ABSTRACT
Labeling theory remains a major theoretical perspective in the study of crime and deviance. To gain a thorough understanding of labeling theory, it is important to trace the rich history of the perspective, including the way labeling theorists have grappled with fundamental social-scientific issues such as the definition of deviance, the use of functionalist explanations, the distinction between realist versus constructionist epistemologies, and the status of causal explanation. Despite continuing debates over key issues, labeling theory has succeeded in producing a body of important empirical research, as exemplified in this volume.
