Stereotyping means thinking of a whole group as having certain characteristics and then using evidence from one member and applying it to all the people from that group.
Labelling links stereotyping – labels come from stereotypes. Labelling comes from a majority group who consider that a minority group is inferior and using inferior terms to talk about them. Most connotations to do with labelling are negative but they can also be positive as well.
The theory is based on the idea that society’s reaction to deviance has consequences for the future behaviour of the deviant person.
When individuals are labelled in some way they are treated according to that label, and they begin to see themselves in the way that the label portrays them. They act as they are expected to act according to the label. This is known as the self-fulfilling prophecy.
This involves various stages – labelling, the treatment of the person based on the label, reactions to the label and this then fulfils the expectations as well as the label, and thus the behaviour continues.
Both labelling and the SFP can explain recidivism – once the person has the label of a criminal it is hard for them to get rid of and so they reinforce it with their behaviour and it becomes part of their self-concept.