Bio: (1912-1996) American sociologist. Lemert received his doctorate from the University of Ohio, and taught at the University of California, in Los Angeles and Davis. Lemert is best known for his study of deviant behavior from the standpoint of symbolic interactionism. He singles out three key processes relevant to deviant behavior. The first is “differentiation”, the removal of an individual's behavior from the norm of the environment in which he finds himself. The second process is the “social reaction” to such behavior of the individual. The social reaction includes expressing emotional reactions to deviant behavior, but also specific activities of others caused by the deviant behavior of the individual. The third process is “individuation”, the manifestation of the cause of deviance. Individuation consists of primary deviance, which is originally deviant behavior normalized by individuals; and secondary deviance, which is a response to environmental reactions to primary deviant behavior.

Lemert's “labeling theory”, which he calls the theory of social reaction, derives from the theory of deviant behavior. Central to his labeling theory is that society's reaction to a person's primary deviance most often leads to the intensification and consolidation of that person's deviant behavior. Lemert studied many forms of deviant behavior: alcoholism, speech impediments, mental illness, and financial fraud.

Main works

Social Pathology: A Systematic Approach to the Theory of Sociopathic Behavior (1951);

Human Deviance, Social Problems, and Social Control (1967);

Social Action and Legal Change (1970);

Instead of Court: Diversion in Juvenile Justice (1971).