Title

Author(s)

"Muddling through": a cultural perspective onlife in schools for

China's deviant students

Liu, Lin, Lucia.; .

Citation

Issued Date

URL

Rights

2012

http://hdl.handle.net/10722/173832

The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights)

and the right to use in future works.

"Muddling Through": A Cultural Perspective on

Life in Schools for China's Deviant Students

By
LIU Lin, Lucia

A thesis submitted for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Education
at The University of Hong Kong
June, 2012

ABSTRACT OF THESIS ENTITLED

"Muddling Through": A Cultural Perspective on Life in Schools

for China's Deviant Students

Submitted by
LIU Lin, Lucia

For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

at The University of Hong Kong
in June 2012
Chinas radical social transformation, brought about by its rapid economic
growth, has placed more of its youth at risk. There has been an increase in juvenile
delinquency, internet addiction, school bullying, and gang involvement. Research
on this subject in China has attributed the problem to lower socioeconomic status of
students families, faulty parenting style, academic failure, and aggressive
personality. However, the dominant discourse virtually ignores the lives of young
people within their context and fails to examine what a deviant lifestyle means to
them.
This research addresses this limitation by examining the process through which
unprivileged students navigate through the problems they face in secondary
schooling and construct a deviant subculture. This was accomplished through an
intensive fieldwork in an urban secondary school in southeast China with
participant observation and interview methods to collect data on a range of
students, their parents and teachers over an eight-month period.
The results of the data analysis reveal that school plays a critical role in the
formation of students deviant identities. Its preoccupation with academic
i

performance and bureaucratic management pushes students who bear with

cumulative disadvantages inherited from their families and community to a more
marginalized position. Deviancy develops from a label to a response. The key
manifestation of this is the creation and development of a muddling subculture
as their strategy to survive schooling.
Although the muddling through strategy may not provide them with better
chance of employment for them to jump out of working-class, nor give much hope
for access to the cultural mainstream of society, it still has some positive aspects.
The subculture not only offers an alternative way to safeguard their psychological
well-being and hone their interpersonal skill, but also facilitates them to gain more
social space and resource in the subordinate situation.
This finding coincides with selected sociological studies of deviant students in
the West but also aligns with the special context of contemporary China. First, the
Chinese society is evolving even faster after the establishment of Dengs
economic model. It is a broadly accepted fact and a roaring public concern that
the gap between the poor and rich in China is heading towards a new class
structure. In this context, schooling doubtlessly plays a role in the social
reproduction. This study claims that lower class students deviant subculture is not
simply an oppositional culture to the value of school education as argued in
Western literature; rather, it is a strategic negotiation with the social structure in
order to muddle through their lives. Second, the nature of this muddling
subculture has strong links with a pragmatic social ethos that glorifies monetary
success. When whatever works to become rich is the dominant Chinese
dream, other forms of social recognition, value and well-being attached to formal
school education can appear as overwhelmingly irrelevant to the eyes of those
students who inherited a social class they did not choose and an educational
system that tells them little.

ii

DECLARATION

I declare that this thesis represents my own work, except where due
acknowledgement is made, and that it has not been previously included in a thesis,
dissertation or report submitted to this University or to any other institution for a
degree, diploma or other qualifications.

Signed ...............................................................................

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A Chinese idiom says, the ocean of knowledge is boundless (). This
is the way I feel about my voyage of Ph.D. study. Past four years have sometimes
been tough and lonely. However, I have been fortunate to have so many people
accompanying me in this journey. Some of them gave me continuous guidance
that helped me sail on the right track; some others supported me with their
knowledge and spiritual assistance so that I can keep going. I would like to take
this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to them.
I thank my supervisors Dr. Chi-Kim Cheung and Prof. Gerard A. Postiglione.
Without their encouragement and supports it would be impossible for me to finish
my project. I also want to say thanks to Dr. Wing-Wah Law and Dr. Sam Winter.
They worked as my panel members and gave me many insightful suggestions at
the early stage of my project. My gratitude also goes to Prof. ZHENG Xinrong
and Dr. ZHANG Lili at Beijing Normal University who introduced me to this
amazing research area.
The Ph.D. candidature has been generously funded by Postgraduate Studentship,
provided by the University of Hong Kong. During my research, I have also
received kindly financial support from the Faculty Research Fund to carry out my
field work and the CRCG (Committee on Research and Conference Grants) to
share my research findings with scholars over the world in the international
conference. I also appreciate the assistance from the staff in the Office of
Research at the Faculty of Education.
I am deeply indebted to a number of fellow students for their constant
encouragements and supports throughout my study. They are Mr. XIE Ailei, Ms.
GAO Fang, Ms. Nicol Pan, Mr. HONG Yanbi, Ms. JIN Jun, Ms. WANG Hong, Mr.
ZHANG Jun, Dr. Andrey URODA, Ms. XU Wen, Mr. Kreangchai Rungfamai, Mr.
Ronnel King, Ms. LIU Dian, Ms. YANG Miaoyan, Ms. YANG Dongsheng, and
others.
iv

Special thanks to Dr. Jae Park, Mr. Jonathan de la Cruz, Prof. Billy Chow, Mr.
Daniel Chan, Mr. Nathan Ho, Dr. Kaili Zhang and Mr. Barry Kwok for their
hearty encouragement and help of various kinds.
Very special thanks to my participants. These kids generously allowed me to get
into their lives. They shared with me their insights over their world and about their
schooling. Without them, this project would not have been possible. I would also
like to extend my appreciation to the principal, other administrators and teachers
in the school where I did my field work.
Last but not least, I owe my deepest gratitude to my parents. They stand by me
all the time even they have to put up with my substantial physical absence from
home. In Confucian milieu, I could well be a deviant daughter. As their only
child, I perhaps failed to perform the Confucian duty of filial piety in the general
sense during these years. But gratefully, I always have their constant
understanding and backing. This work is dedicated to them.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................... i
DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................. iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................. iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................. vi
LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................................... xi
LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... xii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................ xiii

CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................. 1

INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 YOUTH IN AN INCREASINGLY GLOBALIZED AND POST-MODERNIZED WORLD .... 1
1.2 FOLK DEVIL DISTURBING FIGURE OF CONTEMPORARY YOUTH ....................... 3
1.3 MORAL PANIC IN THE CHINESE CONTEXT ...................................................................... 4
1.4 PERSONAL INTEREST OF THE STUDY ............................................................................... 8
1.5 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................. 9
1.6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ...................................................................................................... 11
1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY .......................................................................................... 12
1.8 ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS ....................................................................................... 13
CHAPTER TWO .......................................................................................................................... 15
LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................. 15
2.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 15
2.2 DEVIANT YOUTH AS A SOCIAL PATHOLOGY: STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONAL
PERSPECTIVES ON DEVIANT YOUTH .................................................................................... 16
2.2.1 The Chicago School........................................................................................................... 16
2.2.2 Social disorganization theory............................................................................................. 17
2.2.3 Anomie/Strain Theory ....................................................................................................... 19
2.3 DEVIANT YOUTH AS REPRESENTATIVE OF CLASS STRUGGLE: CONFLICT
THEORY ........................................................................................................................................ 24
vi

2.3.1 Cultural reproduction ......................................................................................................... 24

2.3.2 Critics and Resistance Theory ........................................................................................... 25
2.4 DEVIANT AS A RESISTANT LIFESTYLE: YOUTH CULTURE AND SUBCULTURE ..... 26
2.4.1 Interactionist perspective of youth problem and youth subculture .................................... 26
2.4.2 Birmingham: youth deviant behavior as a semiotic construction ...................................... 29
2.5 CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH ON DEVIANT YOUTH IN CHINA ................................. 31
2.5.1 Profile of the youth deviant behavior ................................................................................ 31
2.5.2 Theory digestion on youth deviant behavior ..................................................................... 32
2.5.3 Contextualization of theoretical model on deviant behavior ............................................. 33
2.5.4 Research on youth subculture ............................................................................................ 35
2.5.5 Limitation of existing research .......................................................................................... 37
2.6 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................. 38
2.6.1 The definition of deviant behavior .................................................................................... 39
2.6.2 The classification of youth deviant behavior in the context of China................................ 41
2.6.3 Subculture .......................................................................................................................... 43
CHAPTER 3 .................................................................................................................................. 48
METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH DESIGN ....................................................................... 49
3.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 49
3.2 THE RATIONALE OF QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY .................................................. 49
3.2.1 Case study.......................................................................................................................... 51
3.2.2 Ethnographic approach ...................................................................................................... 51
3.3 RESEARCH DESIGN .............................................................................................................. 53
3.3.1 Field site ............................................................................................................................ 55
3.3.2 Data collection ................................................................................................................... 62
3.4 DATA ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................... 70
3.4.1 Initiating analysis............................................................................................................... 70
3.4.2 The coding system ............................................................................................................. 71
3.5 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY ............................................................................................. 74
3.5.1 Reliability .......................................................................................................................... 74
3.5.2 Validity .............................................................................................................................. 75
3.6 ETHICAL ISSUES ................................................................................................................... 76
3.6.1 Informed consent ............................................................................................................... 76
vii

3.6.2 The role of researcher ........................................................................................................ 77

3.6.3 Confidentiality and criminal liability ................................................................................. 78
SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................... 79
CHAPTER 4 .................................................................................................................................. 80
THE INNER CITY YOUTH AND CENTRAL PARK SECONDARY SCHOOL................... 80
4.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 80
4.2 THE LOCAL CONTEXT OF THE FIELD .............................................................................. 80
4.2.1 Prominence of materialistic goals and education as the main means ................................ 81
4.2.2 Diversified population composition and fragmented neighborhood.................................. 82
4.3 INNER CITY YOUTH ............................................................................................................. 85
4.4 CENTRAL PARK SECONDARY SCHOOL ........................................................................... 90
4.4.1 General background........................................................................................................... 90
4.4.2 Social relation in Central Park Secondary School ............................................................. 94
SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................. 103
CHAPTER 5 ................................................................................................................................ 108
FROM CONFORMIST TO TRUCE-MAKING: ADAPTATION MODES OF STUDENTS
...................................................................................................................................................... 108
5.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 108
5.2 A RECAPITULATION OF STRAIN THEORY AND WOODS MODEL ............................ 109
5.3 DEFINING GOAL AND MEANS IN THE FIELD ............................................................... 110
5.3.1 Goal ................................................................................................................................. 110
5.3.2 Means .............................................................................................................................. 110
5.4 TEACHERS PERCEPTION AND STUDENTS ADAPTATION MODES...........................111
5.4.1 Colonization secret deviance of good students ........................................................ 112
5.4.2 Opportunism temporal deviance of troublemakers ..................................................... 114
5.4.3 Retreatism dormant deviant of real figures .............................................................. 115
5.5 THE 4+1 YOUTHS ADAPTATION TRAJECTORIES ...................................................... 116
5.5.1 Dusk ................................................................................................................................ 117
5.5.2 WS ................................................................................................................................... 118
5.5.3 Shanji ............................................................................................................................... 120
5.5.4 XXL................................................................................................................................. 122
5.5.5 Onion ............................................................................................................................... 123
viii

5.6 TRUCE-MAKING: ADAPTATION MODE OF THE 4+1 YOUTHS ................................. 124

SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................. 128
CHAPTER 6 ................................................................................................................................ 131
MUDDLING THROUGH MY SCHOOL LIFE: DEVIANT STUDENTS SUBCULTURE 131
6.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 131
6.2 THE RELATION OF SUBCULTURE MEMBERS ............................................................... 131
6.3 THE ELEMENTS OF SUBCULTURE .................................................................................. 133
6.3.1 Muddling through the schooling() ....................................................................... 134
6.3.2 Muddling-through the days () .............................................................................. 138
6.3.3 Muddling in the gang () ....................................................................................... 143
6.4 MUDDLING IDENTITY ....................................................................................................... 148
6.4.1 The courage to adopt a resistant posture .......................................................................... 149
6.4.2 Being good at inter-personal relationships () ....................................................... 151
6.4.3 Smoking and drinking ..................................................................................................... 152
SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................. 154
CHAPTER 7 ................................................................................................................................ 156
THE MEANING OF MUDDLING SUBCULTURE ............................................................. 156
7.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 156
7.2 SUBCULTURE PARENT CULTURE DOMINANT CULTURE .............................. 156
7.2.1 Pragmatic view on education........................................................................................... 157
7.2.2 Tolerance for deviant behavior ........................................................................................ 160
7.3 CAPITALIZATION OF SUBCULTURE ............................................................................... 162
7.3.1 Subcultural capital ........................................................................................................... 163
7.3.2 Social capital ................................................................................................................... 166
SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................. 170
CHAPTER 8 ................................................................................................................................ 171
CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION ......................................................................................... 171
8.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 171
8.2 REVIEW OF MAJOR FINDINGS ......................................................................................... 171
8.2.1 School as petri dish a place where different risk factors ferment ............................. 172
8.2.2 Status passage students adaptation modes and the process of labeling ..................... 174
ix

8.2.3 Muddling subculture ..................................................................................................... 177

8.2.4 The big questions in the muddling subculture ............................................................... 179
8.3 THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTION ...................................................................................... 180
8.4 FROM IMPLICATION TO PRACTICE ................................................................................ 181
8.5 LIMITATIONS....................................................................................................................... 182
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 184
APPENDICES203

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1

A typology of modes of individual adaptation

Figure 2.2

Revised typology of modes of adaptation

in the state secondary system

Figure 2.3

21

21

Outline of theoretical perspectives on

youth deviant behavior and subculture

38

Figure 2.4

Complex cultural nests

47

Figure 2.5

Theoretical framework

48

Figure 3.1

Procedure of field site selection

61

Figure 3.2

Coding system

73

Figure 4.1

Siming district and the school district

91

Figure 4.2 Vicious circle of drifter

102

Figure 5.1

Adaptation mode of the 4+1 youths

125

Figure 5.2

Students adaptation to the school regime

130

Figure 6.1

Interrelation of the 4+1 youths

133

Figure 6.2 Construction of the gang

144

xi

LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 Comparison of different terms related to youth deviant behavior

41

Table 3.1 Research process and timeline

54

Table 3.2 Sites covered in pilot study

58

Table 3.3 Daily routine at school

64

Table 3.4 List of data

71

Table 4.1 Population information of Xiamen and Siming District

82

Table 4.2 Family profile of the 4+1 youths

88

Table 4.3 Students workload

99

Table 4.4 Student management

100

Table 7.1 The interaction of social capital in two groups and its affect on
well-being

167

xii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
CCCP

Central Committee of the Communist Party

CCCS

Centre for Contemporary Cultural Study

CMCD

Committee of Medium-size City Development

CPSS

Central Park Secondary School

CSEE

Certificate of Secondary Education Examination

MESO

Municipal Education Supervision Office

MOE

Ministry of Education

NBSC

National Bureau of Statistics of China

NCEE

National College Entrance Examination

OECD

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

SEZ

Special Economic Zone

SBSD

Statistics Bureau of Siming District

SCNPCC

Standing Committee of National Peoples Congress of China

xiii

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Youth in an Increasingly Globalized and Post-modernized World
Chinese and other Asian students, particularly those who excel in their educational
outcomes abroad, have attracted more research. In contrast, very little attention has
been paid to the education failure and behavioral problem of young people in
mainland China. Indeed, youth deviance is one of the most neglected areas of
educational research. The vast majority of the current research in education is about
learning and teaching techniques and skills, for example, in the fields of psychology,
language, early childhood and so forth. This thesis, therefore, attempts to present the
research on phenomenon on youth deviancy in China today against the background of
fast modernization and globalization.
According to the report of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities
(UNFPA, 2007), half of the world's people are under the age of 25. This includes the
largest-ever generation of adolescents who are approaching adulthood in a rapidly
changing world while bearing high expectation of society. People always assume that
the prosperity of the families and societies depends on their future generations. Their
experiences indicate a convergence of the social, political, economic centers of modern
life (Tilleczek, 2011). And as Griffin (1993) points out, youth is still treated as a key
indicator of the state of the nation itself: it is expected to reflect the cycle of booms and
troughs in the economy; shifts in cultural values over sexuality, morality and family life;
and changes in class relations, concepts of nationhood, and in occupational structures
(p. 9). However, the adults sometimes build their belief without being aware of the
concomitant risks, temptations and limitations lurking young people with the new
condition and opportunity emerging in the late modernity and globalization age,
whereas expecting them to adopt the path as they used to. Beck (1992) discloses what
he terms the Risk Society by arguing that although many of traditional parameters of
the Industrial Society that constrained people, such as class culture and consciousness,
gender and family roles, have been dissolved, many other social inequalities remain
unchanged.

