NCJ Number
190116
Journal
Deviance and Society Volume: 24 Issue: 4 Dated: 2000 Pages: 377-401
Date Published
2000
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This article analyzed the construction of deviance inside French schools based on adolescents from low-income neighborhoods entering junior high schools with school behavior determined by their social environments.
Abstract
This article examined adolescent deviance and sociability in a French junior secondary school. The hypothesis that while adolescents from urban deprived neighborhoods enter junior high schools with their inclinations towards “school culture” or “street culture” already structured by other social environments, they develop deviant behaviors while inside school. The article explored three dimensions of adolescent sociability: (1) the development of friendship networks; (2) classroom sociability; and (3) inter-ethnic relationships. The conclusion emphasized the interactive dimension of the construction of deviance resulting from exchanges among pupils and between pupils and teachers and underlined some differences between French and immigrant pupils and between boys and girls.