Question

A convicted sexual offender is released on parole and arrested two weeks later for repeated sexual crimes. How would labeling theory explain this?

A. The offender has been labeled deviant by society and has accepted a new master status.
B. The offender has returned to his old neighborhood and so reestablished his former habits.
C. The offender has lost the social bonds he made in prison and feels disconnected from society.
D. The offender is poor and responding to the different cultural values that exist in his community.

Answer 1

A. The offender has been labeled deviant by society and has accepted a new master status

Step-by-step explanation:

According to labeling theory, An individuals who receive a 'label' given by society tend to actually believe that the label is true. Those individual become more likely to fulfill that role in the label , even if the label does not necessarily represent them in the beginning.

When observing the behavior of repeat offenders, labeling theorists tend to believe that those offenders already internalized their 'master status' and accept the fact that they are pariah that cannot be changed. This make them actually become less guilty and tend to repeat the same offends over and over again.