Power, Class and Crime

Question 1

What were some of the main interests of the Saints in William Chabliss’s example?

Answer 1

• Saints Monday to Friday (skipping schools as much as possible)
• Weekend excursions (drunk driving, pranking, partying
• Perceptions of the saints by school teachers were of successful students and role models
• when caught for their deviance they were just given away with the benefit of the doubt

Question 2

What were the main interests of the roughnecks?

Answer 2

• their level of mischief is the same as they were viewed as
• poor
• bad mannered
• poor dressed

Police relationship: mistrust within the people

Question 3

why did the community have such different reactions between the two group?

Answer 3

1. visibility
   - one party was more visible due to high mobility
2. demeanour
   - saints could pass the aptitude test
3. bias
   - roughnecks were seen as deviant and saints were seen as just part of life
   - institutionalized biased toward upper-class individuals

Question 4

How does Chabliss’s work tie into a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Answer 4

• roughneck’s departure into delinquency was reinforced by society
• the master status was also reinforced
• as self-conception, as a deviant become more entrenched also with fewer opportunities they truly embrace their deviant status

Question 5

How does Labeling theory play a role in this?

Answer 5

• shows that alienation in the greeted expression of disrespect further solidified the community’s perception of the negative image of roughneck
• it was difficult to break the cycle of this master status as it always stuck with them