Saints And Roughnecks Analysis

The social class statuses of the “Saints and the Roughnecks” gangs shaped their opportunities and response from the community in several ways. Many of the differences between the two groups were the result of their financial status but other differences such as their visibility and demeanor had an impact as well. While both groups were not that much different from each other, they were treated differently by the community.

The Saints and Roughnecks is a story based on research that was completed by Mr. William J. Chambliss whose area of research is criminology and sociology of the law. Chambliss establishes rapport with two groups or gangs of boys, assigns names and follows them around gathering information regarding their behavior and it’s …show more content…
Chambliss described the Roughnecks as “visible, poor, non-mobile, outspoken, undiplomatic "tough" kids” (Chambliss). This group of boys did not have as much opportunity to leave the community, which meant that their delinquencies were often in full-view of the community. Since they were known for their bad behavior in their community, they were treated much differently in school and with the police. This group did not have a good method of getting out of class, nor were they skilled at talking their way out of trouble with police and other authority figures. Their behavior was well known within the community, which meant that authority figures offered little leniency. They established and maintained a reputation within the community that resulted in much less opportunity than the Saints had. As the author stated, “everyone agreed that the not so well dressed, not so well mannered, not so rich boys were heading for trouble.” (Chambliss) which I feel also had a significant impact on how they were treated by the community. If the boys had been well dressed, they might have been treated a little better. Sometimes something as small as this can make all of the difference in social …show more content…
The group home was very similar to a foster home except it offered us boys more structure and routine than we would receive at a traditional foster home. It think is important to state that I was not placed in this group home necessarily because of anything I did but because my mother could no longer care for me and I began acting out mostly due to how unfit she was as a parent. As I aged, I understood more and more that we were not living normally and that I did not have the same opportunities that my peers had. By the age of twelve, I had already surpassed her academically. I spent roughly 8 years at this group home and during my time there I saw many so-called “troubled youth” come and go. My time at the group home was only supposed to be temporary as I was not in need of such structure but I quickly became attached to the foster parents and they were able to make it possible for me to stay. It was not long before I began noticing how the community treated us