Read about the “We are All Criminals” project: https://www.weareallcriminals.org/about/
(Links to an external site.)
Links to an external site.
(you may need to copy and paste the link into your browser, rather than clicking on it) for some background on this project.
Visit the website “We are All Criminals” here:https://www.weareallcriminals.org/
(Links to an external site.)
Links to an external site.
(you may need to copy and paste the link into your browser, rather than clicking on it).
Read through the cases and find one that interests you. MAKE SURE the story you select has a section for a “Parallel story of someone who was caught” (it will be on the right side of the page, in a blue box). If there is no parallel story, select a different story to write about.
THE ASSIGNMENT:
1. Put the title of the story you select at the top of the page (for example “Social Worker: Assault”).
2. In a short (1-2 paragraph) response, briefly summarize the stories (the main story and the parallel story), and discuss how a labeling theorist would identify each person. Which person is deviant (according to labeling theory)? How has that label of deviant shaped their life? Think about the person who is not labeled as deviant–how might avoiding the ‘deviant’ label have shaped their life?
3. Think about surveillance as a mechanism of social control. In a brief (1 paragraph) response, discuss how living in a carceral culture shapes the probability that more individuals will become ‘deviant’ (using labeling theory’s definition of ‘deviant’?)