Moreover,

the

surge

of
1

individualization

and

consequent

de-traditionalization compel people for the sake of their own material survival to
make themselves the center of their own planning and conduct of life (Beck, p. 88).
This also implies that everyone has to choose or change their social identities and take
the risk in doing so. And during this process, there is a hazardous tendency that
problems of the system are lessened politically and transformed into personal failure. In
her groundbreaking thesis to examine young peoples situation, Griffin (1993)
identifies a trend of prolonged time for young people to remain in education and family
home, which means that it will be much later for them to become economically
independent. This is empirically supported by studies from different countries (Arnett,
2000, 2004; Buhl & Lanz, 2007; Ct & Allahar, 2006; Furlong & Cartmel, 2007;
Osgood & Chambers, 2000; Osgood et al., 2005). They further argue that the condition
for young people to grow up into full-fledged adults has been getting poorer in recent
decades, since job opportunities and the traditional collective supports that used to aid
youth to transit to adulthood are increasingly insufficient. Moreover, the prevailing
consumerism targets young people as one of the most powerful consumers with
enormous consumer goods and corresponding lifestyle, fashion, and social hierarchies
and identities. All of these eloquently reveal that young people in this day and age are
disadvantaged if not exploited. Thus Giroux argues:
A failing economy that offers most youth the limited promise of service-sector jobs,
dim prospects for the future, and a world of infinite messages and images designed to
sell a product or to peddle senseless violence as another TV spectacle, constitutes, in
part, the new conditions of youth, [thus they become] hostage to the vicissitudes of
a changing economic order, with its legacy of diminished hopes on the one hand, and
a world of schizoid images, proliferating public spaces, and an increasing
fragmentation, uncertainty, and randomness that structures postmodern daily life on
the other (1994, p. 286) .

Amidst the quickly changing social background, the interval between childhood and
adulthood, known as adolescence, undergoes a natural yet acute transition
characterized by an incline to a more defined identity. Thus, this period has long been
posited as paradigm of identity crisis (Marcia et al., 1993). Moreover, this process is
undoubtedly made more difficult and unpredictable than ever before due to the
external environment spurred by a multicultural world with multiple values and an
array of distraction. France (2000) summarizes related arguments from psychologists
by arguing that young people are highly aware of the surrounding changes and risks,
2

and they often incorporate these into their formation of identity. Hence, it is inevitable
for them to proactively or reactively take perceived risks and opportunities to embark
on a journey in search of their self, which may often bring frustration, confusion or
failure. These are displayed by their behaviors; either retreating from the reality (e.g.,
internet addiction, substance abuse) or behaviors against reality such as troublemaking
and rule-breaking. These risk-taking behaviors in return, may be a demonstration of
their individuality and independency from their parents (Griffin, 1993). A common
feature for both sides is that they unavoidably cause anxiety of their family and society
at large.
As a consequence, young people are perhaps too easily categorized as problematic
by their alternative attitudes, behaviors, cultures and lifestyles. Thus, the term youth
has become a synonym of risk, problem, danger or other negative words
(Kemshall, 2008). A score of important discourses and theories have been dealing with
these phenomena after Second World War. They refer to it as the deviant youth from
a sociological perspective, the youth-at-risk from social work, the juvenile
delinquency in the field of criminology, to name a few. The common trait of them all
is addressing young peoples problem in a changing social context. They indirectly
reinforce the notion of youth as a social problem and suggest the establishment of many
levels of institutions such as school, social welfare organizations and the juvenile
justice system to monitor and regulate (Cohen, 1997).

1.2 Folk Devil Disturbing Figure of Contemporary Youth

However, the tendency to problematize the youth is not new. Rather, it can be traced
back to the concept of folk devil in Cohens (1972/1987) renowned study. McGuigan
(1992) reviews several key statements on youth culture to conclude that the
troublesome imagery of troublesome youth has a long history from the Hooligan panic
in the late 1890s. Pearson (1983) share similar views about the youth culture after the
Second World War. A common element of these narratives is that radical social change
leads to a concomitant public debate about the youth, usually heated and pejorative.
The folk devil discourse has come back in recent years alongside with the changes
inherent to modernization and globalization in every domain of the society.
Contemporary youth problems vary from school-based misbehaviors such as truancy,
bullying, assaulting teachers to substance use, gang affiliation and armed massacres,
3

which are broadly and constantly covered by the mass media worldwide. Some salient
examples are the case of teenage arsonists of an internet bar in Beijing in 2002; the
Erfurt school shooting in Germany in 2002; and the 2005 Red Lake Senior High
School massacres in the USA. The situation at the present time is very much like
Hebdige (1988) portraits:
Youth was present only when its presence was a problem, or was regarded as a
problem. More precisely, the category youth gets mobilized in official documentary
discourse, in concerned or outraged editorials and features, in the supposedly
disinterested tracts emanating from the social sciences at those times when young
people make their presence felt by going out of bounds, by resisting through rituals,
dressing strangely, striking bizarre attitudes, breaking rules, breaking bottles,
windows, heads, issuing rhetorical challenges to the law (p. 17-8).

This insightful observation is echoed and extended by Wyn and White (1997). After
reviewing an array of literature in the 1990s, they argue that the media tends to perceive
young people as a threat to the existing social values and as likely to engage in risky
behaviors. Such media coverage on the subculture and deviant behavior of the youth
has drawn more attention from the public and triggered a score of multi-disciplinary
studies throughout the world (Duff, 2003; Laser, Luster, & Oshio, 2007; Mahoney,
Stattin, & Magnusson, 2001; Miranda & Claes, 2004; Simi, Smith, & Reeser, 2008
Vitaro et al., 2001). These phenomena also brought about a wave of reediting several
key publications on youth culture, such as Cohens Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The
Creation of the Mods and Rockers (1972, 1987, 2002), the classic work of Resistance
through rituals: youth subcultures in post-war Britain edited by Stuart Hall and Tony
Jefferson (1976, 2006), and the Subculture: The Meaning of Style (Hebdige, 1979,
2002). All these works analyze and interpret youth subculture as something remarkable
against the background of post-war affluence and social transformation.

1.3 Moral Panic in the Chinese Context

When it comes to contemporary China, the context is more complicated. China has
been undergoing a rapid economic development and acute social transformation in the
past three decades after its opening and policy reform implementation. More than ever
before, China is actively engaged in the globalization, technology development and in
the promotion of cultural diversity. All these political, economic and cultural changes
4

inevitably have impacts on young people who are born and growing up in the 1980s
onwards.
There are several social changes in China that have more impact on the youth.
Firstly, the enactment of the One-child Policy (CCCP, 1980) results in an
extraordinarily large number of one-child families, particularly in urban China (Li,
1996; Poston & Falbo, 1990). Poston and Falbo (1993) claim that China may hold the
biggest population of only child in the world. This phenomenon alone brought about
considerably changes in the social structure and the environment where young people
lead their lives. On the one hand, young people receive more attention and care from
their families, which is undoubtedly beneficial for their well-being. On the other hand,
the problem of the so-called little emperors or spoiled only children emerged (Baker,
1987; Wu, 1996; Xiao, 2007; Zhang & Feng, 1991). It is widely accepted that the
only-child generation has some traits such as bad manners, lack of diligence, vanity,
etc. Arguably, this can be seen as the first problematization of young people in
contemporary China.
Second, the opening-up and development have enabled young Chinese people to
have easy access to all sorts of consumer goods, fashion and global youth culture
particularly through the mass media and information technology. However, their free
will and curiosity do not parallel their physical liberty because the society still imposes
many traditional values on the youth. Apart from conforming to parents and other
institutional authorities, one of the most fundamental issues for young people is the
academic achievement (Wang, 2008). This could also be partly attributed to the
influences of the Confucianism and the traditional values that consider education as the
most efficient and legitimate way to attain social mobility, and family honor and pride
(Liu & Lin, 2007). Both parents and schools encourage young people to study hard in
order to pursue a decent job and a better life after graduation. Hence, it is taken for
granted that schooling should extend its control into home and after-school hours
(Cheng, 1997). Also, since one of the main functions of teaching is training for
examination, school accomplishment is still the main criterion to distinguish bad
students from good ones. Very often, young people are caught between an increasingly
commercialized society that glorifies flexibility and creativity and the rigidity of
school life; those without good performance at school are likely to be considered as
losers in life.
5

Under such a pressure, students who cannot themselves adapt to the system tend to
resist it and they set themselves against what seem to be meaningless, insipid and
boring schooling activities and assignments. Instead, they engage in other activities
that require their active involvement and interest. These young people often cause
moral panic to the society, which brands their behaviors as troublesome or deviant
that needs corrective measures. Consequently, they become the focus of attention of the
mass. There have been numerous reports about youth who fall into drug abuse, become
addicted to the internet, get involved in personal assault and so on, raising great public
concern. This is further illustrated by the growing rate of juvenile delinquency.
Although the percentage of youth crimes over total number of crimes has been
declining from 57.31% in 1990 to 33.96% in 2001, the crime rate of minor (young
people under 18) has risen from 12.64% to 19.68% during the same decade (Guan,
2004). In 2004, this rate was 28.15% and the percentage of juvenile delinquency over
overall crime was 7%, which means that there is one minor among every 14 or 15
criminals (Liu, 2005). Although these young people have drawn great attention, they
have seldom been invited to take part in the educational discourses, pedagogical
debates, and institutional relations that shape their everyday lives. Even worse, they
have often been marginalized and oppressed by such discourses and ensuing social
reaction (Giroux, 2001).
If the youth problem is analyzed in a longitudinal way, the moral panic in Chinese
society about young people as a specific social cluster could be dated back to the
Cultural Revolution era when students at all levels from university to elementary
school rallied for the Red Guard Movement. Unlike the student revolutions in the
West that were from the bottom up, the Red Guard Movement was organized and
strongly supported top down by Mao Zedong as a progressive political campaign.
Their disruptive actions such as smashing the streets, ransacking museums and libraries,
looting peoples properties, damaging heritage sites, torturing those considered as
class enemies, and intense fractional conflicts caused devastating impact in society
with great anxiety among civilians (Xu, 2010). The Cultural Revolution also saw the
emergence of an urban youth counterculture, namely the Pizi ( riffraff) or
Liumang ( hooligan) culture, characterized by rebellious, anti-authority,
street-smart, self-assertive attitudes and lifestyles (Yao, 2004). This is well captured in
6

the novels, television series and films by the famous writer Wang Shuo. It has been
claimed that the new cultural pattern gained further momentum among young people
during and after the Cultural Revolution because of the popularity of Wang Shuos
works in the 1980s (Barme, 1992; Yao, 2004).
The imageries of anti-heroes and anti-heroines, mostly marginal or superfluous men
but sometimes women as well, social idlers, and even semi-criminals and criminals
who are playful, irreverent, and satirical and who are fast-talking, glib-tongued, and
foul-mouthed (Yao, 2004) were celebrated and imitated widely by that generation of
young people. Thus, it could be argued that the uprising of youth culture and especially
the Pizi culture is situated in the special social and cultural environment of post-Mao
China when the ideological and behavioral control is relaxed and people started to
experience the changes that the Open-up Policy had brought about. In addition, since
young people are more susceptible and adaptive to the new ideas, values and fashions,
their language, behaviors and appearances are more likely to challenge their
conservative predecessors. For example, in the late 1970s, young people who wear
flared jeans were considered as hooligans.
Since the 1990s, the general concern for young people started to evolve into a
discourse constructed about generations. Following Mannheim, Lius (2011) argues
that in times of rapid social change, generational consciousness develops more rapidly
than during times of more gradual social change (p. 140). Nevertheless, the view over
younger generation is mostly negative, which is embedded in a well-known Chinese
expression, yidai buru yidai (each generation is worse than the last). Thus, different
sources indicate that the Chinese society has perceived the post-80ers (baling hou),
in a negative light; the first cohort of one-child policy generation has been tagged as
reliant and rebellious, cynical and pragmatic, self-centered and equality-obsessed
(Rosen, 2009). Not without irony, when the baling hou generation came of age, they
join the reproach of the post-90ers (jiuling hou). The latter, that is, the teenagers today,
are considered as promiscuous, selfish, brain damaged for their loose sexual
conduct, bizarre dress code, weird language and demeanor, which they call it
non-mainstream (CNN, 2010; Guo, Yang &Wei, 2011; Wei, 2011). The moral panic
of old seems to have replicated in the present generation.

1.4 Personal Interest of the Study

My interest for studying deviant Chinese youth and their culture started in March,
2005. I was working for a pilot project Education Equity and Social Development
funded by Oxfam Hong Kong. In this project, the project team tried to shoot a series of
topical plays on issues about education equality such as gender issue in school,
student with disability and social stratification and education in order to raise
teachers awareness in their teaching practice. Being in charge of one of the groups,
Violence and Education, I had to find some actors to simulate a bullying scene. Under
this circumstance, I came across with some unique kids. They were secondary school
students although some of the things they did seemed totally subversive. They smoked
and swore, drank and danced, were sometimes truant to play computer games or joined
mob fighting. However, they were amusing kids who would complain for being
misunderstood by their teachers and were still afraid of being scolded or punished by
their parents. Owing to their superb creativity and cooperation, the play was finished
successfully. During the process, I felt privileged to be allowed by them to enter their
world.
As I was getting into their lives, some of my childhood memory about my
classmates in primary school was also awoken. As a student monitor trusted by the
teachers with my rigid morality and orthodox ideas, I was consistently assigned to sit
beside the naughtiest students throughout the six years of study, probably in order to
hold back their misconduct. Although these students were considered as vicious and
good-for-nothing, we became good friends at last. Even I myself could not figure out
the reason for this, and I attributed it partly to the rebel nature of young people. Deep
down in my heart, I was always hoping to be one of those bad kids and resist against
disagreeable demands from parents and teachers. But the docile child side of me
would not dare to materialize it and this eagerness was just a twinkling of thought in
secret. Most of the time, when I was able to get beyond the facade of detestation and
defensive attitudes, I saw not faults but their continuous effort to strive for recognition
and status. Most of those classmates of mine have eventually shifted their attention
from deviancy to productive lives using their own routes and networks;

some

graduated from the vocational school and got good jobs; some others went on to pursue
further education. Their way was an alternative way but proven to be feasible in
8

reality. These personal memories and experience hinted at possibility that those who
were considered as losers or deviant by the society at a certain time might not
necessarily turn out to be what people assumed. The present thesis is, therefore,
intended to give voice to them.

