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35 Deviant Behav. 1 (2014)

handle is hein.journals/devbh35 and id is 1 raw text is: Deviant Behavior, 35: 1-19, 2014 *W Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC E Rouledge ISSN: 0163-9625 print/ 1521-0456 online mtTaylor & Francis Group DOI: 10.1080/01639625.2013.822208 Extending Interactional Theory: The Labeling Dimension Joongyeup Lee School of Public Affairs, Pennsylvania State University, Middletown, Pennsylvania, USA Scott Menard and Leana A. Bouffard College of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas, USA Interactional theory argues that theoretical variables and delinquency have reciprocal causal relationships. While empirical support for the reciprocal relationships has been found, the impact of delinquency on later changes in the variables, including attenuated attachment to family, needs more elaboration. Labeling theory may offer a constructive extension to interactional theory, given their common emphases on theoretical integration, age-varying effects, and reciprocal relationships. The present study suggests an extended interactional model with the labeling dimension. Using structural equation modeling, both the original and extended models were tested with longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample. The present study tested statistical and substantive significance of the paths hypothesized by each model. Findings lend support for the extended inter- actional model; providing as much as a 48.2% increase in its explanatory power when compared to the original interactional model. The extended interactional model incorporating labeling theory may contribute to both interactional theory and labeling theory for juvenile delinquency. INTRODUCTION Interactional theory (Thomberry 1987) and labeling theory (Becker 1963; Lemert 1951; Ulmer 1994) share three important principles: theoretical integration or elaboration, reciprocal relation- ship, and age-varying effects. Interactional theory posits that theoretical perspectives may usefully be combined to better explain and predict deviant behavior, including delinquency and crime. The orientation toward combining theories is deeply entrenched in symbolic interac- tionism, which is the basis of labeling theory (Ulmer 2012; Wellford and Triplett 1993). As described in particular by Lemert (1951), labeling theory does not purport to explain the onset of deviant behavior, but instead focuses on how reactions to deviance may amplify subsequent deviance. The explanation of primary as opposed to secondary deviance is left to other theories. Along with the elaboration on the inherent integrative orientation in symbolic interactionism, Ulmer (2012) enumerated theoretical refinements in criminology that centered around symbolic Received 9 October 2012; accepted 5 April 2013. Address correspondence to Joongyeup Lee, School of Public Affairs, Pennsylvania State University, 777 West Harrisburg Pike, Middletown, PA 17057, USA. E-mail: joongyeup@psu.edu

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