Lincoln Burrows Prison Break: Labelling Theory

Introduction: Lincoln Burrows is a fictional character from the TV series “Prison Break” (Scheuring, 2005) who is portrayed as a death-row inmate who is wrongfully convicted of murdering the brother of the Vice President of the United States. Throughout the series, Lincoln exhibits several deviant behaviours that can be explained through various sociological theories of deviance. This paper will discuss which theory best fits Lincoln’s entrance into crime/deviance and the affect it has had on him in prison.

Research: Throughout the series, Lincoln portrays many deviant behaviours but the one that I believe explains his behaviours the most is labelling theory. Franklin Tannenbaum (1938) was one of the earliest contributors to labelling theory

Labelling theory argues that society’s reaction to crime can develop a criminal’s career (Bernburg et al, 2006, pg.68) and in Lincoln’s case this is very noticeable. Lincoln is labeled as this ruthless murderer who savagely assassinated the brother of the Vice President and becomes an enemy to the public. This is an example of primary deviance as it is an incidental deviant act. Lincoln maintains his innocence the entire time, pleading with his brother Michael to believe he did not murder anybody. Even his own family believed he had done it at one point in time and there is no feeling more hopeless than not even having family by your side. This label created a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy for Lincoln, in which he begins to act in ways that make him seem like the label he is given. He becomes more aggressive and prone to deviant behaviour because in his eyes he has

Strain theory was a theory that could show how Lincoln began his deviant path and it also is a good way of understanding his childhood. Strain theory talks about how lack of opportunities for success can turn into anger, frustration, and other deviant acts (Inderbitzen et al, 2021, pg. 567). Lincoln grew up in poverty and had very limited opportunities to succeed, making him turn to criminal activities to provide for himself. He would be on roads selling drugs and many days he would have to worry about his safety selling on rival drug dealers’ turf. People like Lincoln who go through circumstances like poverty are pushed towards criminal activity as a way to survive. He, like every other child, had hopes and dreams of becoming successful in life but the odds were stacked against him from the very beginning. This correlates with labelling theory as being poor you are already at a disadvantage in life. Job opportunities become way harder to find and it becomes hard to focus in school knowing that you do not go home every night to the same peace and comfort as your peers. Strain theory explains the behaviours of people like Lincoln, people who are pressured towards deviance and really are destined to fail in life. Only a select number of individuals make it against the odds, but with Lincoln, he never had any role models or a support system growing up. His mother