Formulating a judgment of deviance: From labeling theory to cognitive sociology

The originality of Aaron Cicourel’s book The Social Organization of Juvenile Justice (1968) lies in the way that it relates the a priori forms of identification and typification that organize the interactions between those involved in the treatment of a minor’s offence (police officers, judges, social workers, specialized educators, young offenders, lawyers, parents, etc.) to the “ordinary theories” according to which these multiple partners produce a “judgment of deviance”. It shows how the analysis of the “epistemic operations” implemented in the course of this production opens a new perspective on interactionism.