Researchers have wondered how and why some people have been defined as criminals or deviants. Many theorists viewed criminals not as evil people engaged in wrong acts, but as individuals who had been assigned criminal status by both the criminal justice system and the community at large. From this point of view, criminal actions in themselves are not significant; it is the social reaction to them that is (Bernard, Snipes, & Gerould, 2010). This view is called Symbolic Interactionism. Developed by George Herbert Mead, Charles Cooley, and Herbert Blumer in the early 20th century, they asserted that deviance creates a process of social definition involving the response of others to an individual's behavior; which is key to how an individual sees themselves. “Vold's Theoretical Criminology” describes the process of segregation that creates “outsiders,” who are marginalized by society, and then begin to associate with other individuals who have also been marginalized. As more and more people begin to think of these individuals as deviants, they respond to them as such; then the deviant reacts to that response by continuing to engage in the behavior that society now expects of him (Bernard, Snipes, & Gerould, 2010). This theory is the process of interaction through the arrangement of meanings for individuals (Wheldon, 2007). . Interactionism is an incredibly important concept in helping to describe the complexities of criminal behavior. This theory not only determines our interactions with each other, but also applies a shared understanding among humans about what behaviors are considered deviant. This theory has three main principles: meaning, language and thought (Wheldon, 2007). Each principle explains the meaning of creation… halfway through the paper… or the individual can begin to shed the current sex offender label and establish a socially approved label. Conclusion Symbolic interaction theory is a theory that can better explain why crime occurs. When someone deviates from the path that society has inherently paved, they are placed in a caste outside of the majority and are therefore labeled a criminal. It is through this push out of the group that a person is subjected to accepting his or her label as a criminal or must struggle to rejoin the group through politically charged means such as rehabilitation programs. Unfortunately, if the person does not successfully complete treatment, they will remain outside the group and will be forced to live up to their criminal label. This theory summarizes how society itself creates criminals, thus making it one of the most significant theories to explain crime in America.