months for men for the act of robbery. Although there appears to be evidence of disproportionate sentencing, this does not confirm that a judge has been influenced by double deviance or has been chivalrous, the act of crime may have been the only factor considered. (Haralanbos & Holborn) Interactionism is a micro theory as it focuses on small scale interaction unlike the system theories of functionalism and Marxism. It is concerned with definitions of situation and self and the process by which an individual has become to be defined a particular way. The notion is that people perceive and interpret interactions differently and will attach different meanings to them based on the way they perceive it. The meaning that the individual attaches to the situation is significant as it represents their reality. Definitions are also attached through analysis of appearance, gestures and language; this is known as the construction of meaning. This can result in the development of a self-concept and Internationalists such as, Mead (1863) and Becker (1963) place emphasis on the idea of self-concept. They believe an individual develops this based on the way others see them and that an individual’s actions are influenced by the self-concept. Internationalist Charles Cooley coined the term ‘looking glass self’, which represents a reflection of the reactions of others towards the individual. (Haralanbos & Holborn) Society influences people’s perception of masculine and feminine and what identities are appropriate. Women are perceived to be emotional and nurturing, therefore their primary role is suited to the home and to be a mother. In were arrested for drug offences. Deviating from feminine nature could cause women to be labelled and could be seen as double deviance in the judicial system, alternatively the system could be chivalrous and serve a more lenient sentence providing they were remorseful. (Ministry of Justice, 2010).
The theory of Interactionism believes in the concept of role, however, they adopt a vague view of role identity and believe that through interaction individuals will negotiate their role in the same way that meanings are constantly negotiated by on-going interactions. Goffman (1937) developed the theory of ‘symbolic interactionism’, whereby emphasis is placed on the meaning that others attach to an individual’s actions. (Hawaii Education, n.d). Becker advanced Goffman’s theory and developed the labelling theory, which is linked to self-concept and the concept of role; these theories have been accepted as the orthodox perspectives on deviance by many sociologists. Becker suggests that to be labelled deviant is a consequence of the application by others, not the act and self-concept is developed based on other people’s perception, therefore an individual’s action is based on how others see them and the label applied, suggesting that deviance does not exist, an act only becomes deviant when others perceive and define it that way, known as ‘social reaction’. (Haralanbos & Holborn) To kill someone may be classified as murder and a crime, however in the army a soldier’s expectation is to kill the enemy and this is not viewed as a crime. Becker argued:
“The deviant is one to whom the label has successfully been applied; deviant behaviour is behaviour that people are labelled.”
(Haralanbos & Holborn, page 362)
Agents of social control such as the police have the power to label a person deviant if they attach such meaning to the act. Deviance occurs periodically through-out society and if maintained can lead to further deviance and can be damaging to the other status’s they possess, such as parent or friend. A label is a master status and if an individual is labelled criminal others will assume they have negative characteristics and will respond to them according to the label. If the label is reinforced it may result in a self-fulfilling prophecy, whereby the deviant identity becomes the controlling one. This can lead to rejection from social groups and encourage drug addicts and ex-convicts to continue offending to support their habit as employer’s refuse to employ them. (Haralanbos & Holborn) According to the Ministry of Justice data of 2012 men were responsible for of indictable offences, in the case of homicide men were the suspect of of women. (Full Fact, 2013). It could be argued that this information supports that females commit less crime than men, however Internationalists such as Becker would argue that it is difficult to substantiate the evidence and the only evidence it supports is that more people have reacted to the actions of men and labelled them a criminal, not that men have broken the law on more occasions than women. (Sociology Central, n.d).
Lemert (1972) supports Becker’s notion of social reaction encouraging acts of deviance and believes there are two stages of deviance, primary and secondary and noted the second stage as being significant, claiming at this stage deviance is identified by social by reaction. This was evidenced in a paper he composed entitled ‘Stuttering among the North Pacific Costal Indians’ and concluded that the reaction to speech impediments created them. (Haralanbos & Holborn) Becker suggested that the reasons for deviancy could change as time passes and circumstances alter resulting in an individual returning to conformity, this is known as the ‘sequential’ approach. Government statistics of for males (Home Office, 2000) and if violence against the act was to be examined it would be noticed that there has been a decline of in arrests across both genders. (Ministry of Justice, 2009) This data supports Becker’s notion that the reasons that lead an individual to commit a deviant act may change if their circumstances change through-out life.
Matza (1964) developed the ‘delinquency and drift’ theory relating to deviance, which recognises Becker’s theory as it acknowledges that deviance is socially constructed. Matza suggests that deviants are similar to conforming members of society as they often show remorse for what they have done, indicating that they have values similar to those who condemn their behaviour. In order to feel guilt this must be shared within society, if it is not then the individual would not feel remorse. Matza suggested that individuals show remorse when they have been apprehended and these expressions are a result of the social process as the individual believes they should behave that way and may receive a lenient sentence. This can make it difficult to differentiate between criminals and non-criminals and can produce misleading data, known as the dark figure of crime. (Sociology Central, n.d.) Data recorded in 2009 confirms that the judicial system gave more immediate custodial sentences to men than women, and the average sentence length for custodial sentence was longer for men at 17 months, compared to women who received 11 months. (Ministry of Justice, 2010).
It is within this conclusion that the statistical evidence confirms that women offend less than men, however it could be argued that the theories of double deviance and chivalry falsify the data as an individual could influence the possible sentencing. The theory of Feminism that includes Morgan and Heidensohn suggest that society is patriarchal and the statistics support this, as men offend more than women. However, it could be argued that society is not patriarchal and that chivalry is the cause of women’s statistics being lower. The main contribution of Internationalism is Becker’s labelling theory and the statistics provided support that women are labelled as deviant as he argues that deviance does not exist. Matza’s theory reinforces Becker’s and supports that the statistics provided could be misleading as deviants could possess similar values to conforming members of society. Internationalism takes into account micro interaction, rarely considering the contributions of wider society, resulting in the statistics being unreliable and the theory perceived as bias. The theorists make valid contributions to female crime; however the theories of chivalry and double deviance cast uncertainty over the statistics, which makes it difficult to substantiate any one theory towards female crime.