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Repelling the “Rutter”: Social Differentiation Among Rural Teenagers
Author(s) -
Morris Edward W.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
symbolic interaction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.874
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1533-8665
pISSN - 0195-6086
DOI - 10.1002/symb.26
Subject(s) - rutter , credibility , race (biology) , differentiation , sociology , stigma (botany) , inequality , social class , social psychology , class (philosophy) , gender studies , psychology , social inequality , criminology , developmental psychology , political science , epistemology , social science , mathematical analysis , philosophy , mathematics , psychiatry , law
This paper examines low‐income white rural teenagers' management of race and class‐based inequality. It analyzes how these teenagers constructed boundaries to distinguish themselves from outsiders, but also to distinguish themselves from the local abject category of “rutter.” The findings reveal hidden interconnections between race and class in interactional practice, and highlight local processes of differentiation through which actors attempt to deflect stigma and attain credibility. The paper discusses how interactional mechanisms such as “internal othering” and “stigma‐theory” bolster race and class credibility, but reproduce inequality.