The Role of Labelling Theory in Bunking Classes and Criminal Behavior among School Students: A Socio-Psychological Study of Sargodha

Abstract

Adolescence is a critical developmental phase when the social interactions, identity, and behavioral patterns are merged to impact the future behavior. This empirical study discusses how labeling theory may be used to explain the nature of absenteeism and development of criminal dispositions among secondary school students in Sargodha Pakistan. The study, based on the theoretical frameworks hypothesized by Howard Becker (1963) and Edwin Lemert (1951) explores how teacher, peer, and parental labeling influence students psychologically, their academic and social behaviors. Based on a quantitative, descriptive-correlational design, the data were collected using a structured questionnaire on 200 male students who are in grades 8 to 10 and who study in public school. The results reveal that there is a strong association between negative labeling and a high likelihood of truancy, emotional distress, and deviant behavior. These findings should be taken to mean that stigmatizing language and social classification in the learning setting have a significant role to play in alienation, lack of self-esteem, and withdrawal in education. The study highlights the need to employ positive teacher student dialogue, counseling programs, and institutional consciousness in stripping the negative effects of labeling in the educational environment.