The Movie "The Outsiders"

The movie "The Outsiders" is based around a group of boys from "the wrong side of town". This side of town is considered the poor side of town and the characters can fall under many labeling theories. The first theory, Tannenbaum's Dramatization of Evil, deals with how the community shifts their focus of evil acts (their definition of) to defining the individual. In the movie, Pony, Two-bit, Johnny and others are a part of a gang called the greasers. The community around them defines them as different by being a part of a gang along with presenting themselves in a rugged manner by wearing black and slicking their hair back. Another way to look at it is the Socs could be a representation of society. They are a group from the rich side of town who give the Greasers trouble throughout the movie. They can be a symbol of society's outlook and treatment towards the poor.

Little Johnny C

Go, Johnny Go!

The Outsiders (novel)

The next theory, Lemert's Primary and Secondary Deviance has two parts. Johnny Cade can be a product of primary deviance because it was his cultural and psychological factors that turned him into a "bad seed". Johnny's homelife consisted of an abusive father and a mother who did not even acknowledge him. As a result, he displaces his anger later with rival gang members "The Socs". Dally can fall under secondary deviance as a result of his run-ins with the law as a youth. Society's response to his initial deviance could have been the reason that he performed the subsequent deviant acts.

Matsueda and Heimer's Differential Social encounter's the concept of role-taking. This relates to how most of our everyday activities are routine and our behaviors as human beings are a stream of habitual responses to those situations. When a situation becomes problematic, like in...