A Commentary on Fighting Back

Li Wei

Fighting Back： Nine Modes of Adaption to a Deviance Label， written by Joseph W. Rogers and M.D. Buffalo， is a prominent article grounded in optimizing the traditional labeling theory， one of the iconic theories of sociology.

This paper， aiming at evaluating the significance of Fighting Back， will adopt a two-step approach to the analysis： The first concentrates on the ways in which Fighting Back replenishes the labeling theory. The second step， by applying specific social examples to three selected modes out of nine， will deduce how Fighting Back can enable the understanding of social issues.

Section 1： Optimize the traditional labeling theory

Being the symbolic theory of sociology， traditional labeling theory has achieved many reactions; however， it still has its shortcomings. Thus， the article Fighting Back develops and optimizes it from three aspects.

First， the article presents a model of response where the labelees are considered as active actors instead of passive ones. While the unilateral labeling theory views labelees as passive， once being labeled as deviants they gradually change their social arrangements and finally become self-fulfilling to the identities given， the article introduces nine modes of fighting back. Acquiescence， Repudiation， Flight， Channeling， Evasion， Modification， Reinterpretation， Redefinition and Alteration， these mentioned nine modes manifest that labelees， in light of their self-notions or economic status， will make different reactions to the attached labels among the societal framework.

Second， while the traditional labeling theory analyzes the labeling from the aspect of individuals， the article highlights that the analytical unit need to be both individuals and collective units. According to the article， as established from the symbolic interactionism that emphasizes social problem as a collective action， the labeling theorys study object cannot be only individuals but also the surrounding community relating to.

Third， while the traditional labeling theory argues that labeling has negative influences on the society， the article replenishes that the labeling has but also the positive sides. According to the article， “l(fā)abeling itself is not evil”， specifically， labels can be helpful among the society， namely， “designating the differences among human mass” and “categorizing each other in the changing society characterized by mobile population”.

Section 2： Apply social problem issues to illustrate the modes

This section will evaluate three modes “Acquiescence”， “Modification” and “Redefinition” as well as their performances in enabling the understandings of social issues.

First， concerning “Acquiescence”， it means that “The person who acknowledge the face validity of his deviant label”. Simply， in the mode of Acquiescence， when the people labeled as deviant， they assent the labels， establish self-identities on the basis of such labels and finally the society magnify their attached labels.

Floating population or floating people can be illustrated as an example of this mode. “Floating population is a terminology used to describe a group of people who reside in a given population for a certain amount of time and for various reasons， business， social service， and other kinds of activities， but are not generally considered part of the official census count”. Indeed， judging from their low educational degrees， dysfunctional family backgrounds and the weak awareness of law， the society can conclude that floating people are more easily to commit crimes than city dwellings. Thus， with the increasingly discoveries of crimes， floating population is always labeled as “High Crime Groups”. On the one hand， when analyzing from the level of tactical relationship， we can find out that after being labeled， the floating population becomes “self-degradation”， here means they assent the labels and think themselves as a group of people with inferior qualities. Moreover， in order to comply with the attached labels， they are more easily to commit crimes， like theft， robbery and other illegal actions. On the other hand， viewing from the perspective of societal relationship， we can see that the label， “High Crime Groups”， attached to the floating population can be magnified among the social interaction frame， which leads to the consequence that the city people squeezing out the floating population. In turn， such discrimination and prejudice actually aggravate the negative emotion and acts of revenge of the floating people; finally， the label can be magnified and makes growing number of city people accept the negative labels of the floating population.

Second， the mode “Modification” which means “The adaption accomplished through a manipulation of name， adjective， image， or form.” can be exemplified by “attempts to exchange for a better name.” Examples include that the city dustmen are unwilling to be called “scrub men” or “cleaners”， but prefer to be called “urban environmental beautician”， people move to America are glad to be called “American Dream pursuers” rather than “immigrants”， which involves the negative inclinations of occupying the receiving countrys resource and opportunities. In addition， in current Mainland China， with the increasing number of law enforcement hurt， the urban management teams， the “public servants”， are now labeled as “l(fā)aw enforcement of violence”. Among the tactical relationship， considering the negativity of such label as well as the images of public officials and government， the urban management teams have an attempt to substitute or switch such label， actually， they prefer to be labeled as “tough or uncompromising law enforcement”.

Third， the recreational drug use can exemplify the mode “Redefinition”. In the aspect of tactical relationship， the labelees reject the labels attached and from the societal relationship， “the characteristic or behavior remains the same， but society has altered its view and redefined the deviant behavior in positive terms of approval”. As the societys attitude towards drug is “enforcing prohibition to all kinds of illegal drugs”， the youth who take drug will be viewed and labeled as “drug abuser”. The youth， however， choose to reject such label and from their point of view， with the increasingly emphasis on “l(fā)iving a life of ones own”， they take themselves as “occasional player” or “sensible drug user”. That means， in the tactical relationship， the labelees reject such label. Afterwards， when assessing from the perspective of societal relationship， we can figure out societys tolerance about illegal drugs from the theory “Normalization of Adolescent Recreational Drug Use”. “Contrary to the traditional image of drug use as a subterranean activity， recreational drug use is perceived as normal， rather than deviant， among young people”. That is to say， from the dimension of societal relationship， the society obliterates the labels attached finally.

Bibliography

[1] Joseph W. Rogers and M.D. Buffalo 1974 Fighting Back： Nine modes of adaptation to a deviant label. Social Problems 22：101-118

[2] http：//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labeling_theory

[3] http：//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floating_population

[4] http：//www.nd.gov.hk/en/conference_proceedings/Drugs_proBK_Part2/Drugs_proBK_NicoleC.pdf

作者簡介：酈威（Li Wei），無錫市大橋?qū)嶒?yàn)學(xué)校國際部學(xué)生

（Senior student from International School of Big Bridge Academy）