Breaking Bad, Scarface, And Grand Theft Auto

Differential association and labeling are a part of the interactionist theory of deviance, which is prevalent throughout the world, but especially so in the United States, in part, because American society is so heavily saturated with and influenced by over exposure; the incessant barrage of positive and negative images alike come in all shapes and sizes such as the mass media, neighborhoods, and schools. First of all, the mass media is an obvious target for differential association since there is practically no end to the variety of shows, movies, and games that support deviant behavior. Breaking Bad, Scarface, and Grand Theft Auto are each immensely popular in their own right, spawning a cult following of sorts, but perhaps more importantly, each one of these examples provide a constant message that crime is ok so long as it is for the greater good. Secondly, a person’s neighborhood has a significant impact on both their outlook of others and what behavior is acceptable. For example, if a Caucasian person lives in the country for the majority of his or her life with little to no exposure to African American’s, that person’s opinion of African American’s will be largely influenced by his or her immediate peers (who are also Caucasian).
For many children, much of their social development takes place in the classroom amongst other students their age; some general categories are the popular kid, the smart kid, and the class clown. Unfortunately, children will often mimic the popular kid or class clown to gain attention in an effort to “fit in,” even if that means behaving differently from how they were raised. Furthermore, that same child may bully another child, perhaps the smart kid, because they are different from their perceptions of acceptability. Interestingly, the behavior amongst adults is not all that different from children, albeit it slightly more