1.5 Rationale of the Study

Bearing in mind my sympathy for deviant youth and ambition to voice their own
concerns and aspirations, I turn to the existing scholarship for evidence. There is a long
history of Western scholars devoted to the study of deviant youth with sizable
theoretical knowledge. From 1920s to 1970s, two outstanding academic institutions,
the Chicago School and the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Study
(CCCS) have done many pioneering studies on youth deviant behavior and youth
culture (e.g. Becker, 1963; Cohen, 1955/1971; Brake, 1985; Cloward & Ohlin, 1960;
Hebdige, 1979; Merton, 1938; Thrasher, 1963; McRobbie, 1986; Willis, 1977).
Although their studies were conducted in different social context and the interpretations
were made from various theoretical positions, several of them have become the classic
in this field. Generally speaking, the Chicago School mostly concentrates on the
relation between deviant behavior and social structure, historic change, while the
CCCS considers deviant behavior as a kind of culture and most of their arguments and
analysis assume the existence of social class (McGuigan, 1992). But no matter what
their focus and theoretical orientations are, they offer a substantial scholarship from
which succeeding new research can draw on.
Since China launched its economic reform in 1978, youth problems have been on
the rise. For example, many students are reported as truant to play computer games in
the internet cafes; some young people gang-affiliated and participate in crime such as
shoplifting, mob fighting. There are also many reports on student being bullied at
school. Researchers based in mainland China began to study this phenomenon by
integrating Western theories, practice and experience into local research aimed at
finding ways to solve the problem of deviant youth and prevent them from committing
crime (e.g. Cheung, 1997; Guo, 2002; Huang, 2005b; Jin, 2006; Liu, 1994; Lin, 2005;
Qu, 1996; Wei, 1996; Yung, 1998; Zhang& Messner, 1996; Zhuo, 2001). These
studies cover several issues such as the statistical data of deviant behavior in young
people, the different causal factors of deviant behavior and the correlation among them,
9

the solution for it, and so on. They help to draw a general picture of youth problem in
China today. However, most of these studies aim at validating certain theorys
rationality and generalizability, whereas the day-to-day experience of these young
people and the process through which they adopt deviant lifestyle remain largely
unknown. As a result, similar to the problem found in some Western research, they
accumulate information on an unending repetition which blames broken homes,
individual psychopathology, dubious hereditary factors, or faulty upbringing for the
troubles of youth (Mungham & Pearson, 1976, p. 3).
Taking the foregoing into account, the only feasible way to reveal and understand
these young people appears to be that of going back to their Chinese context, to get rid
of the tag of deviant and get in touch with them without biases. This can lead to a new
way to reframe the so-called deviant youth and their culture in contemporary China,
and hopefully suggest some solutions. Since these kids are disdained and avoided by
the mainstream society and they are vigilantly aware of the unwelcoming atmosphere
surrounding them, pre-set questionnaire and structured interview is inadequate to
disclose their situation and genuine feelings. Therefore, in this research, an
ethnographic case study design is adopted, through which I will delineate the everyday
life of a group of secondary students and their deviant behaviors in and out of school.
The resulting dataset will be analyzed against the background of an acutely changing
Chinese society, its economical, political and cultural transformation that affects this
group of young people. Through understanding their interaction with their immediate
environment and social structure, I hope to reframe their deviant behavior and
unfavorable lifestyle, hoping to discover subculture they construct while coping with
the disadvantageous and oppressing situation.
My initial hypothesis is that all of them without exception are struggling for a decent
life caring and esteem. They are trying to adapt themselves to a world that they have
not created but inherited mostly through resisting and negotiating the imposition of the
prevailing structures and rules of the society. I also want to find out whether these
these deviant youth can do better if provided with a moratorium 1 and proper guidance.
Especially at this time, when Western culture and commercialism have gradually
1

This concept is borrowed from the identity theory by Erik Erikson (1994) and his proposal that the
society should offer its young people a period to work through their identity confusion and resolve their
identity crisis. Here it refers to providing deviant students with a relatively tolerant and supportive
environment to understand their situation and work out their problem.
10

embedded into Chinese local culture, it seems important to review the status quo of
youth today with critical and dialectic perspectives. It is only by starting from a solid
understanding of these young people that we will be able to formulate appropriate
measures for the school, family and community to help and assist their transition into a
better and meaningful life.

1.6 Research Questions

Based on a conceptual framework that use subculture as the analytic model, my
research examines a group of deviant students life. The research questions are
categorized into 3 parts, namely the process and social factors that contribute to young
peoples formation of deviant subculture; the organization and elements of this
subculture; and the meaning and function of it. They can be shaped into the following
questions and sub-questions:
1. To what extent are students deviant behaviors influenced by the modern society,
especially in the context of a transforming China?
(1) What are the social factors and how do they contribute to students deviant
behaviors in the school milieu?
(2) How do students perceive and react to their social contexts?
(3) What is the process of the formation of their subculture?
2. What is the organization of the subculture?
(1) What are the elements of the subculture?
(2) What are the value, norm and symbol that pertained to this subculture?
3. What is the meaning and function of the subculture?
(1) What is the position of this subculture within the overall cultural system?
(2) What kind of role this subculture plays during these students growth?
The domain of school was chosen to seek answers for the foregoing research
questions for the reason that: firstly, school is the first key area where the students enter
into authority relationship outside their family (Mungham & Pearson, 1976). It shapes
11

their everyday life and their perception of the society. The worldwide trend of extended
school year for young people also boosts up the importance of youth research in
education. To top it all, Chinese students are occupied with school-based activities and
coursework for more than half of their day. Secondly, education is the very domain
heavily influenced by the political, economical and cultural factors in the society, thus
school is a place where seesaw struggle between different political power and cultural
form (i.e. the dominant and dominated culture) take place. This perspective is
advocated by critical theorists in education such as Paulo Freire and Henry Giroux.
They argue that educators need to understand their students and address the contexts of
their everyday lives, try to develop a pedagogy that critically examines the media and
other cultural artifacts that shape students' cultural contexts, which are nevertheless
frequently ignored in classrooms (Giroux, 1994).

1.7 Significance of the Study

As an exploratory study which aims at contextualizing the existing theories on youth
deviancy and subculture in contemporary China, the significance of the research lies in
examining the social and cultural contexts of Chinese youths deviant behavior in the
following aspects:
The first significance lies in the choice of research field. According to the literature,
a large part of studies adopting qualitative approach are conducted in the Western
countries, very few have undertaken an in-depth examination in the sociocultural
settings beyond the Western world. In view of this scarcity, this study attempts to shed
some light on the young peoples situation in the context of Mainland China.
The second contribution is the innovative adoption of research method and the effort
to contextualize. Most of the existing studies on deviant youth in China rest on Western
sociological and later criminological theories, and only a few empirical studies were
conducted to reveal the genuine world of deviant youth. Even among these few studies,
the image of deviant youth is vaguely represented with statistics showing the
demographics of deviant youth. Hence, it is essential to sort out first those theories that
are suitable for Chinese context and integrate them in order to interpret the deviant
youth and their culture through well-grounded fieldwork. This will be the main
contribution of this research and where its innovative method rests on. However, it
12

should be said that, this research does not aim at drawing a generalized conclusion or
universal explanation on deviant youth behavior out of the observation and interview of
limited number of informants. Nevertheless, the research is committed to unveiling a
social reality of young people from their angle of viewpoint, and understanding the
conflict and contradiction they encounter in contemporary China. Thereby this research
tries to discover and interpret in-depth the form and meaning of their lifestyle with the
hope of providing to other researchers a more accurate yet experiential information
and assessment.
Third, in the process of unfolding the research findings, I want to give to the
participants of this study a voice. By reading the stories of deviant young people
through their own words and actions, the readers can gain a richer and more
sympathetic understanding of their troubled lives. It is hoped that their narratives can
contribute to a better understanding of their behavior and subculture. This information
could be extremely relevant for parents, educators and institutions in authority, upon
which some germane service could be designed and provided.
Finally, I also hope to reveal the creativity and subjectivity of these youth in their
rebellious behavior which is often overlooked or insufficiently discussed, and give
them back well-deserved acknowledgement and appreciation.

1.8 Organization of the Thesis

The thesis is comprised of eight chapters. Chapter 1 is an introductive account, which
provides a broad picture of the background this research situated in, as well as its
purpose of the research, research questions, significance and structure of the thesis;
Chapter 2 is the literature review covering relevant theories and existing research on
youth deviant behavior, youth culture, followed by the definition of some key concepts
and the conceptual framework of the research;
Chapter 3 elaborates on the whole design, the methodology and the process of this
research. The data analysis method is also explained at last;
The next four chapters present the findings and interpretation of the research, with
four emerging themes from the first-hand data collected in the fieldwork. Each theme
will stand alone as one chapter. Chapter 4 gives a detailed introduction of the social
13

background, local and institutional situation that are closely related to the research
participants; Chapter 5 discloses the whole process of students interaction with school
and teachers, and the formation of individual adaptation modes and subsequent
subculture; Chapter 6 offers a comprehensive delineation of my participants subculture;
and Chapter 7 discusses the relationship between this subculture and the dominant
culture. While acknowledging that young peoples subculture is deeply influenced by
the social structures with dominant culture as mediation, this chapter also emphasizes
the agency of the research participants and the positive aspects of their subculture.
As the closing remark, Chapter 8 gives the conclusion and the suggestions for
educators to understand and help deviant students. The limitation of the research and
possible issues for further study are also discussed.

14

CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
Research on deviant behavior of young people and their subculture is really a piece
of interdisciplinary crossover which covers the criminology, the sociology of education
and the cultural study. Since this research aims at revealing the day-to-day life of a
group of deviant students against the background of an increasingly changing Chinese
society, it is necessary to review the theories and research that may shed some light on
understanding the complexity of situation these young people are exposed to.
In this chapter, I will introduce the existing works on deviant behavior pertinent to
my research, particularly those from the camp of sociology of deviant behavior. An
attempt to develop an ideal classification of the existing theories on deviance is
laborious because of the many patterns of deviant behavior emphasized by different
scholars. Their explanations may sometimes overlap or even contradict each other.
Furthermore, the idea of a specific scholar may evolve over time and rightly reflect the
social changes at the research site. The referred difficulty to reach a synthesis in
classifying theories on sociology of deviance is rather evident (see Adler & Adler,
2006; Clinard & Meier, 2004; Downes & Rock, 2011; Empey, 1982; Scott & Douglas,
1972; Sagarin, 1975; Wooden & Blazak, 2001). To deal with this complexity, I will
only focus on those theories that have been more frequently applied in the research of
deviant youth, and try to expound them in sequence that can better serve the
establishment of my research framework.
As we will see in the following sections, some components of the sociological
theories of deviant behavior have undergone a shift in paradigm from an exclusively
macroscopic, structural-functionalist interpretation to a more microscopic, cultural
sensitive, interactionist stance, and some of them have dissolved into the literature of
subculture study on young people. Therefore, I will devote the second section of this
chapter to the phenomenon of paradigm shift in the theories of deviant behavior.
The final section of this chapter will introduce the existing research in the context
15

of China. The link to the domain of education will be highlighted throughout the
discussion in this chapter. At last, a theoretical framework for the present research will
be proposed.

2.2 Deviant Youth as a Social Pathology: Structural-functional

Perspectives on Deviant Youth
2.2.1 The Chicago School
The sociological theorizing on deviant behavior can be traced back to the nineteenth
century when scholars were concerned with the nature of social norms, social
conventions, and constructing an enduring and just social order (Scott & Douglas,
1972). It was not until the 1920s that deviant behavior, youth deviancy in particular,
emerged as a research topic when scholars at the University of Chicago undertook a
series of studies on the urbanization of Chicago city and its impact on the society.
During that time period, Chicago was witnessing major social changes. Millions of
immigrants from different countries such as Ireland, Sweden, Germany, Poland and
Italy were settling in the city, and each of these ethnic groups was struggling to find a
place to settle and make a living. The combination of diverse ethnic groups and
fast-paced urbanization gave birth to a new American tradition: Gangs. Meanwhile, the
rate of urban youth crime was soaring (Downes & Rock, 1998; Wooden & Blazak,
2001). The American sociologists, especially those at the University of Chicago, set out
with a series of studies on youth deviant behavior. This a cohort of scholars and their
theories became to be known as the Chicago School with its prominent contribution to
scholarship on the general sociology and the sociology of deviant behavior. Generally
speaking, the research of the Chicago School mostly concerns with the influence of
spatial organization, social structure and historical change to understand the rapid
proliferation of youth crime in American during the early part of the twentieth century.
The Schools many studies have influenced the subsequent research, both theoretical
and empirical, in other cities and continents.
The main tenet of structural-functionalist theory is to treat the society as a living
organism, and to examine how its components such as the institutions of production,
education, human relations and belief interrelate with each other and contribute to the
16

smooth operation and survival of the society as a whole (Downes & Rock, 1998;
Morrow & Torres, 1995). Their research on deviant behavior is based on the
assumption that deviant behavior is highly relevant to certain structural conditions
within a society. Therefore, the structural-functionalist theory mainly attempts to
explain the distribution of deviant behavior in time and space, which can be assimilated
to epidemiology of deviance (Clinard & Meier, 2004). However, every variant of the
structural-functionalist theory focuses on specific aspects of deviant behavior, and
organizes their argument around those variables. Basically, there are two major
theories contributed to this perspective: Social disorganization and Anomie/Strain
Theory. Although the origin and tradition of the Chicago School is structural-functional
orientated, it was also associated with a specific kind of urban micro-sociology which
paid particular attention to the interaction of peoples self-perceptions with others
views about them (Thornton, 1996). It is worth noting that the term subculture is a
keyword in this line of research on deviant youth. This will be explained in detail in the
later part of this chapter.

2.2.2 Social disorganization theory

The term social disorganization came about when Chicago School sociologists
counterpoised the term social organization by Durkheim. Sociologists of the Chicago
School believed that social organization involved an integration of customs, teamwork,
high morale, and bonding, which would lead to harmonious social relationships. In
contrast, social disorganization refers to the failure of social institutions or social
organizations (e.g., schools, business, policing, real estate, group networking) in certain
communities and/or neighborhoods. Chicago School sociologists claimed that due to
the great transition of Chicago city (e.g., rising immigrant population, rapid
industrialization and urbanization), its social norm collapsed and the social control
weakened. Accordingly, the rate of deviant behavior rose (Douglas & Waksler, 1982).
The concept of social disorganization was adopted by scholars interested in looking
at youth gangs and delinquency. The research by Thrasher (1927/1963) with over 1000
street gangs in downtown Chicago supports that they are the result of social
disorganization in the changing urban area characterized by deteriorating neighborhood,
shifting populations and the unstable mobility of slum. Shaw and McKay (1942/1969)
17

also tried to describe the relationship between crime rates and the social organization in
various zones of Chicago. They collected data from over 56,000 juvenile court records
which covered a period of time from 1900 to 1933 and reached the similar conclusions
as Thrasher: the areas with high delinquency rate have higher percentage of immigrants
and lower income families. They further argued that delinquency can also be attributed
to an acceptance of non-conventional norms which compete with conventional ones, no
matter what is the makeup of ethnic groups within population. Socially disorganized
neighborhoods lead to a lack of control over their children with consequent youth gang
proliferation (Empey, 1982). Shaw and McKay suggest that the rate of delinquency
may be greatly decreased as long as those deviant youth move to relatively developed
communities.
However, after a period of prominence during the 1950s and 1960s, the concept of
social disorganization became under fierce criticisms. Whyte (1943/1993) used his
ethnographic data in Street Corner Society to argue that social disorganization only
signified the observers failure to understand the system of the neighborhood
investigated, which are actually well-organized. Others also criticized that it is too
simple to account for the diversity of social life (Downes & Rock, 1998). Nonetheless,
the perspective of social disorganization has greatly influenced the development of
several ensuing theories, even if they were antithetical. For example, the control
theory by Hirschi (1969) can be considered as a critical development of the social
disorganization theory, despite his effort to disassociate from its predecessor due to a
paradigm shift in the academia at that time with emphasis on psychological explanation
(Bartollas, 1990). In his more elaborated formulation, Hirschi argued that young
people deviate from the social norms and laws because the weak or broken of social
bonds that attach them to others (i.e. parents, teachers, religious leaders), and
subsequently commit them to rational components of conformity, conventional
activities, and to sustain their belief in the common value system (Messner &
Rosenfeld, 2007). This view has moved the argument about social disorganization
theory from the macro societal level to the institutional level.
Moreover, Bursik (1988) observed that the ramifications of this perspective still can
be discovered in modern criminology and, seemly, there is a revitalization of social
disorganization approach in research. Many researchers have been trying to
reformulate and reexamine the concept in recently years (Kubrin & Weitzer, 2003;
18

Osgood & Chambers, 2000; Warner & Pierce, 1993).

