Roughnecks And Saints Analysis

The “Saints” and the “Roughnecks” were two groups of high school boys who engaged in deviant behavior however, they didn’t received the same societal punishment based on their social bonds and how their community labeled them. The “Saints” were a group of eight highschool boys who came from respectable families and a middle-class background. On the contrary, the roughnecks were a group of six boys who came from lower working-class families and were often referred to as “bad seeds” based on their inability to express the same behavior as the saints. This analysis of the saints and the roughnecks will consist of two major sociological theories, the social bond and the labeling theory. The definition of deviance is applied from the societal reaction …show more content…
Positivism is the application of the scientific method to social life. Those who apply these theories, commonly known as positivists, focus on how the biological, psychological or sociological factors of deviant behavior determines an individual’s possibility of committing a deviant act. Positivist agrue that humans do not have free will and therefore their actions and behavior are governed biologocial, psychological or sociological factors. Sociological positivism revolves around the concept of social factors within a individual’s culture and social structure. The social bond/control theory tends to revolve around questions such as why an individual is not motivated to commit acts of deviance as well as why they conform. The basic premise of the social bond/control theory is criminality results when an individual’s bond to society is weakened or broken. Travis Hirschi argued that humans were governed by selfishness, however social institutions as well as pressures can modify an individual and conform to societal …show more content…
Due to the fact that the saints came from wealthier familes and had better manners as well as had an image of being “good” regardless of their bad behavior, they were able to reinforced the idea that they were going to make something of themselves. The social bond and the labeling theory are both able to explain the reasons why the saints and the roughnecks were persumed the way they were and how their societal bonds as well as acceptance of labels dedicated their life in the long run. The social construction of the saints and the roughnecks was able to immobilzes a group of boys based on their social class and their acceptance of societal norms. The saints were able to live a normal life thanks to the reassurance of their abilities by the members of their community. Unfornately for the roughnecks, their label of being a nuisance by their community reinforced the idea of deviance, utlimately impacting their lives and leadind them down a path of