Three months ago, Howard S. Becker died at the age of 95, some of the Criminology Team reflect below on his impact.

I re-read Becker’s Outsider’s during the covid-19 pandemic. It reminded me of how Becker’s critical take on criminology helped me to understand and articulate the world in which I grew up in. Yes, street crime happens, and yes it causes victims to suffer but street crime seemed to be a survival response from the powerless aka ‘the deviants’ who were oppressed by the disciplining State and its police force. Becker’s work must have been groundbreaking at the time that it was published, and it continues to resonate within more contemporary critical theories surrounding intersectional oppressions that I am most interested in today…what a game changer!   

@haleysread

I first encountered Becker’s (1963) Outsiders as an undergraduate, since then I have revisited many times. The book and the ideas within are so well-written, so accessible, allowing the reader to see criminality and criminal justice from an entirely different perspective. Although profound, it is not this Becker text which is closest to my heart, for that we go to 1967 and the publication of his article ‘Whose Side Are We On?‘ It is this succinct piece of writing that allowed me to understand that criminologists can never be neutral, they have to take a side. Furthermore, they must always be on the side of the powerless and never the powerful. The Criminal Justice System [CJS] and all of the agents within it, are working within and for the State and thus have plenty of supporters. Individuals in their engagement with the CJS, do not have the same support or protection, they are always outnumbered and out resourced. If we truly want to gain a holistic understanding of deviance and criminality, Becker (1967) is very helpful.

Alongside, his writing around crime and deviance, Becker also identifies the importance of language and writing style, to research practice. In Writing for Social Scientists (1986) and Tricks of the Trade (1998) and Telling About Society (2007) offers clear, practical guidance and comfort for uncertain scholars (whatever level of study).

Finally, we need to mention Becker’s music, his beloved jazz which provides the soundtrack to a scholarly life well lived, which means you can study his life’s work (both written and aural) simultaneously. A unique man, whose impact will be felt by criminologist and other social scientists for a very long time.

@paulaabowles

In 2006, during my undergraduate studies in sociology, I was introduced to Howard Becker’s labelling theory. While it marked a significant departure from the traditional explanation of deviance, it sparked lively debates among my peers. I distinctly recall vehemently opposing the theory’s practical application in Nigeria, my home country. Some of my peers argued passionately, citing numerous examples of deviance, including instances of crimes of the powerful. They contended that corruption and the misappropriation of public funds in Nigeria were products of eroding social values, driven by immense societal pressure on political officeholders to maintain an image of ‘big men.’ No doubt, Becker had a point on this and despite my initial reservations about labelling theory, Becker’s scholarly contributions have undeniably been influential in shaping both my sociological imagination and my criminological lenses. So long to a respected scholar!

@sallekmusa

It is impossible to list eminent criminologists without at least giving a nod to Howard Becker, although I would suggest a nod is far from sufficient. Becker it seems to me had the ability to write meaningful texts that could be understood by all. Of course his narrative in Outsiders is a product of its time but much of it is still applicable today. I first read Outsiders as part of my undergraduate degree and much of resonated and yet as with all great work, it doesn’t explain everything. What it does though is provide a very different perspective on deviance and society as a whole. In his later work Becker discussed labelling stating it wasn’t a theory. Well worth returning to the book then just to understand that statement alone.

@5teveh

This August 16, 2023, Howard Becker died. He was a 95 years old social scientist/sociologist (depending on who you will ask) with a long and significant legacy on his tome of work. My colleagues above predictably chose Outsiders as representative sample of his work. Not surprising really considering this was one of his seminal pieces of work that articulated the basis of theories that sociologists, criminologists and other social scientists based their own theories and understanding on social reality. His work on labelling theory became a significant influence on criminologists who tried to understand the relationship between postmodernity and deviance. It comes as no surprise that his influence to those who followed him in academia was so important.

What I thought most fitting was to concentrate on one of his latest papers written a few years ago when he was 91. In the midst of the pandemic with the lockdown and the great uncertainty it ensued Howard retreats to what he knows best; to be a social scientist and contextualise his observations the best way he knows. The paper in a praise of neighbourhood spirit and collective consciousness under the guise of urban sociology. Howard Becker is very reflective of his location, the history of the place and its social development and it is a testament of the importance of interactionism and positionality.

Using personal experience his paper “In San Francisco, when my neighborhood experiences pandemics” Becker retains his criticality as a social scientist, using observations and personal narratives to humanise an inhuman and repressive situation. People around him become actors in the crisis especially to those who as more in need and his impressions give us a snapshot of the time. In his own words “Those of us who do social science to be ready to observe life around us” a legacy to all of us that social situations continuously challenge us to explore things differently. That is because “social life does the experiment for us”. One of his last lessons on “life goes on” is so important to the sociology of everyday life.

This paper may not have the significance of some of his earlier work but it is a testament of what a restless mind can produce. He was able to record a situation that in years, decades to come, people will write about it and its impact. Yet, despite his age, his writing remained fresh, current and relevant. In academic terms he was the eternal teenager. Solon of Athens once said “Γηράσκω αεί διδασκόμενος” “I grow old while always learning” projecting that the pursue of knowledge is continuous and lifelong. In Howard Becker this seemed to have been the case. Thank you for your company all those years in the libraries, the seminars, the essays that we read you, thought of your ideas and talk about them. Goodbye to the social scientist, the thinker, the philosopher, the person.

@manosdaskalou