The application of social disorganization in the context of China does exist among
contemporary studies. Chinese researchers (e.g. Hou, 2000; Su, 2003; Zhang, 2003)
usually adopt it alongside with other theories in a blended manner to explain the
emergence of youth deviant behavior in a rapidly changing Chinese society, which will
be presented at the end of the section.

2.2.3 Anomie/Strain Theory

Borrowing from Durkheims concept of anomie, Merton (1938) formulated his own
theory on deviancy called Strain Theory. He argued that the real problem is not created
by a sudden social change and the subsequent breakdown of social control over its
members as the social disorganization theory proposed but, rather, by the structure of
modern industrial society that imposes the same goals on people across all social strata
without providing them with viable means to attain such goals. The society generally
encourages its members to achieve goals mainly with monetary incentives and other
legitimate means such as attainments in education, stable employment and relatively
well-paid occupations. However, such opportunities are fewer for disadvantaged
groups, including the poor, the lower class, and certain racial and ethnic groups who
suffer discrimination. Consequently, the sharp discrepancy between what mainstream
culture calls for and what the structure permits drives some disadvantaged people to try
to achieve culturally valued goals through illegitimate means. Deviance then occurs as
an adaption to cope with the strain, hence the Strain Theory (McDonald, 1969; Clinard
& Meier, 2004). The lower-class young people are also impelled to violate the social
norms as a way to express their anger and frustration, and an alternative to achieve
status success (Empey, 1982).
Cloward and Ohlin (1960/2000) developed the concept of differential opportunity to
expand Mertons theory. They contended that delinquent adolescents have already
internalized an emphasis upon conventional goals but they face with limitations on
legitimate avenues of access to these goals and are unable to revise their aspirations
downward, which lead to the exploration of nonconformist alternatives. However, it is
important to note that not all the working class youth will have delinquent behaviors,
they further argue, unless they have the opportunities. Following Mertons mode of
19

adaptations to structural strain, three types of delinquent subculture can be

distinguished according to the way their slum communities are organized, namely, the
criminal subculture, the conflict subculture, and the retreatist subculture, which refer
respectively to the professional criminals, malicious and violent gangs, and alcoholic
or drug abusers. Besides the theoretical contribution, Cloward and Ohlin were also
actively involved in the delinquency prevention and control of youth, and catalyzed an
array of American federal initiatives against delinquency during the 1960s (Empey,
1982).
However, the Strain Theory is not without inadequacies. Mertons typology is not
logically robust due to his over-simplistic accept-reject dichotomy towards the goals
and means. His theory has also been widely criticized for failing to give an adequate
account about the complex diversity of values and actions in the modern society as well
as for his assumption of universal standards to distinguish the legitimate means from
the illegitimate means of pursuing social goals. Furthermore, its exclusive focus on the
inequality of legitimate means causes it unable to explain how the other features of the
institutional structure of society influence individuals behavior (Messner & Rosenfeld,
2007). In addition, its overemphasis of deviant behavior in lower class may mislead
people to label the members in lower class (Brake, 1985; Clinard & Meier, 2004).
Despite all these criticisms, Mertons adaptation model has enlightened the
researchers in several fields, especially in the sociology of education. Of particular
influence is Mertons adaptation models five coping mechanism that individuals
adopt to deal with the mismatch between social goal and opportunity available. Some
scholars have borrowed and furthered the Strain Theory to understand the complexity
of pro/anti school behavior of students. Hammersley and Turner (1984) outlined it in a
as in the table that follows.

20

Figure 2.1 A typology of modes of individual adaptation

Modes of Adaptation
Culture Goals

Institutionalized Means

I.

Conformity

II.

Innovation

III.

Ritualism

IV.

Retreatism

V.

Rebellion

* (+) signifies acceptance, (-) signifies rejection, and () signifies rejection of prevailing values
and substitution of new values.
Source: Hammersley, M., & Turner, G. (1984). Conformist pupils? In M. Hammersley & P. Woods
(Eds.), Life in school: the sociology of pupil culture. Milton Keynes: Open University Press (p. 163)

Various versions of the model were developed in order to fit in the specific group of
students under study. Among these models, Woods (1979) took cue from Wakefords
formulation and turned it into a more complex one in order to capture the diversity of
school values and students situational and strategic adaptation.
Figure 2.2 Revised typology of modes of adaptation in the state secondary system
GOALS
Indifference

Indulgence

Identification

Rejection

Ambivalent

without

Rejection with
replacement

replacement
Indifference

Retreatism

Indulgence

Retreatism

Ingratiation

Ingratiation

M
E Identification

Ritualism

COMPLIANCE

Compliance

A
N Rejection

Retreatism

Retreatism

S with
replacement

Ambivalent

Colonization

Rejection

Intransigence

OPPORTUNISM

Rebellion

without
replacement
Key
Capitals: typical of early years
Italics: typical of later years
Arrows: some typical movements
Source: Woods, P. (1979). The divided school. London: Routledge & K. Paul (p. 79).
21

In Woods model, the general institutional goals of the school such as to train, to
socialize and to civilize are the socially approved and the means to attain them is to
follow the methods and regulations that teacher and school prescribe. His model then
breaks down students attitude towards the schools official goals and means into six
distinct valences and the combination of them yields a total of eight types of adaptation,
which can be summarized as follow (Woods, 1979):
Ingratiation develops from a strongly positive response (indulgence) to goals and
means. It stands for behavioral pattern to maximize benefits by earning the favor of
those with power, and are usually undisturbed by their peers due to its unpopularity. It
is a kind of hyper-conformity.
Compliance develops from some affinity for and identification with the goals and
means. It can be further broken down into optimistic compliance and instrumental
compliance according to the extent of students agreement to the goals.
Ritualism and opportunism are the other two modes of adaptation that
demonstrate conformity. The former shows no interest to schools goal and just
passively follows the official norms of behavior within the school. The latter is a
transitional phase before settling into a style by trying out different modes.
Different from the above, the following four types of adaptation are considered more
negative in nature and unwelcome by the school:
Retreatism is characterized by an indifference to or rejection (without replacement)
of both goals and means. Students who adopt this mode are detached to school life.
They will try to pass the time by doing nothing, mucking about, having a laugh or
daydreaming during lessons. Unofficial activities such as playing cards, group
smoking and reading novels, etc. will also be undertaken by retreatist.
Colonization is considered the most prevalent mode of adaptation among students,
especially in middle and later years. According to Woods description, colonizer
employs both official and unofficial means to achieve either official or unofficial ends.
In this sense, in addition to optimizing what the system can offer, colonizers also use
illegal means at times such as copying others homework, cheating in tests, lying to
avoid punishment, etc.

22

Intransigence can be considered as the other extreme of ritualism. It is

characterized by an indifference to the schools ends and rejection to its means. But
instead of drifting with the school value and norm, student adopting this mode
demonstrate persistent and powerful resistance and opposition to the rules, rituals and
regulations of the school.
Rebellion stands for substituting schools goals and means by both new goals and
means. According to Woods, Rebellious students are even easier to handle than
intransigents because their replacement of goals is usually connected to future work
such as hairdresser for girls and factory worker for boys, and thus their behaviors are
less disruptive as long as their alternative can be accommodated. However, Woods also
points out that school may run the risk of turning both rebels and colonizers into
intransigents by their imposition of conformity mechanism.
Woods adoption and elaboration of Strain Theory in the context of school is
insightful. However, his definition of goals and means that only restrain the education
process seems problematic. According to Woods interpretation, the educational means
in Mertons original theory become both goals and means and the central theoretical
importance of economic goals is lost (Farnworth & Leiber, 1989). The reality is that
operationalization of strain is widely used in youth studies. Many researchers claimed
the disjunction between educational aspirations and expectations is the main source of
young peoples stress (e.g., Agnew, 1985; Hirschi, 1969; Liska, 1971; Liu & Lin, 2007).
However, this interpretation fails to recognize that young peoples strain can also result
from the discrepancy between strong monetary and material ambitions and attainable
means. This phenomenon has been revealed by Messner and Rosenfeld (2007) in their
observation of the correlation between the prominence of American Dream in the US
society and youth crimes. Therefore, to understand how contemporary Chinese
students cope with the situation in the school, Strain Theory and Woods interactionist
model are useful but subject to some revision.
Although the origin and tradition of the Chicago School is structural-functional
oriented, it also comes to be associated with a specific kind of urban micro-sociology
which pays particular attention to the interaction of peoples perceptions of themselves
with others views about them (Gelder & Thornton, 1996).

23

2.3 Deviant Youth as Representative of Class Struggle: Conflict

Theory
Differing from the viewpoint held by functional theory that the society is an organic
system that aims at maintaining the harmony of every part, the Conflict Theory tries to
disclose the tension in the society and its clusters created by competing interests of
individuals and groups. In this light, the society is not a product of consensus over
shared values, but the outcome of a continuous struggle among social classes.
According to the conflict view, then, deviance represents behavior that conflicts with
the standards of the dominant class of society who possesses the power to shape public
opinion and policy. In this sense, crime along with other forms of deviance is a socially
constructed category (Clinard & Meier, 2004). Two key issues emerge from the conflict
discourse, namely, the reproduction and the resistance, which have been addressed by
the pivotal theories of cultural reproduction and resistance (Ballantine, 2001).

2.3.1 Cultural reproduction

The critical review of social reproduction in industrial capitalist era tends to look at
the state power apparatuses (i.e. army, police, courts and prisons) and the consent
systems (i.e. school, family, mass media and other agents). According to Althusser
(1972), school plays an important role in the process of reproduction or maintenance
of system of production and power arrangement. Other theorists of cultural
reproduction also set forth their arguments to disclose how this reproduction is realized.
Bourdieu and Passeron (1977) criticized the view that schools are simply mirrors of
the society and argued that schools are relatively autonomous social agents, only
indirectly influenced by the economic and political institutions. According to these
scholars, school reproduces the power relations subtly via the production and
distribution of a dominant culture that tacitly confirms what it means to be educated
(Giroux, 2001). The cultural dimension of reproduction comes along with two key
concepts, namely, cultural capital and habitus.
Cultural capital refers to the cultural style of the ruling class that pervades all the
state apparatuses and it is thus legitimized as objective culture (Gordon, 1984).
Cultural capital includes different sets of linguistic and cultural competencies such as
24

qualities of style, modes of thinking and types of dispositions that are favored by
dominant culture and, as Bourdieu and Passeron (1977) posit can only be inherited
from individuals family and is convertible to economic capital under certain conditions
(Bourdieu, 1986). Since the main function of the school is to legitimize and reproduce
dominant culture, students with the most valued cultural capital backgrounds and class
relations would have more opportunities to succeed. By contrast, students whose
families have tenuous connections to cultural capital would be in highly valued by the
society are at a predetermined disadvantage. And this inequality of specific cultural
capital demonstrated at the beginning mainly in school performance further leads to
differential access to social mobility and economic status.
Following the logic of this analysis, the dynamics of cultural reproduction would be
revealed in two ways. First, the dominant classes exert their power to secure valuable
meanings and incorporate such cultural arbitariness and symbolic violence into
education in a neutral and disguised form. Second, the school instills a class-based
culture through teaching practice into students subjective dispositions of mind and
body, which is denoted as habitus by Bourdieu, and the cultural reproduction gets
perpetuated in this way(Giroux, 2001).

2.3.2 Critics and Resistance Theory

Bourdieu and Passerons analysis is credited as a significant advance to merely
materialistic analysis, as it introduced the cultural variable to identify the fact that the
main obstacles encountered by students from the lower classes in their academic career
are more cultural than economic (Izquierdo & Minguez, 2003). Ballantine also agrees
by saying that this approach can be useful in attempting to explain situations where
conflict exists (Ballantine, 2001). However, some critics argue that similar to
functional theories, the macroscopic focus on structure and process of organizations are
a critical weakness of this theory when it looks into the individual definitions of
situations and interactions with the system (Ballantine, 2001). In a similar vein, Willis
(1977) criticized their interpretation of conception of culture that exclusively pertains
to dominant class while totally ignoring of the agency of working class with its
countercultural, counter-hegemonic action and resistance to reproduction. For Willis,
each class in the capital society develops a set of culture form related to their position
25

in the social system. However, they cannot coexist in harmony. Instead, contestation,
resistance and compromise interplay in cultural arenas of every generation between the
dominant and the dominated strata (Gordon, 1984). This argument was illustrated by
his ethnographic study on twelve working class kids in a British town, to be introduced
in detail later. Williss work and argument is widely accepted as it provides a significant
contribution to the sociological theory of education because it takes as a reference
point what is missing or is only touched upon in previous theories: resistance
(Izquierdo & Minguez, 2003, p. 33).
Williss research is not the only one that looks into the everyday life of working class
youth and their unique culture. It can be said that a whole body of academic tradition
does exist and it can be traced back to a particular line of thoughts of the Chicago
School and some scholarship from the Centre of Contemporary Culture Studies in
Birmingham (CCCS).

