S v. R

We read a study by Chambliss called "The Saints and the Roughnecks" in class this past week. The study consisted of the "good", wealthy, white students who were known as the "Saints"and the "bad", poor, minority students called the "Roughnecks". The Saints pulled many dangerous pranks and broke many laws, yet they were hardly ever given the appropriate consequences, let alone any consequences in general, for what they did. They were perceived to be as the good, smart, rich, white kids who never did anything disobedient, when in reality they broke many laws and schemed their way out of school early every day and ended up doing even more illegal acts. The Roughnecks on the other hand were poor, minority kids who got in fights and were caught stealing. Their consequences were much larger than that of the Saints primarily because of the way society perceived them. The Roughnecks didn't dress as well and weren't as wealthy, they were forced to stay around their houses because they had no transportation to get out of their town. The Saints had cars where they could escape and go to the outer edge of town where no one they knew would see them. I think our school has this to some degree because there's a huge diversity in people with all different ranges in wealth, ethnicity, etc. I don't think it's as obvious as it is in some other schools, but I do see differences in the way people perceive others.