ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The completion of this Internal Assessment would not have been possible without the help of the Almighty God, who gave me the strength and health to complete the assignment. Also my family and friends played a major role in assisting me in obtaining the necessary research data for the project. And last but definitely not the least my wonderful sociology teacher Mrs. Candice Pooran, who aided her students’ with well prepared tutorials and guided us every step of the way. I am extremely thankful.

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STATEMENT OF PROBLEM/INTRODUCTION

This study is based on the labeling theory which was created and developed by Frank

Tannenbaum and Howard S. Becker; in this research we will look at “the extent to which labels

or stigmas negatively impacts on juvenile behavior in Secondary Schools in Sangre

Grande”. According to Sociology Themes and Perspectives; labeling is a process of social

reaction by the “social audience,” (stereotyping) the people in society, judging and accordingly

defining (labeling) someone’s behavior as deviant or otherwise. Labeling theory, consequently,

suggests that deviance is caused by the deviant’s behaviour being labeled as morally inferior, the

deviants internalizing the label and finally the deviant’s acts in accordance to that specific label.

In other words it can be said that the social audience is responsible for forming positive sanctions

[reward] or negative sanctions [punishment] whereby creating or diminishing deviants in society.

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AIM OF THE INTERNAL ASSESSMENT

As students acquire labels such as ‘delinquents’, and ‘vandals’, and are subsequently rejected by

peers, colleagues, and family, members; they may be under heavy scrutiny or stigmatized and are

often suspended or expelled from schools or forced into the juvenile penal systems resulting in

the individuals becoming worst off than they were with more enthusiasm to commit grave acts of

deviance.

The aim of this Internal Assessment is to determine the following:

1. To get a clear understanding of whether or not labeling divides a society and how so.

2. To come up with solutions in an attempt to eradicate labeling in today’s school

population, and to prove that each individual is more than capable of conforming to

accepted rules so that deviance and criminal activities are reduced in schools.

3. To allow persons to identify other ways to deal with a negative situation, other than

resulting to deviants acts to solve their problems.

4. To observe the factors which explain the circumstances where certain acts are tolerated

and classified as deviant.

172 words

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OBJECTIVES OF INTERNAL ASSESSMENTS

In an effort to thoroughly evaluate the statement of problem, “the extent to which labels or

stigmas negatively impacts on juvenile behavior in Secondary Schools in Sangre Grande”. It is

obligatory to ensure that there is a clear detailed plan of action which is to be taken in order to

make certain this study is accurate and consists of pertinent information for the study to be

deemed successful.

The Internal Assessment will be encompassing the following objectives:

1. To determine what motivates students to commit acts of deviance in schools (juveniles).

2. To observe if deviant acts are committed only by persons of a particular, gender, age category, ethnic group, religion and social class etc.

3. The extent to which the family unit can be held responsible for producing deviants as they are

the primary unit of socialization. [Dysfunctional families]

4. To establish, that certain deviant acts are sanctioned as opposed to others.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

In conducting research for this study, information was extracted from numerous articles, books

and internet sources in an effort to select appropriate coherent data that supports the study.

According to the research data, there is a distinctive link between labeling and deviant behaviour.

From a sociological context deviance is described as actions or behavior that violates cultural

norms including formally-enacted rules (e.g., crime) as well as informal violations of socials

norms (e.g., rejecting folkways and mores). It is the purview of sociologists, psychologists,

psychiatrists and criminologist to study how these norms are created, how they change over time

and how they are enforced. 1 To support the aforementioned Howard Becker’s book Outsiders,

which emerged in the 1960’s he states that “Social groups create deviance by making rules

whose infraction constitutes deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and

labeling them as outsiders. From this point of view, deviance is not a quality of the act the person

commits, but rather a consequence of the application of rules and sanctions to the “offender.”

