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Sociology / Unit 8   Soc 1380 short lesson, about 20 seconds

Symbolic Interactionism: Labeling and the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Captions available

The idea

Soc 0665's labeling theory applies here: a label like "low achiever" can become a self-fulfilling prophecy a student lives up to.

In practice

A researcher posing as a student was told by an unwitting teacher he would never amount to anything, a label a student cannot shrug off.

Where people slip

This entry applies Soc 0665's mechanism to schooling; it does not reintroduce what a label is.

Your place on the trail

Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.

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