavior comes to be defined as deviant is critical to understanding what causes it. In other words, instead of focusing on the behavior of individuals, they argue we need to look at how the behavior came to be defined as deviant. Deviant behavior is "caused" by the process through which a behavior comes to be defined, or as they say, labeled, as deviant. These ideas developed into the labeling theory of deviance, the idea that many kinds of behaviors are deviant solely because they are labeled as such. An example of a behavior that is relabeled is homosexuality, which had been a crime in Texas until the Supreme Court ruled against the state keeping anachronistic sodomy laws on the books.