Children's Perceptions of Deviance: Labeling Theory and Alcohol Abuse

Abstract

Thomas Scheff theorized that “stereotyped images of mental disorder are learned in early childhood.” A derivation of this proposition was tested in a study of seventy-five (75) elementary school children. Interviews indicate that children were familiar with some concepts associated with alcohol abuse, i.e., alcoholic, drunk, and problem drinker, but that few children knew the terms boozer, intoxicated person, and wino. The children tended to see the concepts they were familiar with in terms of physical problems and/or addiction. Contrary to Scheff's expectations, however, adults were most frequently cited as primary agents of socialization and other children were rarely cited as sources of information. The children viewed various forms of media as important as suggested by Scheff in providing images of deviance. The data suggest that elementary school-age children have clear conceptions of some labels associated with alcohol abuse and findings in this study support this aspect of the labeling perspective relative to pre-adolescent children.