TY - CHAP

T1 - Deviant Selves, Transgressive Acts and Moral Narratives

T2 - The Symbolic Interactionist Field of Transgression, Crime and Justice

AU - Muller, Thaddeus

PY - 2021/8/31

Y1 - 2021/8/31

N2 - This chapter on crime, transgression, and justice focuses on interactional meaning-mak ing processes that shape the moral narratives of a range of actors such as perpetrators, police, and judges. These narratives include processes such as labeling, stigmatization, and criminalization. These processes are about (1) degrading, dominating, and excluding, and (2) their narrative counterparts, which focus on resisting the othering claims of moral narratives. This chapter focuses on two fundamental contributions of symbolic interaction to this field: the labeling perspective, and the ethnographic approach studying the social construction of moral meanings in everyday interactions. I will also describe two themes: (1) violence, the perspective of the “badass,” and (2) the criminal-justice system as a labeling machine. This chapter shows that because of its theoretical and methodological tools, symbolic-interactionist studies are well equipped to listen to voices of marginalized groups and show their agency in their fight for justice.

AB - This chapter on crime, transgression, and justice focuses on interactional meaning-mak ing processes that shape the moral narratives of a range of actors such as perpetrators, police, and judges. These narratives include processes such as labeling, stigmatization, and criminalization. These processes are about (1) degrading, dominating, and excluding, and (2) their narrative counterparts, which focus on resisting the othering claims of moral narratives. This chapter focuses on two fundamental contributions of symbolic interaction to this field: the labeling perspective, and the ethnographic approach studying the social construction of moral meanings in everyday interactions. I will also describe two themes: (1) violence, the perspective of the “badass,” and (2) the criminal-justice system as a labeling machine. This chapter shows that because of its theoretical and methodological tools, symbolic-interactionist studies are well equipped to listen to voices of marginalized groups and show their agency in their fight for justice.

KW - Transgression

KW - crime

KW - justice

KW - labeling

KW - stigma

KW - social problems

KW - violence

KW - moral narratives

U2 - 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190082161.013.32

DO - 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190082161.013.32

M3 - Chapter

T3 - Oxford Handbooks Online

BT - The Oxford Handbook of Symbolic Interaction

A2 - Brekhus, Wayne

A2 - DeGloma, Thomas

A2 - Force, William

PB - Oxford University Press

CY - Oxford

ER -