NCJ Number
136215
Date Published
1991
Length
382 pages
Annotation
This book presents the author's descriptions and analysis of his experiences as a member of a Canadian biker gang known as "The Rebels."
Abstract
The author teacher anthropology at the University of Price Edward Island. Although his participation in the motorcycle gang was primarily to obtain material for his doctoral dissertation, his interest in the gang and the gang's way of life was genuine. After he developed personal friendships with a number of the gang's members, he was invited to enter the membership process. At this stage, he made it clear to the members that he would record his experiences in the gang and possibly write about them. The membership admitted him with this knowledge. A description of the group socialization process encompasses the various categories of bonding with the club, including being a "friend of the club," being a "striker" (apprentice), and becoming an initiate (a "patchholder"). Another major section of the book discusses the dynamics of outlaw sex and gender. The dynamics of the club are based on male bonding rather than heterosexual bonding, and the bond to the club is expected to have priority over social and familial relationships outside the club. Three chapters discuss what it is like in the "outlaw biker's" world. This covers the use and symbol of the clubhouse, the club bar, and the club "run" (biking as a group). The concluding section contains four chapters on the economic and political realities of the gang. In the case of the Rebels, the club is not organized for economic crime. The club's sources of funds are from membership dues, bartering, and admission for various club and interclub social activities. Although the club bears anti-establishment values and attitudes that may lead individual members to violate laws in a number of respects, the club itself is not organized for the purpose of committing crime. The author analyzes the club's sociological dynamics as a means for members (mostly "working class") to resolve their alienation from normative socioeconomic life. Appended supplementary material, subject index, and 32-item bibliography