Field Observations of Middle Class “Gangs”

This paper describes the experiences of a participant-observer who spent two weeks with several groups of middle class deviant youths in a suburb of Los Angeles. These observations are related to prevailing conceptions of delinquent gangs, in an attempt to identify parallel and divergent characteris...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social forces 1964-03, Vol.42 (3), p.328-336
Main Authors: Myerhoff, Howard L., Myerhoff, Barbara G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescents
Automobiles
Gang/Gangs
Gangs
Larceny
Lower class
Masculinity
Middle class
Observation/Observations/ Observational/ Observability/ Observable
Observational research
Racing cars
Social class/Social classes
Subcultures
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper describes the experiences of a participant-observer who spent two weeks with several groups of middle class deviant youths in a suburb of Los Angeles. These observations are related to prevailing conceptions of delinquent gangs, in an attempt to identify parallel and divergent characteristics of the middle and lower class groups. As a result of these observations and comparisons, questions are raised concerning the prevalence of highly structured gangs, dimensions which differentiate delinquent groups, the extent to which adult recognition structures and legitimizes gangs, and the essential similarity between delinquent and non-delinquent groups.
ISSN:0037-7732
1534-7605
DOI:10.1093/sf/42.3.328