"Assess the view that deviance is merely a label applied by society to the acts of others".

... "Assess the view that deviance is merely a label applied by society to the acts of others" Interactionists consider that when examining deviance it is just as important to look at those who define the act as deviant as it is to look at the act itself. They would argue that it is the reaction of society that determines how deviant an act is, if at all. Becker's labelling theory suggests that deviance is actually created by the social groups which create and promote norms and values which are deviated from, rather than the act itself. He says that by applying these rules to outsiders and labelling them as deviant, deviance is created - therefore deviance is not created by the individual who carries out the act, it is created by the labels which are attached by others to that act. An example used to demonstrate this theory could be nudity -

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