NCJ Number
104861
Journal
Deviant Behavior Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Dated: (1987) Pages: 47-63
Date Published
1987
Length
17 pages
Annotation
While difficult to investigate with standard sociological methods, outlaw motorcycle clubs are of great theoretical and practical interest to the sociology of deviance.
Abstract
Based on interviews with current and former bikers, law enforcers and personal experience, this study examines the roles available to women in this subculture, as well as some of the normative constraints faced by male bikers. Attention is focused on the sex role structure of these groups and the boundaries between areas open to personal choice and those controlled by subcultural prescription. An attempt is made to relate the operation of these structures to the violence and hedonism of the outlaw lifestyle using concepts derived from social exchange theory. (Publisher abstract)