The Structure of Delinquent Incidents

Abstract

When specific incidents are described in the sociological literature on either adolescence delinquency or community life in general it is usually for illustrative rather than analytical purposes. Incidents are taken to indicate the general nature of a situation rather than analysed as important elements of ongoing life which develop from and change individual’s perceptions of their social world and thus produce the potential for further similar events.¹ But to obtain an accurate idea of the logic and process of what the wider society categorises as delinquent it is essential to acknowledge the fluidity of different local contexts and to give accounts of different events and the way in which they are inter-related. And an obvious accompaniment to the examination of this occasional delinquent behaviour in its actual setting is to see it through the eyes of the participants themselves. Because boys such as those in Luke Street come at the bottom of three credibility piles — they are lower class, they are young and they are ‘offenders’ — their action is given little credit for having an internal logic and consistency. Also the analysis of specific incidents is valuable at two distinct levels.

When you see a gang of youths in that area it usually means trouble.

Local police constable giving evidence in court

The coppers come around here looking for trouble: it’s simple, less coppers, less trouble.

Mal