2.4 Deviant as a Resistant Lifestyle: Youth Culture and Subculture

2.4.1 Interactionist perspective of youth problem and youth subculture
Before introducing the subculture studies of the Chicago School, it is important to
note that the cultural features of deviant behavior are not an abrupt break from extant
perspectives. As a matter of fact, the attempt to understand working-class youth culture
always hints at the other perspectives introduced previously (Brake, 1985). The
typology of delinquent subculture by Cloward and Ohlin (1960) and the explanation of
delinquency formation by Shaw and McKay (1969) were cases in point. It is for
claritys sake that they are grouped in this literature review but, in reality, they all
share the same interpretive framework.
Drawing on his milestone research about the delinquent members of male gangs in
the 1950s, Cohen (1955/1971) tried to develop a general theory of subcultures. He
suggested that subcultures emerge when a number of persons encounter similar
problem in highly differentiated and complex societies. He also argued that the kind of
problems people encounter depends on the social structures such as age, gender, ethnic
category, social class, etc. and the opportunities to create and select solutions are also
determined by their position in the system. In order to solve shared problems, people
26

interact with each other in the immediate social milieu; they change their frame of
reference; and, they work out collective solutions. With regard to lower class young
people, Cohen proposed that the status problems is one of the most distressing ones
because it is related to achieving respect from their fellows. It could be thought that
the paths to upward mobility can be guaranteed by achievements at high school, but
these achievements are measured with middle-class criteria. So the chance for
working-class youth to obtain middle-class success is slim. When they encounter
conflict and failure in the school, one solution is to subvert the middle class norm and
value, and to establish their own culture instead subculture. Thus, the subculture
provides an alternative status system in which they feel more capable and better
equipped to compete than in the school environment (Clinard & Meier, 2004).
Cohens interpretation of working-class subculture provoked many debates. Miller
(1958) argued that the emergence of youth delinquent subculture is not a reaction to
status failure, rather, its an extension of working-class focal concerns, such as
toughness, smartness, autonomy and excitement, which are culturally different from
middle-class culture characterized by hard working, deferred gratification and
emphasis on education (Empey, 1982). Later, Brake (1985) pointed out its deficiency to
describe young peoples delinquent instrumentality, the family dynamics and so on.
Nevertheless, Cohens influence on all subsequent subcultural theories is significant
because it integrates the reality of neighborhood and interprets the subculture as a
solution (Brake, 1985).
Starting with a view of deviant behavior as a collective action Becker (1963)
developed his interpretation of deviant behavior and subculture through his research on
unconventional dance musicians and marihuana users. In his ground-breaking work
Outsider, Becker pointed out the relative nature of social norm and deviance, and
claimed that deviance is a consequence of the application by others of rules and
sanctions to an offender. The deviant is one to whom the label has successfully been
applied; deviant behavior is behavior that people so label (p. 9). This perspective is
widely known as the Labeling Theory but Becker (1963) preferred to call it as the
interactionist perspective. It stresses the importance of the process through which
society defines particular acts as deviant; and the role of negative social sanctions in
influencing individuals to engage in subsequent deviant acts. Interactionist perspective
on deviance devotes great effort to reveal the social dynamics between the actor
27

accused as deviant and others who impose their judgment (Clinard & Meier, 2004).
As education has become the most commonly shared experience for all youth in a
modern society, several studies focus on the schooling experience and the formation of
anti-school culture in young people. The social class is however often underscored by
such studies as one of the key factors that influence the differentiation of students
behavior and subculture. This trend is evident both in American and British works on
youth deviance, and have contributed to the main theorization of youth subculture
(Downes & Rock, 2011). Downes (1966) compared the American youth subculture
with British youth subculture and identified that youth delinquency in Britain results
from a process of dissociation from middle-class dominated school context. Brake
(1985) elegantly concludes disdain for the limited job opportunity market, consequent
on educational failure, led to the adoption of a collective delinquent solution in
response to the newly emerging teenage culture (p. 60). This process can be both
implicitly and explicitly manifested through several aspects of school life as follow:
Some studies (e.g. Ball, 1984; Boaler, 1997; Boaler et al., 2000; Lacey, 1966;
Woods, 1979) examined the effect of school organization on students. For example,
Balls research reveals that the banding system reflects and reinforces teachers
perception of students in three different bands (1984). Band 1 students are usually
considered as easy to control and teach, co-operative, the Band 2 forms are
behavioral and disciplinary blackspot and Band 3 are the bottom that consist of
students that are largely defined as maladjusted. Ball argued that the band stereotypes
per se significantly shape students identities and their subsequent behaviors. He also
discovered a close relationship between banding and social class. Children of
middle-class and non-manual workers tend to be allocated to band 1 forms, whereas
those from manual working-class homes are more likely to be allocated to band 2 or 3.
Some other studies (e.g. Dunne & Gazeley, 2008; Rist, 1970/2000) investigated
teachers perception of students from different social classes and their differential
treatment that is based on the biased perception. Rist (1970/2000)s longitudinal study
of a group of black children is considered the most classic one. He observed the seat
assignment of children from late kindergarten through early year of elementary
schooling and teachers interaction with them. The finding is interesting that the criteria
used by teachers to differentiate the children at various tables are mainly the degree of
28

childrens verbalization, dress, personal cleanliness, manner, performance, etc., most of

which are consistent with the socioeconomic status of childrens families. Basing on
these criteria, children with best condition are considered as teachers ideal type of
successful students and thus chosen for seats at table 1, whereas children with less or
the least goodness of fit are placed at table 2 and 3 respectively. And the expectation,
attention and interaction that teacher allocates to children are skewed accordingly.
More deleteriously, this differential treatment and underlying attitude of teachers are
realized and somehow internalized by children, and finally results in a phenomenon
that is termed as self-fulfilling prophecy. Although Rists research was conducted in
1960s, it remains relevant to contemporary education. This is not only substantiated by
his reflection thirty years later but also by the practice of Harvard Educational Review
to republish his work in 2000. Rists work can be considered as echoing
reproductionists argument about the function of education, but he elucidated the
process in great detail that most reproductionist literature does not.
A score of studies looked into students different adaptations and subcultures during
their interaction with school system and teachers (Corrigan, 1979; Hargreaves, 1999;
Woods, 1979). In his ethnographic research in a secondary school located in problem
area, Hargreaves (1999) describes two streams of student subculture in the school.
They are the academic-oriented high stream of students who conform to the values and
expectations of their school and teachers, and the low stream of students in opposite
position who construct a potentially delinquent, yet not actually delinquent subculture.
Hargreaves identified a common psychosocial trajectory of low stream students
during their last two school years, the onset of adolescent syndrome is concomitant
with the perception of status deprivation within school and its extension into their
future careers (ibid, p. 183).
From the above, it is possible to conclude that although there are many structural
factors such as gender and race intertwining with students underachievement at school,
their social class is still a salient factor that sows the seed of inequality at the early
stage of their deprivation process.

2.4.2 Birmingham: youth deviant behavior as a semiotic construction

The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) at Birmingham University is
29

another stronghold of youth subculture research and it has profoundly shaped the
interests and methods of subcultural analysis from the 1960s through the 1980s (Gelder
& Thornton, 2005). During this period, modern Western society has witnessed a variety
of anti-establishment style countercultures following in succession (i.e., the Teddy
Boys of 19531957, the Mod and Rockers of 19641966, the Skinheads of
19671970, and the Punk Rockers of the late 1970s) along with the post-war affluence
(Fox, 2006). The creators of these countercultures were all working-class youth and
they were considered as troublemakers at that moment. These young people and their
unique subcultures became the focus of the CCCS scholars, also known as the
Birmingham School. They synthesized the disparate theoretical traditions including the
sociology of deviance, neo-Gramscian hegemony theory and Barthesian semiology into
their research. In this line, working-class subcultures of resistance are read politically
as symbolic challenges to the dominant culture (McGuigan, 1992). Generally speaking,
there are two approaches in the CCCS analysis: to unravel the meaning of style and
fashion, and to disclose the relations of subculture and class (Brake, 1985).
Hebdiges (1979) Subculture: the meaning of style is an insightful appraisal of punk
subculture as one of the most comprehensive cultural statement among all post-war
working class youth culture. He also notes that the media plays an increasingly crucial
role in shaping the youth subcultures. They not only echo peoples anxiety over youth
subculture through selective reports on deviant behavior of subculture members, but
also work with the dominant culture and commercial machinery to incorporate
subcultures into harmless cultural consumer-goods. This argument provides an
important dimension for subcultural analysis, namely, the rampant growth of media
and consumerism in the formation of youth subculture. In addition, a growing mood of
pessimism about youth subculture and their resistant behavior can be inferred from this
view. Similarly so is Cohens statement, the latent function of subculture is this: to
express and resolve, albeit magically, the contradictions which remain hidden or
unresolved in the parent culture (Cohen, 1972/1987, p. 23).
Willis offered a more advanced class analysis of youth anti-school subculture and
made the delineation of resistance of the lads more explicit. At the outset of his
Learning to labor, Willis (1977) pinpointed an inconvenient truth by saying that The
difficult thing to explain about how middle class kids get middle class jobs is why
others let them. The difficult thing to explain about how working class kids get working
30

class jobs is why they let themselves (p. 1). It aired out reproductionists failure to
unlid the black box of how the dominant classes maintain their status as well as how
disadvantaged social groups agree to take the defeated position. Willis chose school as
the lieu to observe how conflict and resistance take place: teaching paradigm streams
students into conforming ones and indocile ones. He observed the institutional
differentiation as well as the sarcasm and punishment towards the lads at class. He
argued that it is not possible to say that there is teachers conspiracy, but considering
the rebellious period the lads are in, the schools and teachers practice can only drive
them to the opposite side. That is to develop a set of counter-school culture to display
their individuality, revert to the confidence and construct their self-identity through this.
Regardless of the form, content or ethos, the counter-school culture is a resistance
against the dominant culture or, to echo Willis, the Bourgeois Culture. Although their
resistance might open into the situation of reproduction all the same and makes their
action appear like self-damnation or self-entrapment, the cultural creativity and
agency the lads exhibit should not be easily overlooked. Their resistance can also be
seen in a positive light, as Willis (1977) claimed, it represents both a freedom,
election and transcendence, and a precise insertion into a system of exploitation and
oppression for working class people (p. 120). Despite the insightfulness and power of
his arguments, Willis has been criticized for failing to articulate the possible
connection between the resistance of the lads and educational change (Izquierdo &
Minguez, 2003).

2.5 Contemporary Research on Deviant Youth in China

2.5.1 Profile of the youth deviant behavior
As youth deviant behavior has become an alarming phenomenon in recent years in
China, more and more studies have been conducted to address this problem. Many
scholars (e.g. Guo, 2002; Qu, 1996; Zhuo, 2001) tried to develop a categorization of
deviant behaviors with statistical information. They compile and summarize reports
and official documents on youth deviant behavior in different cities such as playing
truant, running away from home and illicit drug use, which top the list of Chinese
students deviant behaviors. A common claim of such studies is that new patterns of
youth deviant behaviors are influenced by the acute transformation of the Chinese
31

social structure. The link between the deviant behaviors and society are purportedly:
a) making quick money and possessing illegal goods become the main objective of
deviant behavior; b) deviant behavior is increasing dramatically in terms of its forms
and techniques; c) the age for young peoples onset of criminal behavior gets lower; d)
more female get involved in the deviant behavior when it used to be exclusively a
masculine problem, such as gang affiliation, assaulting and bullying; e) young peoples
deviant behaviors tend to take a collective form (Guo, 1996; Wei, 1996; Zhang, 2001).
Some other researchers (Cheung, 1997; Jin, 2006; Lin, 2005) use self-report
questionnaire or in-depth interviews to examine the different impact of the variables
such as family, mass-media, academic achievement on deviant behavior. The
arguments they make are rather consistent: poor family education, teachers
mistreatment and low academic achievement contribute to the deviant behavior of
young people. The violent and pornographic contents in the media are frequently
mentioned as negative influences on Chinese youth (Huang, 2005; Li, 2005; Yung,
1998; Yan, 2005).
It should be noted however that most of the existing studies rely on second-hand
data and are descriptive in nature without a concrete theoretical framework.

2.5.2 Theory digestion on youth deviant behavior

Chinese scholars from various disciplines such as education, sociology, social work
and law try to introduce and adapt the Western deviance theories into the local contexts.
Xie (2000) incorporated viewpoints from the Social Learning Theory, the Conflict
Theory and the Resistance literature into sociology of education to give a general
account on students behavioral problems in school. Liu (2003a; 2003b) offered a
review of significant theories of sociology of deviance with emphasis on youth deviant
behavior. Then he analyzed the applicability of these theories with reference to the
socioeconomic, political and cultural uniqueness of China. Liu claimed that most
theories can be integrated into an analytical model to explain the youth problem in the
changing context of China. However, since there is no clear definition of and strict
differentiation between social classes in China, Liu claimed, the class-differentiated
study of working-class youth culture is not completely suitable, yet it can shed some
light on the understanding of the development of a multi-valued youth culture and the
32

generation gap between youth and adult nowadays. Wong (1994) participated in the
sociological debate among scholars on youth problem in China during 1990s and
advocated an integral model to interpret youth problem. He illustrated this new
theoretical trend of inter-complementing among different theories from the West. For
example, some researchers combined the Anomie Theory with the Control Theory and
the Differential Association Theory to study prostitution among young people; the
Class Analysis and the Social Learning Theory were used to interpret young drug
addicts and their deviant behaviors; the Control Theory and the Labeling Theory can
better explain why young people fail to quit from misdeed. The integral model, as
Wong proposed can effectively address the youth problem in China against the
background of social reforms.

2.5.3 Contextualization of theoretical model on deviant behavior

In addition to theoretical digesting, many Chinese researchers have tried to borrow
theories or models from sociology of deviant behavior to guide their empirical study.
Liu (1994) adopted the Control Theory to examine how an array of social bonds such
as attachment to family, school and traditional peer group, and the personal variables
like socialization and self-concept contribute to the juvenile delinquency in the context
of China by surveying 403 junior high school students in Shenzhen city. He claims that
personal variables outweigh social control variables to explain the Chinese students
delinquency potentiality, and suggests that the more likely they are from stable homes,
having good adjustment at school, holding optimistic attitude towards their lives,
trusting in others and believing in social norms, the less delinquency potentiality the
Chinese children demonstrate (p. 116). Although as Liu claims, this maybe the first
systematic attempt to borrow a Western theory into the empirical research on Chinese
delinquents, the use of questionnaire developed in the West brings in many
inconsistencies in the research result, for example, while some students state that they
feel strong attachment to school, they have not less strong dislike of their teachers.
Similarly, Zhang and Messner (1996) drew on the Control Theory to study delinquent
youth in Tianjin city, with particular emphasis on the correlation between school
attachment and deviant behavior. Their study claims that school attachment and school
quality are inversely related to some indicators of official delinquency statistics, and
33

the theory is reasonably generalizable in the context of China.

With an attempt to test Strain Theory in the context of China, Liu and Lin (2007)
surveyed 1,700 middle school students in Fuzhou, Fujian province. They have
reported a significant relationship between students strain over status success and
their delinquency. Their research has also explored the gender difference in the source
of strain and claimed that boys are more susceptible to status-related frustration
whereas girls are more often to experience strain over their appearance.
Through semi-structured questionnaire and personal interviews, Yung (1998)
collected and analyzed detailed information on respondents family background,
self-disclosure of deviance history, use of different media, consumption style and
entertainment. She verifies Cloward and Ohlin's belief that deviance and conformity
result from the same kind of social condition by her research design and finding. She
also strongly supports Hirschis Control Theory which indicates that the stronger the
juveniles are attached to their family, the greater will be their conformity which can
significantly prevent them from committing deviant behavior.
Wong (1997) develops an integrated model which covers a series of interacitionist
theories including the Control Theory, the Differential Association Theory and the
Labeling Theory to examine the interactional effect of different social variables on
youth deviant behavior. Basing on his critique on the method of self-report survey
widely applied by existing studies that can only find out the correlation between
different social variables while unable to reveal the causal relationship among them, he
adopts a longitudinal analysis to follow nineteen young people aged from 13 to 17 in
the New Territories of Hong Kong. Through the method of participant observation,
in-depth interview and case study, three primary factors of young peoples deviant
behavior are identified, namely, weak family attachment, weak school attachment
and negative peer influence. Accordingly, three deviant paths are identified
depending on the factors triggering deviant behavior. Drawing on Stewart et al.s (1994)
typology, Wong further divides participants deviant behaviors into six types defined by
their motivation, which are self expression, social activity, social norm, coping,
life-style and professional. He concludes that at the early stage, their deviant
behaviors mostly fall into the categories of self expression and social activity, the
former one refers to the individuals response to the strain such as frustration, resent,
34

pressure, while the latter one refers to the individuals pursuit of status in their peer
group. When the time in deviant behavior gets longer, they may gradually perceive it as
a lifestyle. However, in Wongs study, none of them is deviant for the sake of earning a
living (the type coping) or justifies deviant value as a social norm.
Several Taiwanese researchers (Hou, 2000; Su, 2003; Zhang, 2003) also integrate
the Social Disorganization Theory, the Social Control Theory and the Learning Theory
to explain the deviant behavior of students in Taiwan. They validate certain theories in
local context but identify some variations such as social bonds, social commitment and
self-discipline that are pivotal in mediating young peoples behavior.
Epstein (2000) examines several studies in Mainland China during the 1990s using
questionnaires to investigate the juvenile delinquency, and identifies some consensus
among these researchers. For example, the criminological paradigms refined in the
West are operational for the Chinese case. However, he questions about the validity of
data and ethical correctness in these studies for the questionnaires were mainly
administered by authority institutions such as Communist Youth League director,
correctional officials, residence committee, etc. Therefore, he recommends a critical
ethnographic approach to gain insight into the daily life of Chinese people who are
marginalized and dispossessed. He also points out a research area that has long been
neglected by Chinese educational scholars, that is, to examine intensively the nature of
peer interaction within and outside of school boundaries. Echoing Epsteins insightful
observation and suggestion, my research aims at the identified research gap using an
ethnographic research design.