The deviant is one to whom that label has been successfully applied; deviant behavior is

behavior that people so label.” In other words, ‘deviance is in the eye of the beholder, what

would be considered deviance in one instance is not in another.’ Another theorist noted was

Robert K Merton: he discussed deviance in terms of goals and means as part of his strain/anomie

theory. Where Durkheim states that anomie is the confounding of social norms, Merton goes

further and states that anomie is the state in which social goals and the legitimate means to

achieve them do not correspond. He postulated that an individual’s response to societal

expectations and the means by which the individual pursued those goals were useful to

understanding deviance; with that said it can be concluded that deviant behavior is created by the

1 Definition taken from JD Douglas and FC Waksler FC, The Sociology of deviance: an introduction. Boston: Little Brown, 1982

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pressures society places on individual to conforms to accepted norms. Albert Cohen’s Sub-

cultural Theory, opposed Merton’s views that the motivation for deviant behavior arises out of

the frustration of failing to achieve success by legitimate means. He notes that deviant/delinquent

acts are not always undertaken as an individual response to frustration but rather as a collective

response. Many delinquent/deviant acts are not always undertaken for financial gain but are non-

utilitarian and malicious. He sees the cause of much delinquency as status frustration. Success is

replaced with an alternative to gain prestige in the eyes of their peers. These are the values of the

lower working class, delinquent subculture n which such boys are socialized. “Lower class boy,

middle class measuring rod.”

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RESEARCH DESIGN

Research is defined as the systematic study of materials and sources in order to establish facts

and reach new conclusions2. The use of primary and secondary data was incorporated in this

study; this entailed the use of questionnaires, books sociology websites and articles. In order to

collect information, a data collection instrument and strategies had to be employed; a qualitative

approach was utilized as a large sample was not required. In investigating, “the extent to which

labels or stigmas negatively impacts on juvenile behavior in Secondary Schools in Sangre

Grande”.

Some of the advantages and disadvantages of using a questionnaire are as follows:

Advantages:

1. It is confidential

2. A great volume of information can be obtained from it

3. Its structure allows it to be easily analyzed

4. Not costly to produce

Disadvantages:

1. Time consuming,

2. Can be misinterpreted by respondents and they may produce fictitious answers,

A total of 40 forty questionnaires were distributed to random persons from each of the secondary schools in Sangre Grande. This was done so that the respondent’s responses would vary as they all are encapsulated in different environments with similar yet varied norms and expectations. 164 words

2 Definition taken from Oxford Pocket English Dictionary, Tenth Edition

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SAMPLE

A sample can be defined as a small part or quantity intended to show what the whole is like. A

sampling frame was utilized to study the desired portion of the population; a sampling frame is a

means of defining the population of interest. Stratified random sample was incorporated, a total

of forty questionnaires distributed in the five Secondary Schools in Sangre Grande. To achieve

this, eight questionnaires were randomly distributed to candidate of each of the schools. This

method was chosen because it allowed for a broad variety of responses as the respondents would

be of varies age groups, ethnicities, and genders.

120 words

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DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT

The data collection instrument utilized for this study was the questionnaire. The questionnaire

contained two types of questions, open-ended questions, which provides no choice or guidance

as to what the answer is, that is left entirely up to the respondent. They are very useful in getting

persons to express complicated ideas and feelings but on the other hand they are very difficult to

code. The other type of questions was close-ended, these are much simpler and they offer the

respondents a limited choice of answers, they are very easy to code but they often simplify issues

too much. They do not allow persons to reply in detail, it guides the respondent to answer in a

particular way, thus possibility exists the response is bias.

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QUESTIONNAIRE

You are kindly asked to provide truthful answers to the questions below. All the

information provided will be kept strictly confidential; as such you are not required to

insert your name as a means of protecting your identity.

1. What gender are you?

Male□ Female□

2. To what religious sect do you belong?

3. Please state the name of your school in the line provided.

____________________________________________________

4. Which form are you in?

Form 1 □ Form 2 □ Form 3 □ Form4 to 6 □

5. What age category do you fall under?

12-14 □ 15-17 □ 18-20 □ Over 20 □

6. What ethnic group do you belong to?

African □

Chinese □

West Indian □

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Caucasian □

Mixed □

7. To which social class do you belong?

Upper Class□ Middle Class□ Lower Class□ Neutral□

8. What does the word deviant mean to you?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

9. Have you ever committed a deviant act?

Yes□ No□

10. Have you ever seen someone committing a deviant act?

Yes□ No□

11. If your answer was yes for the question above, what action did you take?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

12. What do you think motivates an individual to commit a deviant act?

Status frustration □

Peer Pressure □

Immaturity □

A desire for material possessions □

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To get attention/recognition □

13. In your view, are any of the reasons listed above justifiable for such actions?

Yes□ No□

14. Do you believe that some deviant acts are at times sanctioned or tolerated by some, which

make it difficult to penalize the problem in schools?

