The Saints and the Rebels of Anderson High School
At Anderson High School, there are two gangs of boys—the Saints and the Rebels.
The Saints are from upper-middle class professional families. The boys go to school in reasonably clean-cut clothes. They do not work to support themselves nor their families. They receive an allowance from their parents for cars and habits.
The Rebels are from lower class families, living in an older rundown part of town. They wear gang clothes and look tough. Most of the gang members have part-time jobs to support their families and habits.
Both gangs are involved in similar activities that are deviant (antisocial, vandalistic, and outright illegal).
There is one BIG difference between the two gangs:
The Saints have cars, so they conduct most of their deviant behavior 20 miles away in another town. The Saints never use deviant behavior at Anderson High School; in fact they make an effort to be polite to the authorities within their own town.
The Rebels do not have cars, they conduct all their deviant behavior in town where Anderson High School is located.
Many of the members of the Rebel gang have police records and a reputation at the high school and with the general population in town. The Saints are viewed as "boys will be boys" at Anderson High School and with the general population in town. Only one member of the Saints has a police record.
Analyzing this Problem as a Sociologist
How would each paradigm/perspective view the causes and possible solutions of this problem?
Order/Structural-Functionalism
What is it about society that has created this deviant (antisocial) behavior in both gangs. What can be done to change the way both gangs were socialize? The law is not as effective as it should be--certainly the families are not working properly--both are dysfunctional. Look for broad macro solutions.
Pluralist/Symbolic-Interaction
There is a labeling problem between the Saints and Rebels. If the Rebels were as clean cut as the Saints, there would be less differentiation in how they are treated. Since both gangs are into antisocial behavior, society cannot properly correct behavior. The Rebels are viewed as beyond hope, the Saints are not even dealt with.
Polite gestures of the Saints hide antisocial behavior. Both groups are mislabeled. The Saints appear better than they really are—the Rebels appear worse than they really are.
Or a bigger question -- is this just normal adolescent behavior -- rite of passage type behavior? Does society make criminals by mislabeling this type of normal teenager behavior?
Conflict/Conflict
This is a classic case of the "haves versus the have-nots." The inequitable distribution of resources (for example---cars versus no-cars) has a lot to do with the difference in how the two gangs are treated. A thought provoking question: Who is more likely to receive jail time for the same offense?---The Rebels or the Saints?