The Saints And The Roughnecks Summary

In the article The Saints and the Roughnecks, Chambliss (1973) details the observations made on the behavior of two groups of students from one school. The two groups were socially and economically diverse but they engaged in crime often. One group, the saints, came from well-off families but were some of the most notorious, although the community, teachers, and peers did not notice since they engaged in deviant activities away in the big city and were clever in disguising their bad habits.
The other group, the roughneck, however, “engaged in equal amount of wild oat sowing” (Chambliss, 1973). Everyone agreed the boys were trouble since they were not well-dressed, well-mannered, or rich; which cements the symbolic interactionist perspective

They frequented a pool hall or a café in the suburbs. In these entertainment areas they often caused trouble but got away with it because they spent money there. During the weekends, they went binge drinking and afterwards drove-drunkenly in the streets where they committed crimes and played pranks. In the midst of all the mischief, they were rarely arrested.
The roughnecks engaged in occasional fights, drinking, and petty stealing, such as siphoning gasoline from cars as well as items from school lockers and automobiles. However, people in the community did not realize that the group’s stealing was more prevalent. The roughnecks believed that the police were unfair and corrupt due to the harassment they received from the police. They were arrested on different occasions and two of them were incarcerated for 6 months.
In school, the saints were very successful academically, popular with the students and held offices. However, they cheated in exams with teachers’ contribution through inclinations. Only one student in the group talked back to teachers although the teachers made excuses for his failures. The local police thought the saints were good boys and were rarely stopped for speeding and if caught, they presented themselves as disciplined to gain