Tannenbaum, Frank: The Dramatization of Evil

When Frank Tannenbaum's book Crime and Community was published in 1938, it helped to lay the foundation for the labeling perspective through the introduction of the concept of the “dramatization of evil.” At the time of his writing, Tannenbaum's perspective was unique because it acknowledged the important influence that groups have on criminal activity. By contrast, the prominent criminological theories of the period focused almost exclusively on the individual characteristics that influenced participation in crime. Instead of attributing criminal involvement to individual traits, Tannenbaum viewed crime as the product of a labeling process where interactions between groups and society play a crucial role in the defining of behaviors as criminal and the subsequent application of a label on an individual. For Tannenbaum, understanding the dynamics of group behavior and the need of society to define people as good or evil are central to understanding how criminals are created.

According to Tannenbaum, the labeling process begins when a conflict occurs between a group and the community that results in a maladjusted act being defined as evil or criminal. To illustrate this stage of the process, he provides an example of a group of young males playing ball too loudly outside of a movie theater. In turn, the patrons and owner become irritated by the noise and call the police to stop the group and arrest the youths. For Tannenbaum, the involvement of the criminal justice system and the creation of a criminal record for the young males would never have been necessary if their interests were considered in the same degree as the interests of the owner and movie patrons. He contends that by defining the playing of ball as evil, a process has begun that is difficult to reverse and can unintentionally increase the likelihood that the youths will partake in criminal behavior in the future.

Tannenbaum asserts that central to the conflict that exists between the group and the greater community is that each of the parties perceives the behavior differently. For the young males, certain acts such as climbing trees and throwing rocks are viewed as simply a way of having fun, while the community views it in a different manner and considers it troublesome behavior that requires the intervention of the criminal justice system. According to Tannenbaum, this conflict of values results in the second major stage of the labeling process that occurs when there is a shift in the definition of an act as evil to the definition of the individual who is committing the act. He contends that this shift in perception has a significant impact on both the community and the individual. From the community's point of view, the youth is now viewed as a troublemaker and a person who is inherently bad. However, as Tannenbaum asserts, a similar transformation has also taken place in the individual that results in the youth identifying himself as a delinquent as well. Once the label is applied and has taken hold, all parties unconsciously work to preserve it.

According to Tannenbaum, the third stage in the labeling process occurs when the individual has fully internalized the label and has identified himself or herself as a delinquent. He asserts that a consequence of the label is that the youth begins to feel isolated from society which leads him or her to further adopt the values of the gang and continue committing maladjusted acts. Tannenbaum contends that the greatest consequence of the labeling process is that only a handful of the youths are arrested for committing a particular act while it is likely that all of the members of the gang are guilty of the behavior. For Tannenbaum, the separation of a young male from his group is problematic because it results in the youth being treated differently from his peers and causes him to be thrown into an environment where he is regarded as a criminal and unlike the rest of the community. He asserts that this process further aids the individual's self-identification with the delinquent label.

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