SELF-LABELLING: A MISSING LINK IN THE 'SOCIETAL REACTION ' THEORY OF DEVIANCE.

The theoretical approach to deviance which came to be known as the "labelling theory," the "societal reaction perspective," or simply the new perspective, has become one of the more popular and influential directions in recent years in the study and analysis of deviant conduct. In spite of critical evaluations of the labelling approach calling for clarification of kind and degree of reaction needed for type of act and/or actor,4 social labelling and reactions have been taken as the mayor independent variables to explain how deviance is produced and maintained. In this article, the generality of the labelling paradigm will be examined by dealing with the question: what makes the label stick from the actor's perspective? The underlying implication of labelling analysis is that by the magic process of negative labelling a person is transformed irreversibly into the deviant entity which the label connotes. The use of the reified medical metaphor to refer to mental disorder results in social rejection of persons labelled mentally ill.