Week 13- Saints and Roughnecks

This week in class, we daicsussed social deviance and how social classes affect our levels of deviance. One main article we read was about a small town that included two distinct high school groups- the Saints and the Roughnecks. The Saints were the ones involved in school activities and sports, had more money and appeared to be the good kids. The Roughnecks, however, were seen as the "badass" kids who were always messing around and had no motivation. However, both of these groups were involved in many crimes, and arguably the Saints did worse things than the Roughnecks. Despite similar actions from the two groups, the Saints were able to avoid police and get out of conflicts they were stuck in due to their perceived reputation of being good kids just messing around. The Roughnecks, however, always got in trouble with the cops and the community disapproved of them and saw then as deviant. The article discussed how the Saints went on to lead successful lives and got careers and educations. The Roughnecks, however, being trapped in their identity created by the society, were dropouts, low class people by the time they left high school and moves on in life. This article showed how society's perception of certain groups affects other groups and the individual group itself and was really interesting in showing how time and place affects one deviance and their actions.

At Stevenson, there are Saints and Roughnecks, but I saw them as doing different actions than the kids in the article. I compared the Saints in the article to the kids in school who appear to be good kids, involved in sports and activities, but do not pay much attention to school, but fake it in front of teachers in order to make the grade. Basically, they walk the walk ad talk the talk and this perceived notion gives teachers the sense that they really are good students, but unreality, they only do what's absolutely necessary to make the good kids. The Roughnecks, however, in Stevenson are the kids who everyone knows don't care about school- they ditch class, disrupt class and never get their homework done. Although they may be smart and just don't stay motivated, teachers and peers still have the perception that they are "slackers" and therefore punish them more or do not give them the same help that they would give one of the "Saints", given the situation. In our Stevenson subculture, the kids who appear to be slackers are seen as deviant and go against the norms of Stevenson, such as excelling in school and participating in class. I believe every society has Saints and Roughnecks and the perceived reputations of these groups change based on what the society thinks is deviant or not.