2.5.4 Research on youth subculture

Lee (2000) conducts an exploratory study on young night drifters in Hong Kong to
understand their social background and situation. These young people hang around in
groups in public places all through the night. By employing the environmental
perspective of deviancy, which categorizes the cause of deviance into social
environment dimension and physical environment dimension, Lee proposes three
significant social environment factors contribute to their night drifting behavior,
namely, alienated relationships among family members, negative experiences at school,
and night-drifting peer influence. Through semi-participant observation and in-depth
35

interview, the subculture of the night drifter is also described including their
fashionable appearance, leisure activities (i.e. in-line skating and skateboarding), group
organization, etc. Lees research also reports an interesting finding which is rarely
documented: young people in the group can easily develop a close friendship with each
other within a short period of time, and they perceive that night-drifting life style has
offered them a supportive and caring environment which is hard to find at school or in
the family.
Lin (2005) surveys 76 student gang members from 13 gangs in the Chao-Shan
district of Guangdong province, China. Besides indicating the risk factors, such as low
socioeconomic status of family, negative experiences at school and subsequent dropout
that contribute to youth deviant behavior, Lin highlights the cultural uniqueness of
Chao-Shan district as an influence on youth deviant behavior to argue that the
mercantilist ethos and strong cohesion of Chao-Shan district people make young
people more prone to establish gang and become reckless for material benefits.
Huang (2005a) follows Whyte (1993)s framework to describe the organization and
subculture of a youth gang in a Mainland Chinese city. Consistent with Whytes work,
he finds that gang members are characterized by allegiance among themselves, their
effort to gain leadership within it; and, by a highly organized street corner society.
Du (2006) examines the prevalence of the Q version among young Chinese people,
The Q version refers to a lifestyle characterized by unique way of talking, dressing,
pursuit for trendy commodities, etc. She points out that the Q subculture serves as a
vehicle to overthrow the traditional culture and seek identity construction and
self-expression in a quickly changing society.
Following Willis classic work, Learning to labour (1977), the ethnographic study
by Zhou (2011) reveals a comparable counter-school culture among migrant students in
a Beijing school. In her research, the cultural forms of the Zidi (children of migrant
workers) resemble

the lads in Paul Willies work, such as rejecting

academic-orientated activities, having a laff at school and so on; even their

counter-school behaviors are almost identical fulfilling the class reproduction
process. Xiongs (2010) case study of migrant students life in a Shanghai school also
gives a similar account. Although Zhou and Xiongs studies focus on migrant students
whose characteristics differ in several ways with my research participants, they are
36

two among few youth studies grounded on ethnographic data, which make their
research valuable to my investigation of youth problem in terms of methods, findings
and interpretation. However, in their studies, they view the resistance of migrant
students in an extremely pessimistic light, as there is not even slight hope for them to
challenge the reproduction mechanism of migrant labor force and change their
marginalized status due to the current institutional restriction over migrant workers and
their children.
So far I have introduced a score of Chinese studies varying from theoretical
account to empirical research. They all contribute to understanding of youth deviance
in contemporary China and can suggest possible leads for my research. Their findings
(e.g. Cheung, 1997; Guo, 2002; Qu, 1996; Yung, 1998; Zhang, 2001) not only
provided me with basic information of youth problem but also helped to develop my
research questions and design the field investigation. The attempt to integrate relevant
theories to interpret youth deviant behaviors as adopted by aforementioned
researchers (e.g. Hou, 2000; Liu, 1994; Wong, 1997; Zhang & Messner, 1996; Liu &
Lin, 2007) shed lights on the construction of my theoretical framework; Some
researchers advocacy for more ethnographic research in China and some relevant
studies in recent years (e.g. Epstein, 2000; Huang, 2005a; Lee, 2000; Xiong, 2010;
Zhou, 2011) also corroborate the methodology adopted in the present research.
2.5.5 Limitation of existing research
After an extensive search for existing works, it can be stated that the empirical
research on the situation of deviant youth in China is scarce. Furthermore, those scanty
empirical studies tend to use lineal research methods and analysis that are far too
simple to do justice to such a complex subject as deviant youth in China. Their
limitation can be summed up as follow:
First, most of the existing empirical studies use questionnaire, especially self-report
questionnaire as their major method to collect data. The prevalent use of quantitative
survey is decided by the research goal and developing a model to explain the overall
youth deviant behavior. However, given the particularities of the research participants
who have already been marginalized by the society, this practice may further arise their
negative feeling, which is not only ethnically problematic but can also undermines the
validity of the data.
Second, the conclusions from these studies usually account only for demographic
37

data of deviant behavior or the correlation between certain factors and the deviant
behavior. Although they can help to draw a broad picture of the phenomenon of youth
deviant behavior in China, their applicability in understanding specific youth deviant
behavior or youth in a particular context is arguable. Moreover, such conclusions may
lead to stereotyping young people with further stigmatization.
Third, although the existing studies have built a basis for future research, they are
inadequate to give a comprehensive account of day-to-day real life of young people. A
lot more contextually rich studies needs to be done in order to reveal the interaction
between young people and a given social structure such as the school, the
socioeconomic status of their families, the dominant culture, and the political system.

2.6 Conceptual Framework

The reviewed theories and perspectives on youth problem and subculture play the
role of a conceptual toolbox, instrument for analysis and a system of reflexivity (Ball,
2006). The Figure 2.3 tries to present them into a theoretical spectrum that covers from
the most structural to the most individualistic orientation:
Figure 2.3 Outline of theoretical perspectives on youth deviant behavior and subculture

38
38

In the diagram, the structural perspective from Durkheim and the Chicago School,
interprets youth deviant behavior as a result of structural problem of the society. The
line of conflict theory with Marxist tradition developed by Frankfurt School and the
Birmingham School focus on post-war youth culture and it also falls into the structural
cluster. But, for the conflict theory, deviance is mainly a class struggle. Some scholars
(e.g. Cuff et al., 2005; Browne, 2011) call them as consensus structuralism and conflict
structuralism respectively. Middle-range theory of deviance seeks explanations about
specific features or structures of society. Some lines of the Chicago School and the
Birmingham School converged into the pool of youth culture or subculture studies,
which tend to adopt an interactionist perspective. On the right side of this spectrum are
the psychological and biological explanations of youth deviant behavior, but they are
not discussed in the literature review since the objective of my research is to reveal the
complex interaction between the social structure and deviant student. However, their
scholarship will eventually come to aid when constructing my definition of youth
deviant behavior in the following section.

2.6.1 The definition of deviant behavior

There are many definitions of deviant behavior grounded on different paradigms and
sociological theories. For the functionalists such as Durkheim, Merton and Parsons,
deviance refers to the failure of people to conform to the existing social norms, values
and laws due to the weakened bond and participation in the society; therefore, deviance
disrupts its stability and survival as an integral organism (Becker, 1963). From the
functionalist viewpoint, there are universally normative values to judge between right
and wrong, while it ignores the political aspect of values that are often based on the
middle-class norms (Tittle & Paternoster, 2000). Marxists argue that deviance is the
byproduct of inequalities in capitalism demonstrated by those who are exploited (Best,
2004). Some other scholars tend to define the deviance in a more relativistic manner by
looking into the violation to some agreed-upon rules in a group. Becker (1963) posits
his interactionist definition by emphasizing the constructive nature of deviant behavior
that social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes
deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and labeling them as
outsiders, so deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a
consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an offender (p. 9).
39

This conception switches its emphasis from defining what quality of certain act
constitutes as deviant to discussing the process of how people are labeled as deviant
and then develop their deviant identity. It aims at revealing the interaction between the
deviant and the immediate society represented by agents of social control agents such
as the juridical institutions, community and school, and the consequences of such social
relationship (Clinard & Meier, 2004).
With regard to the objective of my research, it attempts to delineate how a group of
young people are perceived by the school, the society, their peers and family as deviant,
and how they live up with this designation. It is pertinent to view these young people
through the interactionist lens that is based on the principle of value-neutrality
(Douglas & Waksler, 1982). Therefore, this study adopts a modified interactionist
definition: deviant youth are a group of young people whose thought, feeling and
behavior are determined by the surrounding society that regards and labels them as
violating the mainstream social rules and values. This definition does neither confine
to specific norms or values hold by certain social group, nor does it judge their
legitimacy. The boundary between conformist behavior and deviant behavior is vague
because every social rule, status or custom is inextricably constructed by the dominant
group. And this boundary also varies according to the different fields and cultures.
Moreover, school as one of the major socialization institutions, there is a great
heterogeneity in how they label and treat students as deviant (Phillipson, 1971).
Clearly, the scope of deviant behavior is larger than criminal behavior. Deviant
behavior includes those behaviors that are conflicting to the traditional social norm but
insufficient to convict the offenders, such as the cases of internet addiction, teenage
sexual intercourse, mob fighting, etc. Since the society tends to impose the moral
surveillance on the younger generation, even trivial misconducts can be labeled as
deviant (Lau, 1996).
Along with the ongoing proliferation of the scholarship on youth research, new
discourses and terminologies are emerging such as youth-at-risk, delinquent juvenile
and problem behavior. Their connotations may overlap to some extent yet their main
concerns are different. The Table 2.1 outlines the definition of these concepts and the
fields they belong to.

40

Table 2.1 Comparison of different terms related to youth deviant behavior

Term
Perspective
Main concern
Youth-at-risk

Social work

To identify the risk factors (such as no committed family

adult, negative peer influence, low self-esteem, low
aspirations for the future, etc.) of young people who have
the presence of anti-social behavior or underachievement
including behavioral problems at home, bullying at school,
criminal behavior, alcohol or drug misuse, etc., and to
allocate social resource and develop transformative
program to help them (Youth at risk, 2006)

Juvenile

Criminology

To explain the cause of criminal acts performed by young

people aged 15 to 24.

delinquency
Youth

Social

Using three major systems of psychosocial variables,

Problem

psychology

namely, personality proneness, environmental proneness,

behavior

and behavioral proneness to explain the occurrence or

unoccurrence of young peoples problem behaviors such
as illicit drug use, drinking, smoking, etc. (Jessor, 1992).

Since the present study is devoted to understand the subculture of a particular group
of Chinese youth who resists the mainstream society, I will use the commonly used
sociological term deviant to address these people throughout the study.

2.6.2 The classification of youth deviant behavior in the context of China

It is generally accepted that definition of deviant behavior differs from culture to
culture and from time to time. When we try to conduct a study drawing largely from the
Western theories in the context of China, whose culture and social custom are distinct,
it is important to identify the dimensions and kinds of behaviors to be considered as
deviant in China often not applicable to the West with special focus on the social
group of young people.
The Law of Peoples Republic of China on Preventing Juvenile delinquency
(SCNPCC, 1999) lists down the youth deviant behaviors in its Article 14:
1. Playing truant, staying out at night;
2. Carrying controlled knives;
3. Fighting or abusing people;
41

4. Forcibly demanding money or valuables from others;

5. Stealing or deliberately damaging property;
6. Taking part in gambling or gambling under disguised;
7. Watching or listening to pornographic or obscene audio-video products or
reading such written matters;
8. Going to commercial singing and dancing halls and other such places that are not
suitable for juveniles as prescribed by laws and regulations; and
9. Other kinds of misbehavior that seriously run counter to the social morality.
The same list of legal lexicon is used as the guideline for the educational practice
and student management in every Chinese school. Students who often fall into such
categories will be considered as deviant. As a matter of fact, a wider range but milder
behaviors than the listed can also be regarded as deviant in ordinary life. Perhaps due
to this semantic ambiguity, some scholars (Yang, 1981; Feldman et al., 1991) have
developed their own detailed classification of deviant behavior in young people. Their
data are usually drawn from the perception of students, teachers and parents.
One widely used classification is from the research by Feldman and others (1991).
They administered self-report questionnaires to comparable number of high school
students (15 and 18 years of age) from Australia, Hong Kong and the United States to
investigate their differences in cultures, values and rearing environments. In this
research, misconducts were categorized into three types: the school-based misconduct,
including being late to school, late to class, cheating on test, copying homework, acting
up in class, reading comics et cetera in class, cutting classes, the anti-social behavior
that consists of damaging school properties, taking something from others, threatening
teacher, hurting student on purpose, stealing from store; and the status offenses such as
smoking cigarettes, gambling, drinking alcohol, swearing, and using drugs. Obviously,
with ongoing social changes many other items could be added into each of the
categories, such as internet addiction, gang affiliation, running extortion racket, etc.
In the present study, I will make use of the foregoing three dimensions of youth
deviant behavior along with the Chinese legal category as reference.
42

2.6.3 Subculture
Since it was coined in the 1940s, the concept of subculture has long been credited
with enabling a more holistic and integrated perspective to understand the cohesive
systems of social organization (Gordon, 2005). The concept of subculture emerged
from the early deviant behavior research by the Chicago School, discussed earlier
together with studies by Cloward and Ohlin (1960) and Cohen (1955/1971). From the
Chicago School onwards, the concept of subculture became an attractive model in
sociology on a variety of theoretical positions (Blackman, 2005). But the real pervasion
of the concept, as Benett and Kahn-Harris (2004) observes, started from the publication
of the CCCS touchstone work, Resistance through Rituals by Hall and Jefferson
(1976/2006). From then onwards the concept of subculture has dominated for nearly
two decades the studies on youth, life style, music and leisure in the related fields of
sociology and cultural discourse. However, after the peak of its popularity, the concept
of subculture started being disputed for the following purported limitations:
First, the CCCSs argued that young peoples cultural manifestations are
predominately strategies of working-class youths resistance to the dominant culture
that tends to marginalize them. This preoccupation with class was regarded as an
oversimplistic model (Bennett & Kahn-Harris, 2004) which made the related claims
look like theoretical conjecture rather than proven fact (Muggleton, 2000). Such
criticisms were based on the assumption that the class preoccupation kind of
discourse underestimates and neglects other structural fault lines such as gender, race,
ethnicity, etc. The earliest challenge was by McRobbie and Garber (1976/2006) and
their well-known critique that there is an absence of girls in almost all the works of
the CCCS, which predominantly focus on working class boys. A score of
post-subculture theories appeared in the 1990s (see Muggleton, 2000; Muggleton &
Weinzierl, 2003; Bennett & Kahn-Harris, 2004), and researchers started seeing that in
a post-industrialized society, young people from different class, gender and race can
embrace life styles of their free choice as in a supermarket of styles (Polhemus, 1998;
Redhead, 1993).
Second, the concept of subculture puts skewed focus on some spectacular cultural
patterns of the post-war working-class youth such as Mod, Rocker, Teddy Boys and
Punk while ignoring the mundane practices of many other young people. Moreover, the
43

romanticization and dramatization of youth subcultures miss out the fact that there are
many teenagers who just live their subculture for fun without a deep commitment to
any fixed styles (Bennett, 2004; Muggleton & Weinzierl, 2003). In other words, young
people may grow up in a loose membership of several groups and run with a variety of
gangs (Bennett & Kahn-Harris, 2004, p. 8).
Third, since the contemporary culture around the world has become more diverse
and is undergoing a process of fragmentation, the border between sub and dominant
culture has started to blur (Chaney, 2004). Therefore, the conceptualization of
subculture as exclusively distinctive to mainstream culture has becomes irrelevant.
To sum up, the major problem of the orthodox subculture theory represented by the
CCCS (Blackman, 2005) is its excessive concern about the symbolic aspects of youth
culture at the expense of the real situation of young people and the way they perceive
their subculture. However, the post-subcultural perspective has also been criticized for
having gone too far to celebrate the individuality of young people and thus tend to
downplay the importance of the structural influences of the society on youth culture
(MacDonald & Shildrick, 2007).
This disagreement over the concept of subculture needs a solution for the
theoretical consistency of the present research. The proposed solution is twofold. First,
to revisit the seemingly abandoned tradition of the Chicago School (Shildrick &
McDonald, 2006; Colosi, 2010), which is still relevant to understanding young
peoples subculture in specific locality and community (Bennett, 1999); second, to
develop a reconceptualization of subculture. The work by Thornton and Brake provide
a solution and suggest a framework for the present research.
After tracing the discourse of subculture, Thornton (2005) developed a
comprehensive definition of subculture: Subcultures are groups of people that have
something in common with each other (i.e. they share a problem, an interest, a practice)
which distinguishes them in a significant way from the members of other social groups
(p. 1). This definition emphasizes the oppositional feature inherent to this term, namely,
a social groups which is perceived as deviating from the normative ideals of adult
communities.
Thorntons work supplements earlier work of Brake (1985), who had articulated
44

several advantages of subculture in terms of its functions relevant to young people.

