LABELLING AND SELF ESTEEM

Let us be careful about using labels which can affect the self esteem of students.

No matter what situation you find yourself in...be brave and undo the wrong that has been done to students who are given labels like “students with learning problems”, “mat rempit” (bike racers) and “students with problems”and “slow” .

Originating in sociology and criminology, labeling theory (also known as social reaction theory) was developed by sociologist Howard Becker.

It focuses on the linguistic tendency of majorities to negatively label minorities or those seen as deviant from norms.

The theory is concerned with how the self-identity and behavior of individuals may be determined or influenced by the terms used to describe or classify them, and is associated with the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy and stereotyping.

The theory was prominent in the 1960s and 1970s, and some modified versions of the theory have developed.

Unwanted descriptors or categorizations (including terms related to deviance, disability or a diagnosis of mental illness) may be rejected on the basis that they are merely "labels", often with attempts to adopt a more constructive language in its place.

If deviance is a failure to conform to the rules observed by most of the group, the reaction of the group is to label the person as having offend against their social or moral norms of behavior.

This is the power of the group: to designate breaches of their rules as deviant and to treat the person differently depending on the seriousness of the breach.

The more differential the treatment, the more the individual's self-image is affected.