Abstract
In this chapter, I consider the specificity of inspection work as a street-level activity dealing with deviant behaviors. I focus on the case of bus ticket inspection, that I depict as an interactional process of deviance enactment. To do so, I argue for a constructionnist approach to deviance (Becker’s labelling theory) articulated to a dramaturgical approach to the situation (Goffman’s interactional sociology). I account for ticket inspection work by describing usual inspection practices and zooming on a specific difficult interaction. Finally, I consider the avenues for research opened by this new perspective on inspection work as deviance enactment.
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Inspectors have usually formal or informal objectives (number of fines) set up by the management so it would be difficult for them to let half the passengers go. This is merely an issue of finding the right balance between sanctioning and letting go. But it is always possible for an inspector to let someone go if (s)he has good reasons.
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Suquet, JB. (2019). Are You a True Offender? Bus Ticket Inspection as Deviance Enactment. In: Van de Walle, S., Raaphorst, N. (eds) Inspectors and Enforcement at the Front Line of Government . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04058-1_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04058-1_4
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