In the 1950s and specifically early 1960s, the critical thought of Social reaction criminology school joint to the particular concentration of Symbolic interaction approach on the role of judgments of others in shaping and changing the person's identity and acts, and so formed a distinctive theory called Interactionism or Labeling theory. On the other hand, the susceptible circumstances, paved the way for appearance of this thesis in Northern America.
This theory contested the traditional criminology, defined the deviance and deviant subjectively not objectively and argued that the formal and informal social reactions, by means of labeling, degrading and ostracizing a person, create secondary deviance, criminal identity and criminal career. Because of this opinion, it recommended the restriction of scope of intervention of criminal justice system and so opened a new view and vision in criminology and criminal policy.
Nevertheless, some scholars criticize this theory and its key concepts (deviance, labeling, deviant status) in crime etiology. These criticisms, reveal the necessity of amendment and modification of this theory and also capability of leading it to a more moderate strand and proper profiting from it in a fair, human and efficient criminal policy in order to achieve the optimal management of crime.
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