Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Definition
A situation in which a definition, though originally inaccurate or arbitrary, provokes behaviour that makes it accurate. In labelling theory, treating someone as a criminal closes off legitimate paths and makes further crime more probable, confirming the original prediction.
- Field
- Labelling theory / sociology of deviance
- Mechanism
- An inaccurate label provokes behaviour that makes it accurate
- Applied example
- Treating someone as a criminal closes off legitimate paths
Common questions
How does this concept explain reoffending rates after a formal criminal label?+
Labelling theory argues that formal processing, such as a conviction, can reduce access to employment and social ties, narrowing the labelled person's options and making continued offending relatively more likely.
Is a self-fulfilling prophecy the same as simple correlation between label and outcome?+
No, the theory specifically claims a causal mechanism, that the label itself changes opportunities and self-perception, rather than the label merely predicting an outcome that would have happened regardless.
Related terms
- Deviant Career
- Becker's concept describing how an individual moves sequentially through stages of deviance, from initial rule-breaking through labelling and eventually into immersion in...
- Moral Entrepreneur
- Becker's term for an individual or group that campaigns to create or enforce moral rules, defining what will count as deviant and...
- Primary Deviance
- Rule-breaking behaviour that precedes or occurs without official labelling. Lemert argued that primary deviance is common and does not in itself alter...
- Secondary Deviance
- Deviant behaviour that arises as an adaptation to the social reaction to primary deviance. Once labelled, a person restructures their identity and...
- Stigma
- Goffman's term for a deeply discrediting attribute that reduces the bearer to a spoiled identity in others' eyes. A criminal conviction functions...