The Saints and the Roughnecks
DMO- March 9, 2014
The Saints and the Roughnecks
In the article “Saints and the Roughnecks” by William J. Chambliss, he examines two groups of delinquent high school aged boys, and labeled the eight upper-class boys the “Saints”, and the six lower-class boys the “Roughnecks”. Although the groups had a fairly equal amount of lawlessness, the groups were treated unequally by the community because of the labeling theory. The inequality had an effect on both group’s high school and post high school way of life. The labeling theory is a symbolic-interaction approach that states regardless of an action a doer does, only the public’s perception has the ability to determine its severity. After the judgement as been made, society labels the doer with a role. For example, the Saints were able to talk their way out of trouble because of their status in society. The Saints were involved in school activities, such as sports and school programs, which is perceived to be supporting their community and being “good citizens.” The Saints were mostly respectful to their teachers and mostly received good grades, so they were perceived by their teachers as being “good students.” Due to the Saints efforts to be perceivably “leaders in the youth community,” local law enforcers rarely stopped the group. When the boys were stopped, the boys were well mannered, and craftily played their roles of the being good guys, and would be let off with a warning; however, these boys were not as good as they were perceived. Since the “good citizens” were from upper-class families they had vehicles, and were able to travel to other communities to be troublesome, rather than just their own. The “good students” would skip class by using extra curricular programs as excuses, and received good grades by cheating on exams. The “leaders in the youth community” would commonly drink and drive, play chicken with their cars, steal roadsigns and sign lanterns, ruin abandoned homes, and much more. The
The Saints and the Roughnecks
In the article “Saints and the Roughnecks” by William J. Chambliss, he examines two groups of delinquent high school aged boys, and labeled the eight upper-class boys the “Saints”, and the six lower-class boys the “Roughnecks”. Although the groups had a fairly equal amount of lawlessness, the groups were treated unequally by the community because of the labeling theory. The inequality had an effect on both group’s high school and post high school way of life. The labeling theory is a symbolic-interaction approach that states regardless of an action a doer does, only the public’s perception has the ability to determine its severity. After the judgement as been made, society labels the doer with a role. For example, the Saints were able to talk their way out of trouble because of their status in society. The Saints were involved in school activities, such as sports and school programs, which is perceived to be supporting their community and being “good citizens.” The Saints were mostly respectful to their teachers and mostly received good grades, so they were perceived by their teachers as being “good students.” Due to the Saints efforts to be perceivably “leaders in the youth community,” local law enforcers rarely stopped the group. When the boys were stopped, the boys were well mannered, and craftily played their roles of the being good guys, and would be let off with a warning; however, these boys were not as good as they were perceived. Since the “good citizens” were from upper-class families they had vehicles, and were able to travel to other communities to be troublesome, rather than just their own. The “good students” would skip class by using extra curricular programs as excuses, and received good grades by cheating on exams. The “leaders in the youth community” would commonly drink and drive, play chicken with their cars, steal roadsigns and sign lanterns, ruin abandoned homes, and much more. The