Edwin M. Lemert

Edwin M. Lemert was an American sociologist best known for his foundational contributions to the sociology of deviance and the development of labeling theory. Trained in sociology and anthropology, Lemert taught at institutions such as the University of California, focusing on social problems, deviant behavior, and the role of societal reaction in shaping identity.

Lemert is widely regarded as one of the founding figures of labeling theory, especially through his distinction between primary and secondary deviance. In his influential works, particularly Social Pathology (1951) and Human Deviance, Social Problems and Social Control (1967), he argued that deviance is not just a quality of the act, but a result of social reaction and interpretation. Secondary deviance emerges when an individual internalizes a deviant label, leading to a change in identity and further deviant behavior. Lemert’s work built on Frank Tannenbaum’s notion of the dramatization of evil and laid the conceptual groundwork for later scholars such as Howard Becker and Erving Goffman.