Labels, Stigma, Outsiders

I'm looking through my copy of Howard Becker's Outsiders as I prepare to teach an upcoming session in my Social Psychology course.

I'll share a few quotes from the book:

"The deviant is one to whom that label has successfully been applied; deviant behavior is behavior that people so label" (p. 9).

"Whether an act is deviant, then, depends on how other people react to it" (p. 11).

"Deviance is not a quality that lies in behavior itself, but in the interaction between the person who commits an act and those who respond to it" (p. 14).

"I have been using the term 'outsiders' to refer to those people who are judged by others to be deviant and thus to stand outside the circle of 'normal' members of the group" (p. 15).

"Differences in the ability to make rules and apply them to other people are essentially power differentials (either legal or extralegal)" (pp. 17-18). Click here for a longer quote about groups who have the power to label.

Click here to read an essay by Courtney Anders which speaks to the power of labels and the experience of being made an outsider. During class I'll discuss her essay after going through some of Becker's insights about the sociology of deviance.

I'm using this post to organize my thoughts for teaching. I conclude with a recommendation that Becker's Outsiders and Erving Goffman's Stigma be in your book collection.

Thought for the Day from Howard Becker

"Elites, ruling classes, bosses, adults, men, Caucasians--superordinate groups generally--maintain their power as much by controlling how people define the world, its components, and its possibilities, as by the use of more primitive forms of control. They may use primitive means to establish hegemony. But control based on the manipulation of definitions and labels works more smoothly and costs less; superordinates prefer it. The attack on hierarchy begins with an attack on definitions, labels, and conventional conceptions of who's who and what's what."

Howard Becker, Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance. Excerpt from the chapter "Labelling Theory Reconsidered," pp. 204-205 in the edition I have (New York: The Free Press, 1997). The chapter is based on a paper presented at the British Sociological Association in April, 1971.

Getting Into The Groove (With A Little Help From Howard Becker)

I fortunately am on sabbatical this semester. Simply put, it feels great. It's amazing to have so much time to think and write. I haven't had this much time and space since graduate school. So far, the best part of sabbatical is having less clutter in my life. Less e-mail, no preparation time for courses, no meetings, no grading. I'll miss my students and colleagues this semester, but I'll love the break from the usual busyness. I'm ready for a different kind of busyness.

So far, the writing has come easy. Whenever I'm on the verge of writer's block, I heed the advice of Howard Becker: "Write whatever comes into your head, as fast as you can type, without reference to outlines, notes, data, books or any other aids." Becker's point is to find out what you want to say because you already know what you want to say. By the time we actually write something, we've done a lot of thinking (pp. 54-55 in Becker's Writing for Social Scientists, University of Chicago Press, 1986). This doesn't mean ignoring the literature, it means not being "terrorized by the literature" (Becker's beautiful phrase featured in chapter 8). Like Becker says, "Use the literature, don't let it use you" (p. 149). These days I'm writing more than I'm reading, in order to say what I want to say. There's plenty of time to acknowledge the relevant literature and to use it effectively.

I try to write everyday, but I don't freak out if a day goes by without any writing. Some days the words flow, some days they don't. So far I'm not handcuffed to my computer. It's good to get away from the computer and enjoy the extra time afforded by sabbatical. So I'm doing things I don't normally get to do, like going to the gym and meeting up with old friends for lunch. I'm careful not to squander away the days. But I'm not forcing myself to adhere to a strict writing schedule. There's enough pressure in everyday life. I want to enjoy this sabbatical. So that means combining rest, relaxation, research, reading, thinking, writing, exercising, and recreation. It also means eating better and cooking more often. In short, a healthy balanced life.