Deviance- Saints vs. Roughnecks

A few weeks ago we started to study deviance and how it varies from one person to another. For homework, we had to read a short story about a town where there were two groups of teenage boys, one group, "The Roughnecks," were the "bad boys" from the poorer side of town and were typically associated with crime and illegal activities such as stealing or ditching school, so when they performed those acts of deviance, it was expected from them and they were punished for their actions pretty harshly. Meanwhile, in the richer and more respected part of town, lived "The Saints," a group of boys who came from wealthy families, so everyone in the society expected them to be perfect and do no harm, when in fact, they were just as trouble making as "The Roughnecks" meaning that they ditched school and did things that were just as bad  as the roughnecks, but they, unlike the other group of boys, did not get in trouble for doing what they did because of their status in the society. That story goes to prove that deviance definitely depends on who you are and where you come from, not necessarily just what you do. I think that although it is sad, it is the truth in our society that if you come from a more "well-off" community, you are not as likely to get targeted as a bad person even if you are just as bad- or even worse- than someone from a lower class community.