Brake argued that the concept of subculture suits the enquiry on collective deviance
because:
1. [Subcultures] offer a solution, albeit at a magical level, to certain structural
problems created by the internal contradictions of a socio-economic structure,
which are collectively experienced. The problems are often class problems
experienced generationally.
2. [Subcultures] offer a culture, from which can be selected certain cultural
elements such as style, values, ideologies and life style. These can be used to
develop an achieved identity outside the ascribed identity offered by work, home
or school.
3. As such, an alternative form of social reality is experienced, rooted in a class
culture, but mediated by neighborhood, or else a symbolic community
transmitted through the mass media.
4. Subcultures offer, through their expressive elements, a meaningful way of life
during leisure, which has been removed from the instrumental world of work.
5. Subcultures offer to the individual solutions to certain existential dilemmas.
Particularly, this involves the bricolage of youthful style to construct an identity
outside work or school (p. 24).

It is important to note that Brakes notion stresses a class bond, particularly

working-class, within subculture, which is similar to the Birmingham Schools
definition that claims subcultures are the sub-sets within one or several larger cultural
networks and they are always related to their parent cultures with the brand of a class
(Hall & Jefferson, 2006). This stance must be taken in carefully because the theory and
fact of social class is not clear cut in contemporary China. Chinese youth subcultures
are deeply influenced by the family background and have a significant relationship
with the overall mainstream culture. Subculture as an analytical model in the study of a
particular group of deviant youth should then decipher the delicate interrelation
between a particular group of deviant youth and their concrete mezzo to macro social
and cultural backgrounds. Generalizations on either side should be avoided.
To achieve this, a comprehensive and systematic approach to research is needed.
Through a critical review of other researchers work, Brake (1985) developed an
analytical framework with five dimensions of subculture, which serves my study:
45

1. The nature of the subculture

(1) The historical development of a subculture and its relationship to the structural
problems of the wider socioeconomic structure needs to be analyzed.
(2) The style and imagery of the subculture need a hermeneutic perspective which
considers the meaning these may have for potential recruits. The problems solved
by the subculture are important at this point.
2. Societal reaction to the subculture. An analysis is needed of mass media mediation
of the nature of the subculture. The immediate effects of this in terms of significant
others is necessary, as well as wide societal reaction in terms of moral entrepreneurs
and public and official guardians of moral order.
3. A natural history of the moral career of the subcultural member needs to be
constructed, in particular paying attention to Glaser and Strausss status passage.
That is, that any moral career needs to be considered in sequences or stages, which
have contingencies and problems affecting the actor.
4. The social organization of the subculture. This involves two levels: the
subcultures relation to the structure, and the effects this has on the social interaction
within the subculture. The values, norms, symbols, imagery and behavior of the
subculture need to be considered in terms of their organization.
5. The persistence or discontinuance of the subculture. The subculture is unlikely to
remain unaltered, and the altering boundaries of the subculture as well as its changing
from need to be considered. One interesting element is the way in which subcultures
may continue thematic focal concerns, yet reconstruct imagery so that the
contemporary subculture addresses new interpretations of perennial problems, but
with a totally different style which reflects specific problems of a particular
generation (p. 19-21).

In this framework, the history of subculture formation, its organization and

interaction with social structure gets highlighted, which tallies with my research
objective. It is rather obvious, however, that this framework is not without deficiency.
The meaning and function of young peoples subculture is once again neglected, which
derives perhaps from Brakes belief that subcultures as solutions to encountered
problem of young people are merely magical. To make up this defect, namely, to
underscore the young peoples creativity and agency during their coping with the
oppressed situation of everyday life, I shall adopt concepts such as subcultural capital
and social capital in this study so as to expand the analysis. These will be elaborated
in the Chapter 7. Therefore, the last dimension of Brakes framework is replaced by
the discussion on the meaning and function of the subculture.
46

Summary
After reviewing critically the extant theories on deviant youth and identifying the
research gap in Chinese context, a conceptual framework is elaborated. The concept of
subculture is a vehicle and analytical model to understand the deviant students
interaction with the social structures (macro social background, the socioeconomic
status of their family, the school system, etc.) and to reveal their cultural manifestation
(creativity and agency) to cope with the frustration and oppression in their lives. This
framework is similar to Tilleczek (2011)s innovative approach termed as complex
cultural nests (see Figure 2.4), which aims at synthetically investigating young
peoples experiences and movements through a vast number of changing contexts such
as schools, health-care settings, politics, labor markets, digital contexts, families, and
communities. The approach shifts away from simple, linear, at-risk characterizations
of young people towards moments of resourcefulness of youth and of those closest to
them (Tilleczek, 2011, p. 5).
Figure 2.4 Complex cultural nests

Source: Tilleczek, K. C. (2011). Approaching youth studies: Being, becoming, and belonging. Don
Mills, Ont.: Oxford University Press, p. 5.
47

In line with Tilleczeks approach and with specific focus on the school context, my
analysis will look into the societal, institutional and individual aspects of deviant
students behavior and feeling, and by using the relevant theories of deviance,
particularly the Strain Theory and the Labeling Theory. At last, in order to highlight
deviant students agency, theories on social and cultural capital are adopted to account
for the function and meaning of the deviant students subculture. Thus my theoretical
framework is visualized in the Figure 2.5. The coding system in the following chapter
also reflects this process. But before representing it, an elaborate introduction of data
collection procedure and methods used will be put forward at the beginning of the
next chapter.
Figure 2.5 Theoretical framework
Social
Disorganization

Strain Theory
&
Labeling Theory

The Nature of the

Subculture
Social Interaction
in the School

Subculture
Status Passage of
Deviant Student

Social
Capital
&
Subcultural
Capital

Formation of the

Social
Organization of
Subculture

Function and
Meaning of the
Subculture

48

CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH DESIGN
3.1 Introduction
This chapter accounts for the methodological orientations of my research, including
the rationale of the choice of research paradigm, the approach I used to collect data.
The research design and data analysis approach will be explained in detail. This
chapter also contains several reflections on the ethical issues I encountered during the
research.
In brief, the overarching method adopted to conduct this research is qualitative
ethnographic case study. Since all three key concepts of it, namely qualitative,
ethnographic and case study, have multiple meanings and may even overlap with
each other in some research contexts, it is essential to explain unequivocally what I
mean by these terms. Otherwise, semantic ambiguities could lead to a ill-defined
methodology.

3.2 The Rationale of Qualitative Methodology

After defining the nature of the problem to be studied and having gathered
comprehensive knowledge and literature on how other researchers have approached
similar problems, the next and pivotal step in the research process is defining
methodology. Methodology encompasses the methods of data collection, analysis and
interpretation that serve the purpose of answering the research questions (Wiersma,
2000). The choice of methodology should be upon certainty that the deployed method
is the most reliable, efficient and accountable way to tackle the research problem. It is
also the time for the researcher to demonstrate his/her agency.
Regarding the choice of methodology for the present research, I avoid embarking
on the dated discussion of comparison between qualitative research and quantitative
research in terms of their different epistemologies, purposes and paradigms. Instead, an
account of the rationale behind my particular choice of research method is provided.
The reason to choose the qualitative orientation lies on its characteristics that is
49

deemed most suitable to my research purpose, for it: a) emphasizes the natural setting
for the research to be conducted, and holds that the outcome from the research are
specific to that setting and its conditions; b) relies more on descriptive analysis and
aims at a holistic interpretation of human behavior and social phenomena therefore
their complexity will not be reduced to a few factors or separated into detached parts;
and, c) places great value on developing theory from data rather than based on some
existing one (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994; Wiersma, 2000).
As detailed in the preceding chapter, numerous studies in China have identified
personal traits and social variables that support the scale (quantitative) of youth deviant
behavior. However, their findings and conclusion bypass the day-to-day life and
context-specific situations (qualitative) of deviant youth. This research is committed to
bridging this gap by trying to probe why and how these young people, although
oppressed by orthodox culture advocated by school education and social institutions,
can still create their own subculture with their agency, and what is their innermost
feeling when they interact with the mainstream culture. In this sense, a process-focus
and context-sensitive research method confidently can better meet the need (Blackman,
2005).
Under this paradigm, two research approaches are chosen to carry out my research,
namely, ethnography and case study. Arguably, there is a significant divergence of
these approaches in the definition and boundary. For example, some scholars use the
term ethnographic research as a blanket-description of a cohort of investigations that
are otherwise known as ethnography, qualitative research, case study research, field
research, or anthropological research (LeCompte, Preissle, & Tesch, 1993), while
others consider ethnography as one specific data collection technique in a case study
(Yin, 2003), and some even identify an interchangeable use of them (Hammersley,
1998; Pole & Morrison, 2003). Instead of dwelling on terminological considerations, I
shall just concentrate on the research strategies adopted in my research. Hence, case
study here accounts more for the choice of the research scope (Stake, 2005) and
structure of the inquiry and ethnography refers to the way the research is conducted
and the results presented.

50

3.2.1 Case study

In recent years, case study has been used extensively in many inquiries in social
science and education. This popularity may be explained by the attractive quality of
case study that allows investigators to preserve the holistic and meaningful
characteristics of real-life events, especially when the phenomenon and its context are
hard to be separated (Yin, 2003, p. 13). This strategy can further facilitate the research
when a how and why question is being asked about a contemporary set of events,
over which the investigator has little or no control (Yin, 2003, p. 9). Hence, a case
study using ethnographic approach may best serve the purpose of drawing a whole
picture of the youth deviance in China today, and revealing thus the complex
interrelationships of causes and consequences that affect young peoples behavior and
belief (LeCompte, Preissle, & Tesch, 1993).
The participants of this research are a group of deviant students at a secondary
school in Xiamen, China. They were selected through a process of unobtrusive
observation bring into focus acquiring consent, which will be explained in the
following section.
Although it is clear that case studies can be based on any mix of quantitative and
qualitative evidence (Yin, 2003), this research will mainly rely on the qualitative data
collected through ethnographic approach. As it was argued earlier, the existing statistic
research on deviant youth in China are sufficient while in-depth description on the
condition of young people remains scarce.

3.2.2 Ethnographic approach

The origin of ethnography can be traced back to cultural anthropology in the early
twentieth century which provides descriptive accounts on human society that appeared
as exotic to Western cultures. In sociology, the ethnographic methods were pioneered
by the Chicago School of Sociology a body of renowned works and scholars
specialized in urban sociology that became very influential in the academia from the
1920s to 1940s (Hammersley, 1998; Deegan, 2001; Adler & Adler, 2008). Despite the
fact that only few of their works were pure ethnographies, the ethnographic content
based on participant observation and interviews carried out in a natural setting are
51

undoubtedly the most celebrated aspects of their research. Furthermore, since the early
studies by the Chicago School focused on the condition and experience of the urban
poor and some of them had the feature of deviance, an array of related studies became
hallmark of the ethnography of deviance (Hobbs, 2001; Pole & Morrison, 2003).
Generally speaking, there are some commonly shared features by ethnographic
research (Hammersley, 1998, p. 1):
1. Peoples behavior is studied in everyday contexts without any exerted control
from researcher.
2. Data are gathered mainly from observation and/or relatively informal
conversations.
3. The approach to data collection is unstructured, in the sense that it does not
involve following through a detailed plan set up at the beginning, nor are the
categories used for interpreting what people say and do entirely pre-given or
fixed.
4. The focus is usually a small number of cases, a single setting or group of
people.
5. The analysis of the data involves interpretation of the meanings and functions
of human actions and mainly takes the forms of verbal descriptions and
explanations.

Likewise, this research is designed to delineate and interpret the life story and the
culture of a group of deviant students using mainly participant observation, focus group
interview and in-depth interview in the field. Hobbs refined Adlers assertion that
deviant behavior can only be studied through personal observation, interaction and
experience by following Goffmans proposition that deviants, [like] any group of
personsdevelop a life of their own that becomes meaningful, reasonable, and normal
once you get close to it and a good way to learn about any of these worlds is to
submit oneself in the company of the members to the daily round of petty contingencies
to which they are subject (cited from Hobbs, 2001, p. 204). The present research is
also committed to the same basic principle when designing the investigation on a group
of students whose behavior and lifestyle are considered as deviant by their teachers,
peers and families. To state further, the choice of ethnographic approach to
investigation and presentation of findings is due to the research focus on youth culture
and the characteristics of deviant youth group.
52

There are two reasons why survey is unsuitable for the present research. First, the
survey is usually context-stripped per se and mainly focused on probing the causal
relationship or correlation of social variables, thus it cannot satisfy the need to reveal
the day-to-day lives of young people. Second, since the research participants are
demonized and marginalized by the mainstream society and they in return are vigilantly
aware of the unwelcoming atmosphere around them, the assumptions embedded in
survey questionnaire may further stigmatize them, let alone possible hostility or
resistance toward the research. Therefore, a survey could easily undermine the act of
revealing the genuine thought and feeling of deviant youth. In contrast, ethnography as
a method minimizes explicit prejudices and biases is suitable to analyze meaning and
value of human group, so as to interpret the symbolic meaning of youth subculture and
the form of their culture-producing practice (Willis, 1977, p. 3). Furthermore,
ethnography facilitates the shift from depicting individual activities to the interpretation
level and creates the connection with readers of ethnographic works and their
experience. In this research, interviewees also act as informants, what they reveal is not
only their own lives but also others that they closely see, perceive and experience. Thus
their report on their peers unveils their own world.