Yes□ No□

15. Do you believe that as a high school student the expectations from society are too high?

Yes □ No □

16. Which group of persons do you believe display the most deviant behavior?

Toddlers □

Young adults □

Grown adults □

17. Within recent times can you average the percentage of defacement of school property?

18. Do you believe that deviant acts are ways of demonstrated by persons as a means of

getting attention?

Yes □ No □

19. What are some of the penalties for the defacements of school property and are they

regularly enforced?

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________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

20. Would you say that parents who neglect to provide adequately for their children, or pay

attention to them, because they have some form of drug addiction or gambling problem

encourages deviant behavior?

Yes □ No □

21. Do you have any suggestions for remedying the problem of deviant behavior amongst

your peers, if so what are they?

Yes □ No □

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

22. Do you believe that defacement of school property namely graffiti is as sense of artistic

expressions?

Yes □ No □

23. Do you think that by including more curricular activities in the school syllabus will better

channel the attention of persons to more productive use of time?

Yes□ No□

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24. Are you of the opinion that the breakdown of family life is the main contributor for the

number of deviants present in today’s schools/society?

Yes□ No□

25. Do you think that individuals, who come from poor broken homes, are most likely to

become deviants?

Yes□ No □

Thank you very much for your kind cooperation, I am extremely grateful and certain that the

information given will be of great use to me.

Yours truly,

Chantel Herbert

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PRRESENTATION OF DATA

Figure 1 Bar chart displaying the gender percentage of respondents who have committed deviant acts.

North Eastern Col-lege

Sangre Grande Ju-nior Secondary

Bates Memorial High

Sangre Grande Ed-ucational Institute

Guaico Govern-ment Secondary

MALE 13% 22% 5% 7% 20%

FEMALE 5% 6% 11% 7% 4%

3%

8%

13%

18%

23%

13%

22%

5%

7%

20%

5%6%

11%

7%

4%

GENDER OF RESPONDENTS WHO HAVE COMMITTED DEVIANT ACTS

- MALE

- FEMALE

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Fig 2: Displays a pie chart of the responses to question nineteen (19) which asked if deviant’s

acts are ways demonstrated by persons as a means of getting attention. Thirty one persons said

yes which total 77% and nine persons said no which accounted for 23%

YES77%

NO23%

PIE CHART

YESNO

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Fig 3: Cluster cone diagram portrays the age group percentage of respondents who have been

involved in deviant acts.

12-14 YRS 15-17 YRS 18-20 YRS OVER 200%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

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Fig 4: Exhibits a line graph of the number of recorded deviant acts committed, for the month of

April over a period of four years in three selected schools.

2010 2009 2008 2007

Sangre Grande Junior Secondary 15 6 5 3

North Eastern College 10 4 2 3

Sangre Grande Educational Institute 5 3 3 1

1

3

5

7

9

11

13

15

Sangre Grande Junior SecondaryNorth Eastern CollegeSangre Grande Educational Institute

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Fig 5: Demonstrates some of the major motivations for committing acts of deviants, according to

the responses of respondents.

22%

10%

20%

25%

23%

MOTIVATION FOR COMMITTING DEVIANT ACTS

STATUS FRUSTARTIONLACK OF EDUCATIONDESIRE FOR MATERIAL POSS-ESIONPEER PRESSUREIMMATURITY

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Fig 6: Shows the percentage of respondent who believe that the breakdown of family life

(dysfunctional families) is responsible for the number of deviants present in today’s school

society.

YES NO

Column1 0.870000000000001 0.13

5%

15%

25%

35%

45%

55%

65%

75%

85%

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Fig. 7: Displays a table, showing the penalties for the defacement of school property and other acts of deviance.

SCHOOL PENALTIES SUGGESTED PENALTIES BY RESPONDENTS.

Detention Repair of pay for what was damaged or stolen

Suspension Community service

Expulsion Educate others who have not yet committed acts of deviance, of the consequences of deviant behavior.

Corporal Punishment Loss of the privilege of extracurricular activities and opportunity to attend field trips.

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ANALYSIS OF DATA

From the data collected during my research both primary and secondary information were

referenced, in an attempt to achieve the desired outcome of this study which aim it is to

determine “the extent to which labels or stigmas negatively impacts on juvenile behavior in

Secondary Schools in Sangre Grande” key questions were extracted from the data collection

instrument and was analyzed using line graphs, pie charts, tables, bar charts and other visual

presentation instruments. This provided the necessary statistics and facts to assist me with the

accomplishment of my objectives which were all efficiently met. Fig 1’s presentation looked at

the percentage of males to females who committed deviant acts in the five sample schools. The

percentage total of all schools showed that 67% of boys are responsible for deviant’s acts while

33% of girls committed deviant acts; coming out of this analysis it can be said that the male

gender is more susceptible to deviant behavior.

