We Are Who They Say We Are
The consequence of labeling…
Many people have been thought of having autism, but do not carry the label. Albert Einstein and Bill Gates are just two famous people who have been suspected. There are many reasons why someone would chose to not carry the label of autism. Overall as described through the labeling theory, many people stray away from labels because of the negative connotations that surround them. As an article by Chris Kliewer and Doublas Biklen was titled, who wants to be called retarded? (http://www.kidstogether.org/labeling.htm)
Howard Becker’s labeling theory views deviance as the creation of social groups and not the quality of some act or behavior. Becker states that studying the act of the individual is unimportant because deviance is simply rule breaking behavior that is labeled deviant by persons in positions of power. Rules are a reflection of certain social norms held by the majority of a society, whether formal or informal.
A popular application of Becker’s labeling theory (1963) is in the area of mental health. Thomas Scheff embraces Becker’s approach to labeling and describes how people are labeled mentally ill in order to explain certain rule-breaking behavior that society can’t categorize (Holstein 1993; www.sscf.ucsb.edu ). People labeled as mentally ill adopt the behaviors of the stereotypical mental patient as portrayed through the mass media (Wright 1984). Scheff argues that those who express the stereotypical behavior of the mentally ill are rewarded by enterprising psychology professionals (Wright 1984; Pfohl 1994). According to Scheff, everybody expresses the popular symptoms of mental illness at some point in their life and labels are attached to those without power (Wright 1984). Taken from:
(http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/crimtheory/becker.htm)
It has been stated that labeling enforces stereotypical behaviors that surround the label. In most cases, these stereotypes are not positive and demonstrate a deviance from the norm. Deviance from social norms are not looked fondly upon from the majority in society. As a result, people who are different end up being labeled and cast aside. This can lead to harmful outcomes for the person being labeled. Many autistic individuals do not like the negative reactions that the label of autism brings. It is important as a society to understand that what we call people has a great effect on who they are going to be.
Yet, even after seeing the negative consequences that labels can bring, many autistics accept the label and consider autism an innate part of them. It is important to see the label of autism in a positive light regardless of a persons’ choice to consider themselves autistic or not. If we erase the undesirable connotations that surround autism, perhaps labeling will no longer have an effect.
