Blackwell Reference Online

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Edwin M. Lemert was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He received his BA in sociology from Miami University (1934) and his doctorate from Ohio State University (1939), specializing in sociology and anthropology. He taught briefly at Kent State and Western Michigan Universities. In 1943 he moved to the University of California at Los Angeles, and in 1953 to the University of California at Davis, from which, in 1980, he retired as Professor Emeritus. After formal retirement Lemert worked almost daily in his university office, writing scholarly material until his death in 1996. Lemert is widely recognized for his pioneering work on labeling theory in the study of deviant behavior, which he called societal reaction theory. He preferred this title because the social or community reaction to deviance in its midst formed a central feature of his perspective. His classic statement of this approach appeared in Social Pathology: A Systematic Approach to the Theory of Sociopathic Behavior (1951). His other prominent books were Social Action and Legal Change (1970); Instead of Court: Diversion in Juvenile Justice (1971); and Human Deviance, Social Problems, and Social Control (1972). The latter comprised a collection of his most significant papers to that time. It showcased his extraordinary breadth of interests, running from alcoholism through mental disorder to folklore, speech defects, and ... log in or subscribe to read full text