NCJ Number
86284
Journal
International Criminal Police Review Issue: 356 Dated: (March 1982) Pages: 66-72
Date Published
1982
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Shoham's criminological theory of social stigma is defective in not taking account of individual moral factors which affect the individual's accepting or refusing the image imposed on him/her.
Abstract
According to Shoham's configurative approach to criminology, a person's chances of being classified as deviant increase in direct proportion to his/her violation of legal norms. This deviation becomes a social fact only after it has been qualified as such by reference to a norm. This criminological theory of social stigma appears to be too deterministic. It does not consider the particular moral factors which affect whether or not the individual accepts or refuses the deviant image imposed. Labelling can only result in efficient and lasting self-labelling if it is applied to a favorable preparatory ground, i.e., a preparatory ground receptive to the stigma emanating from the social group. This preparatory ground, a dynamic element resulting from the introjection and identification process of infancy, appears to be composed of feelings of guilt and inferiority produced by intrapsychic conflicts as well as a narcissistic malfunction which alters the intersubjective relationship. Thirty-six references are listed. (Author summary modified)