Abstract
Labeling theory is a sociological and criminological approach to the study of deviance that focuses on the process of the social construction of crime. Labeling theorists attribute a major role to the social definition of the crime and to the process of labeling and stigmatization affecting deviant behavior: by assigning the label of criminal to an offender, a process is engaged that transforms the author of a single offense – or an occasional transgression – into a chronic offender. The core of deviant processes is clearly traceable to the rules that define a given conduct as right or wrong. No behavior is deviant in itself – it becomes so as soon as it is defined as such. The labeling approach therefore calls for serious thought on the power of groups within a society to define a certain behavior as deviant.
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