The Saints were a group of eight young men who were from upper middle class families. These boys were very active in affairs happening in the school but in high school they became delinquents who were never arrested or charged even after doing bad deeds. The Roughnecks were a group of six boys from the low class white community. They engaged in almost the same kind of bad deeds as the Saints only that they were always in trouble with the community and the police (Chambliss, 1973). The article tries to identify why such social inequalities such as those observed between the Saints and the Roughnecks existed. Society plays a big role in social inequality. Their perception of deviant behavior was clouded or ignored towards the Saints because they were believed to be good boys due to their manners, good grades and various school activities they engaged in. The Roughnecks were viewed as delinquents because they came from poor families, had bad behavior and did not have good manners.
The society’s perception of the Saints is accurate because they never actually saw or had continuous proof that the Saints ever engaged in any form of bad behavior. When the Saints were caught doing something bad they always asked for forgiveness and were given mercy which displayed to the society that they are good people who would not engage in deviant behavior (Chambliss, 1973). The society while observing the Roughnecks chose to see them as bad individuals who were headed for trouble. This perception of the Roughnecks by the society was what led them to be continually feared and arrested by the police. Though both of these gangs did the same kind of deviant escapades the Roughnecks were judged and deemed to be troublemakers as compared to the Saints. This goes to show how society exercised inequality as they observed these groups because they chose only to see their face value.
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Reference
Chambliss W. J. (1973). The Saints and The Roughnecks . Retrieved from https://www.d.umn.edu/~bmork/2306/readings/chambliss.w99.htm
