Edwin M. Lemert

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Edwin M. Lemert (born 1912 in Cincinnati , Ohio ; † November 10, 1996 in Reno, Nevada ) was an American sociologist and criminologist . Lemert became internationally known for his concept of secondary deviance , which he opposed to the radical version of the labeling approach. Most recently he taught as a professor at the University of California at Davis .

In contrast to the radical labeling approach (especially advocated by Fritz Sack ) , which regards every deviance as the result of ascription, Lemert believes that primary deviance is based on several causes. It arises from a multitude of social, cultural, psychological and physiological factors. The secondary deviance , on the other hand, has its cause in the ascriptions to which people are exposed who already show deviant behavior ( crime , prostitution , alcoholism , drug addiction , psychiatric illnesses). Such symptom carriers would be stabilized in their deviations from the norm by subsequent stigmatization .

Fonts (selection)

  • Social pathology; a systematic approach to the theory of sociopathic behavior. McGraw-Hill, New York 1951.
  • Social action & legal change. Revolution within the juvenile court. Aldine Pub. Co, Chicago 1970.
  • Human deviance, social problems, and social control. 2nd edition, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs 1972, ISBN 0134448855 , from it:
    • The concept of secondary deviance . In: Klaus Lüderssen and Fritz Sack (eds.): Seminar: Deviant behavior I. The selective norms of society . 2nd edition, Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1982, ISBN 3-518-27684-0 , pp. 433-476.
  • The trouble with evil. Social control at the edge of morality. State University of New York Press, Albany 1997, ISBN 0791432432 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary of the University of California (Calisphere) , accessed July 10, 2016.