ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the idea of societal reactions to crime and labeling of a criminal are discussed. The main theories discussed use the basic idea of symbolic interaction, or the idea that we all act and react toward things based on the meaning we ascribe to those things. For example, the term criminal conjures up all sorts of ideas in our minds. We all act, or believe we should act, a certain way toward people whom we deem as deviant or criminal. This chapter examines how theorists use this symbolic interaction in a deviance or crime enhancing way. The chapter begins with the idea of the dramatization of evil (Tannenbaum), discusses ideas like secondary deviance (Lemert), stigma (Goffman), labeling (Becker), and restorative justice (Braithwaite). All of these deal with how an offender is treated by society and questions whether the role of society in causing this deviance outweighs the contributions of the individual.
