NCJ Number
75757
Journal
Deviant Behavior Volume: 2 Issue: 1 Dated: (October-December 1980) Pages: 31-48
Date Published
1980
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Based on personal contacts with groups of deviant motorcyclists in the Tennessee-Kentucky area over a 3-year period, this study describes the values and lifestyles of outlaw motorcyclists and compares them to Walter Miller's classic study of lower class culture.
Abstract
Experience with riding and rebuilding motorcycles gave this researcher the opportunity to study outlaw motorcyclists in two small local Tennessee groups, a regional group from North Carolina, and a national group. Informal interviews were conducted between January 1977 and March 1980 with informants who had extensive experience in the biker subculture, were articulate, and had established a trusting relationship with the researcher. Outlaws adopt certain symbols and lead a lifestyle that is clearly defined and highly visible to other bikers. The most important symbol is the Harley-Davidson V-twin motorcycle. A typical outlaw belongs to a highly authoritarian club, is a white male, hates most nonwhites, works irregularly at best, treats women as objects of contempt, and wears dirty jeans, a cut-off denim jacket, and engineer's boots. Drugs are used regularly, although hallucinogens are avoided because they impair riding ability. Beer, consumed in great quantities, is the most commonly used drug. The outlaws' view of the world as hostile, weak, and effeminate often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy which results in persecution. Bikers are not violent, but impulsive, and this causes frequent conflicts with bureaucratic organizations and any regulations. Outlaws engage in outrageous and even illegal behavior to demonstrate their distinctiveness, toughness, and masculinity. For example, the researcher gained acceptance into the gang only after he had a nearly fatal accident which destroyed his bike but proved his toughness. The outlaw's lifestyle is characterized by extremes -- he will spend the daylight hours in a dull job or hanging around, but then escape through drugs, alcohol, orgiastic parties, or riding. As illustrated in their literature and art, outlaws are fatalistic and have no dreams of achieving a better life. An insistence on freedom from constraints is paralleled by the need to belong to a club for self-protection. This ambivalent attitude toward authority was also noted in Miller's study of lower-class adolescents. A surprising number of the bikers interviewed came from respectable lower middle-class or working-class backgrounds. A bibliography of 16 references is appended.