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FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS AND…

1. Objective 1: To determine what motives persons have for committing acts of deviance in

schools (juveniles).It was discovered that, persons are motivated to commit acts of

deviance in school, mainly as a result of peer pressure, status frustration and simply to

defile and show disrespect and disregard for the school environment, because

2. Objective 2: To observe if deviant acts are committed only by persons of a particular,

gender, age category, ethnic group, and religion or social class. It is evidenced that vast

majority of persons who have committed acts of deviance were males with the age group

of 18-20 years, but were of various ethnic groups, religions and social classes. The

number/percentage of males who responded to the questionnaire was an alarming 67%.

The reason for that being that they claimed to be under peer pressure, and come from

broken homes.

3. Objective 3: The extent to which the family unit is responsible for producing deviants as they are the primary unit of socialization. [Dysfunctional families] 87% of respondents agree with the fact that when children are poorly socialized and live in an environment not conducive to productive learning where fine examples are set, they tend to take all their suppressed attitudes and feelings of negativity into the school environment plaguing others with their disease.

4. Objective 4: To establish, if certain deviant acts are sanctioned as opposed to others.In this study it was uncovered that, certain acts of deviance are sanctioned as opposed to others and that clearly supported Howard Becker’s view that “deviance is in the eye of the beholder.”

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Research have shown that deviant behaviour have long been a problem plaguing the school

populations; what is interesting is that the acts can be seen as a means of expressing one’s

frustration about societal norms which tend to put too much pressure on adolescents. Responders

were not afraid to voice their dissatisfaction with the penal system which they view as a cover

for the real issues plaguing society.

CONCLUSION

Pen ultimately, it can be said that deviant behaviour is heavily influenced by labeling, individuals

tends to live up to the labels that are given to them, and this leads persons to self fulfillment of

their label and they turn to a life of deviance which further leads to a life f crime. Hence, the

Howard Becker’s labeling theory strongly supports the statement. All of the aims and objectives

of this study was achieved and gave the researcher great insight into the topic of research.

364 words

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sociology Themes and Perspectives; Michael Haralambos, Martin Holborn and Robin

Heald; 2004.

Caribbean Sociology Introductory Readings; Christine Barrow and Rhonda Reddock;

2001.

Sociology for Caribbean Students; Nasser Mustapha; 2010

Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance; Howard S. Becker; March 1st 1997

Crime and deviance with theory and method: As/A-level Sociology; Steve Chapman;

April 15th, 2010.

CAPE Sociology.org

JSTOR Journals.com

Siegel, Larry J. Delinquency. Belmont: Wadsworth Group, 2002.

Adams, Mike S. ET. Al.” Labeling and Delinquency.” Adolescence. Academic Search

Premier. Vol. 38 p171. San Diego, 2003.

89 words

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TALLY CHART

Table illustrating the tabulated results of the

Questionnaire, the total amount of questionnaires

that was distributed was that of 40.

Questi

on

YE

SNO

MAL

E

FEMAL

EA B C D

OTHER

1 - - 27 13 - - - - -

2 - - - - 8 9 8 7 8

3 - -- -

- - - -The names of five

different schools were

given.

4 - - - - 0 0 4 36 -

5 - - - - - - 4 36 -

6 - - - - 8 2 9 11 10

7 - - - - 0 14 21 5 -

8 - - - - - - - - A variety of responses

9 40 - - - - - - - -

10 40 - - - - - - - -

11 - -- -

-100% walked

away/turned a blind

eye

12 - - - - 14 12 9 5 -

13 33 7 - - - - - - -

14 21 19 - - - - - - -

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15 30 10 - - - - - - -

16 - - - - 0 40 0 - -

17 - -

- -

- - - -

The majority stated

between 42- 72%

others responded

otherwise

18 11 29 - - - - - - -

19 - - - - - - - -See Fig.7 or this

information

20 27 13 - - - - - - -

21 30 10 - - - - - - -

22 1 39 - - - - - - -

23 3 37 - - - - - - -

24 38 2 - - - - - - -

25 4 36 - - - - - - -

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