Question

Answer the following questions after reading The Saints and The Roughnecks article. Explain labeling or social reaction theory. Explain self-fulfilling prophecy. Discuss how labeling influenced the lives of these boys and resulted in self-fulfilling prophecy. Give specific examples. What role did economics or social class play in the labeling? Compare your high-school experience with those at Hannibal High. In what ways did your "reputation" either protect or harm you. Think of a time when you were labeled negatively or positively by an authority figure, a parent, or someone else significant to you. How powerful was the label? Did it influence how others responded to you? Did it affect your perceptions of and feelings about yourself Give an example. If it was negative did you do something to try to counteract the label or its effects Did you eventually overcome, transform or shed the label? How and why?

Answer 1

1. Explain labeling or social reaction theory.

This theory states that the society is responsible in creation of deviance as there are agencies of social control which label people to be delinquent. This results in stigmatisation of a certain strata of the youth and compel them to accept that their personality is negative.

2. Explain self-fulfilling prophecy.

This is a prediction which would come true in a direct or indirect manner, in the way the prophecy is made. This means that there is a false definition of what the situation is, leading to a behavior that would make the false prediction true.

3. Discuss how labeling influenced the lives of these boys and resulted in self-fulfilling prophecy. Give specific examples.

The saints or the whites, were also involved in thefts and truancy, as much as the roughnecks were involved. The roughnecks were always expected to fail and the saints were expected to succeed well in their life. All of the boys succeeded, except one of the boys, whereas, among the roughnecks, only two boys graduated, two went to prison and others never graduated.

4. What role did economics or social class play in the labeling?

Social class played a major role, since hailing from the lower class families, nobody ever believed the boys, even though they were at the same level as the saints, they were frequently imprisoned,p. Had they been from a higher class, there would have been more belief on the boys, which would have not let the self fulfilling prophecy of them failing, become true.