3.3 Research Design

A common concern over qualitative inquiry is how to maintain the rigor and enhance
the generalizability. It is widely acknowledged that the criteria for qualitative paradigm
should be different from quantitative one. Some researchers (Lincoln & Guba, 1985)
even developed a set of terminology specifically for qualitative research, which are
credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. But no matter how diverse
these terms are, they all correspond to widely-used concepts in quantitative sense such
as internal validity, external validity and reliability.
What is common to all the researchers using qualitative paradigm is their emphasis
on the research design, sampling process and the general rigor of the research. Bernard
(2006) states that, the credibility of research results comes from the power of the
methods used in measurement and sampling. Good measurement is the key to internal
validity and representative sampling is the key to external validity (p. 195-196). Yin
(2003) also pinpoints that a well-documented research design and procedure can
increase the reliability of the research. Therefore, in the following section, I will give a
53

detailed account of my research design and the sampling process from the selection of
field site to the choice of specific case.
In this research, I spent an eight-month period to follow a group of deviant students
in a secondary school in Xiamen, line drawing their lifestyle and feeling through
participant observation and in-depth interview with their agreement. At the initial stage,
a loose classroom observation was undertaken in order to understand the dynamics of
the school environments. These observations brought into focus some students who are
differentiated by teachers and students as problematic or deviant during the interaction.
The participants of the research were selected among these students based on their
willingness and consent of their teachers and parents. After that, I joined in most of
their activities both in and out of the school, and observed their interaction with their
peers. The following table summarizes the main process and the timeline of my
fieldwork.
Table 3.1 Research process and timeline
Process

Action

Purpose

Timeline

Pilot study

Classroom observation in

Case selection

Sept 1st 30th,

different schools, grades and

2008

classes
Gaining

General classroom observation

To create rapport with students and

Mar 9th 26th,

entree

in the chosen class

teachers;

2009

To identify participants for further

follow-ups
Participant

Full-scale interaction with

To gain comprehensive

Mar 27th

observation

participants chosen;

understanding of their life in and

Aug 31st ,

out of the school;

2009

with focus
Conducting informal interviews

To develop interview questions for

next stage

Second round classroom

To observe participants coping to

Sep 1st 22nd,

observation in the new semester

new teachers and arrangement

2009

Formal

Conducting individual and

To gain in-depth understanding;

Sept 23rd Oct

interview

group interviews

To triangulate

23rd, 2009

Cessation &

Initiating analysis;

To confirm data saturation

Oct 23rd 30th,

withdrawal

Farewell to students

2009

54

As shown in the table, before conducting the main study, a one-month pilot study
was undertaken for the sake of selecting field and case for further investigation in
September in 2008. In addition, it was a chance for me to readjust myself to the cultural
context and secondary education that influence the everyday life of young people in
Xiamen.

3.3.1 Field site

3.3.1.1 Choice of medium-size city Xiamen
Xiamen, a well-known medium-size city in Mainland China, is chosen as the field
site to carry out the ethnographic research on deviant youth. There is little research on
youth problems in Xiamen but there are several other reasons for this choice:
Policy and social background
Xiamen, also known by its ancient name Amoy, is a coastal city in Fujian province
with a population of 3.5 million (Xiamen Municipal Government, 2009). It is situated
in the Southeastern part of China, opposite the Taiwan Island. An important seaports
for foreign trade, it was approved in 1981 to be among the first batch of Special
Economy Zone of Deng Xiao-pings opening-up policy. Xiamen is thus entitled to
have high level of freedom in policy and management as long as it develops
economically and abides by the Chinese constitution. Xiamen has had a sizable
economic growth in the decades of modernization to become relatively more affluent
compared with other cities in the inner regions of China. According to the government
statistical yearbook in 2001 (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2002), Xiamen
ranks the 24th among all the cities in China for its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and
15th for the total retail sales of consumer goods. But such high-speed development is
not without problems. Like other ascending cities, Xiamen is undergoing a drastic
change in terms of demographics, cultural change, increase in crime rate as well as the
so-called youth problem.
Proximity to Hong Kong and Taiwan
Along with the high economic growth rate and rapid industrialization from the 1960s
onwards, the mass media and popular culture flourished in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
These cultural waves soon swept over Mainland China after its opening-up which
55

overlapped with Deng Xiao-pings introduction of the so-called socialist market

economy from 1978 onwards. During this period, the synthesized word
(Gang Tai Wen Hua for Hong Kong & Taiwan culture) was a synonym of the only
visible popular culture after the turmoil of the Communist political consolidation (e.g.
the Cultural Revolution) in Mainland China. Although there are now new cultural
influxes from Japanese, South Korean and the West in general, Hong Kong and Taiwan
are still playing a significant role in fashioning the pop culture in East Asia including
Mainland China. Since Xiamen is geographically and culturally close to Taiwan 2 and
Hong Kong, young people in Xiamen can easily access to global youth culture through
these two frontiers of global fashion. All these geopolitical and cultural factors have
had profound impact on Mainland Chinese youths learning and living, which calls for
a careful inquiry.
Beyond Megalopolis
In the literature most of the relevant studies in about China focus on megalopolis,
such as Beijing and Shanghai, while a large portion of small and medium-size cities are
overlooked. However, it should be noted that it is the medium-size cities that are
ubiquitous in China and reflect more faithfully the actual condition of the state
(Committee of Medium-size City Development, 2007). Medium-size cities are also
melting pots of rural and urban population. In this regard, Xiamen is one of the ideal
locations where the present research can be conducted.
Cultural and language proximity to researcher
Xiamen is also my hometown. Beyond the mere convenience, however the rationale
behind my choice of this location was the cultural and language proximity that can
facilitate me to gain a deeper understanding of young peoples life. The rigorous
ethnographic research requires the researchers to stay in the field for a relatively long
time so that they stay in situ and observe the people and their culture, and have direct
contact, for example to ask pertinent questions. This process of adaptation usually
takes more than one year and it was found that researchers who stayed in the field for at
least a year were more likely to gain access to sensitive issues among participants
(Bernard, 2006). The adaptation of the researcher to the local context is especially
2

Xiamen and Taiwan share the same dialect and origin of Southern Min () culture
56

critical for my research because some of the behaviors of my participants may

transgress the mainstream values and even the law. In fact, the experience of many field
researchers tell us that to study a group that researchers are already familiar with bears
several major benefits to understand the dynamics of social organization and hidden
meanings of the group in a deeper level (MacLeod, 2009; Puddephatt, Shaffir &
Kleninknecht, 2009).
Moreover, it is preferable that the researchers learn the language or even slang used
in the field and conduct interviews in participants native language (Becker & Geer,
1960/2004). According to my previous experiences of studying young people in
Beijing for my master dissertation, young people tend to use a large amount of slang
which is deeply influenced by the immediate dialect (Liu, 2007). Often time, the
feelings that are expressed in slang can get lost in translation whereas a good grasp of
the local dialect and slang is the key to understand their subculture.
To sum up, the advantages of choosing Xiamen as the research field include: firstly,
the familiarity with local culture and easier access to participants compensate the time
limit of a doctoral study; second, my proficiency in the dialect 3 of the participants
which facilitates the progress of communicating with them.
3.3.1.2 Choice of school
During the pilot study, I have visited five middle schools and observed the everyday
operation of 11 classes (classes chosen were subject to their accessibility). School
administrators and teachers were interviewed to obtain some general information on
their school and students. Table 3.2 summarizes my case selection process and its
scope:

Southern Min Dialect (), which is totally distinct from Mandarin.

57

Table 3.2 Sites covered in pilot study

School
School ranking
Class observed

Time

visited

Spent

School A

School B
School C
School D

Medium

Special school
Prestigious
Medium yet

Class 1, Grade 1

1 Day

2 administrators

Class 6, Grade 2

1 grade teacher

Class 2, Grade 3

1 subject teacher

Senior mix-gender class

0.5

3 teachers

Junior Girl class

0.5

Class 5, Grade 2

Class 9, Grade 2

Class 6, Grade 2

ascending
School E

Medium

Interview

2 grade teachers
1 grade teacher
1 class teacher

Class 6, Grade 2

Class 1, Grade 2

0.5

Class 3, Grade 2

0.5

2 class teachers

To gain access to the schools, I usually contacted school administrators (i.e. principal,
director of academic affair, director of student affair, grade teacher) through telephone
in advance, briefly introduced my research purpose and reserved a day to visit his/her
school. On the day of the visit, I would further explain my research design and acquire
the general information about the school such as schools history, regulation and
demographic data of students. After that, they would introduce me to the relevant grade
teacher or class teacher. Then we would discuss the implementation of my research
including the students profile in the grade, which class I will observe, the manner in
which I would undertake the classroom observation, what I will do with the data
obtained and so on. Following is a detailed account for the choice of research field:
In School A, I picked one class in each grade for one-day observation in order to
understand the characteristics of the students in different grades. On the basis of the
finding, my classroom observation focused on one specific grade, namely the Grade 2.
The exact rationale of this choice will be discussed later.
Despite ordinary school, I also paid a one-day visit to the only special school (School
B) in Fujian Province for students who were extradited from previous school for their
misbehaviors, most of whom hold some criminal record in the police station for shop
lifting, mob fighting, robbery, etc. School of this kind called work-study school (
58

) which was introduced into China from the Soviet Union in the 1950s. The
original intention for this kind of school is to rehabilitate the delinquent young people
with a mixture of learning and working practice. This school in Xiamen, like many
other schools of this kind in China today, has gone back to the mainstream curriculum
of ordinary schools, except for the semi-militarized management. Students are all
boarding and under strict surveillance. They should gain the approval from drillmaster
to take a holiday fortnightly according to their behavior at school. Many students
behave relatively well under this precondition, or they have to.
For most of the classes under investigation, I followed their one-day curriculum, sat
at the back of the classroom and observed the students behavior during the class and
recess. I also joined in students lunch upon their permission. The conversations with
them usually took place during the recess, the PE class and the time after school. Yet no
interview was undertaken at this stage.
Based on the preliminary observation in these schools, school of intermediate level is
chosen for further investigation, in consideration of:

firstly, although a

computer-assisted allocation system of primary graduates to nearby middle schools has

been implemented in Xiamen since 1998 and the local government has made great
effort in balancing the quality of schools during recent decades (Running satisfying
middle school for parents-- the experience of Xiamen municipal government on solving
the problem of school-choosing, 2007), there are still obvious disparities between
intermediate schools and prestigious ones in terms of the government funding, school
facilities, quality of teachers and academic achievement of students. Secondary schools
with long history of good reputation for their higher entrance rate into key universities
enjoy several privileges in recruiting students. For example, the key school (School C) I
visited and others alike have a quota to admit students specialized in art, high-level
athletes or whose family can significantly contribute to school endowment. In addition,
students from Taiwan have the right to choose whatever school they like as a
preferential policy to enhance inter-costal relationship and they certainly prefer
famous schools. Thus, the student composition becomes complicated, and the setting of
these top schools is less natural than intermediate schools. Second, in the
aforementioned work-study school, although its students are exactly who I would like
to study, their genuine behaviors are hard to be seen under semi-military management
59

and strict surveillance in the school. Moreover, since they are all boarding and can only
gain the approval from drillmaster to take a holiday fortnightly according to their
performance at school, their leisure time is rather limited. Taking this situation into
consideration, the intermediate school was finally chosen as the field site that suits best
my research objective.
3.3.1.3 Grade
Taking into account the classroom observation in different grades and the
information acquired from teachers during the pilot study, I decided to dwell upon
students in Grade 2. The foremost reason is because they are the first batch of graduates
who have gone through the curriculum reform in primary school implemented in
Xiamen since 2002, and who can continue to enjoy the curriculum reform in middle
school. The new wave of curriculum reform is characterized by its advocacy of
promoting students initiative learning and problem-solving ability (Ministry of
Education of the Peoples Republic of China, 2001). Therefore, it is presumed that
these students will show some difference from antecedent students in terms of
emancipated personality, learning ability and relatively more spirited behavior, etc. As
pointed out by the school administrators and teachers, these students indeed have
stronger individuality and personality, which make them appear livelier yet also more
difficult to manage. Despite all these changes in educational settings, they still have to
come to terms with the essentially unchanged examine-oriented education because the
Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (CSEE) awaits them in 3 years and all
the efforts made by school will principally consist of preparing the students for the
exam.
The second reason to opt for students in Grade 2 was from the experience of
teachers interviewed and my observation. Grade 2 middle school students are more
adept at coping with the school rules than newly admitted Grade 1 students. They are
also temporarily spared from heavy coursework and test pressure compared to Grade 3
students. Hence, they are in a more natural dynamics with classmates and teachers at
school.
At last, the reason for not choosing the high school students is because they have
been screened out as the more promising students to enter higher education after one
60

round of selection by examination. The process of students failure leading to their

deviance is almost unknown because of the educational systems strict streaming.
The following flowchart captures the whole process of my field site selection:
Figure 3.1 Procedure of field site selection

61

3.3.2 Data collection

3.3.2.1 Data collection procedure
After a careful selection of the field site, School A was finally chosen and was
dubbed thereafter as the Central Park Secondary School (CPSS). During the
aforementioned pilot study, I have conducted classroom observation in one class of
each grade in CPSS and successfully obtained the permission from the principal and
grade teacher for further research. Then, as per agreement, I started the fieldwork at the
school on Mar 7th, 2009 and stay there for almost eight months until the end of October.
One particular class was chosen as my focus class for the reason that it is acknowledged
by both the class teacher and the grade teacher as the worst one in the grade in terms of
its poor academic performance and high percentage of problem students. The whole
fieldwork period covered two semesters, which were the second semester of Grade 2
and the first semester of Grade 3. Since I used to practice as Chinese teacher in my
undergraduate years, right after I entered the school, my role was reified and announced
as teaching assistant of Chinese teacher, Mrs. Strict and class teacher, Mrs. Nice. In the
second semester, because students were reaching their last year and the Certificate of
Secondary Education Examination (the entrance examination from middle school to
high school) was awaiting them in a year time, there were significant rearrangements in
terms of both personnel and curriculum. The grade teacher and class teacher were
changed to those seasoned in dealing with troublemakers. A reinforcement of
regulation towards students was also observed. In light of this new situation, I
conducted a new round of classroom observation in order to examine how students
come to terms with the new situation and how they interact with new teachers. In
addition, I became to assist the new class teacher Mr. Pan with his math class. My
whole fieldwork in the school can be divided into the following four stages:
Stage one: gaining entree
On the first day I entered the classroom under research, after being officially
introduced by Mrs. Strict to the class, I made a brief self-introduction by telling
students that what I am going to do in the class is partially teaching practice and
partially research on student culture. I highlighted my gratitude for becoming a new
member of the class and willingness to be everyones big friend or sister whenever
62

they need a hand. This was welcomed by the students with their blinking eyes and big
smiles. As a matter of fact, I was not an exceptional case. This grade used to host a
batch of student teachers, one teacher in each class, during grade-1. These teachers and
students got along so well that students kept a good impression. To some extent, this
facilitated my entree into the class. It was very easy for them to greet me and have
random chat. The atmosphere in this class, just as accredited by teachers, was warm and
lively. However, the smooth entry into the class did not promise a quick transition from
a stranger to insider. In fact, it took efforts and patience to gain trust from the two
critical parties in my research, namely, the teachers and students.
To gain access into the teachers world, I firstly needed to assure them that I was not
a spy from school administrator or higher authority. Neither was I an inspector to
evaluate or an expert to criticize their work. Fortunately, my role as university student
and modest manners soon managed to make them lower their guard. On top of this, I
also tried my best to fulfill the role as practice teacher. In CPSS, teachers in the same
grade were assigned in the same office where those who had finished their lesson or
were waiting for their time would mostly stay in, either to prepare for lessons or to rest.
The office thus became an important place for them to have random chat about personal
life and happenings at school. As a practice teacher and teaching assistance, I had a
desk in the office. Every morning, I would go to my assigned desk in the office and help
to correct students Chinese assignment following Mrs. Stricts sample. When I did not
need to sit in lessons or observe student activities, I stayed in the office to jot down my
field notes. As teaching assistance, I also took up the duty of tutoring students with
difficulty in reciting Chinese poem during the daily self-study session. During the
school hours, I made myself always available class teacher Mrs. Nice with some
class-related tasks such as arranging class activities, maintaining discipline while she
was not there and so on. In addition, since I am always ready to give a hand, the other
subject teachers would sometimes ask me to help in correcting the examination papers,
distributing teaching materials, editing students file, etc. Through this practice, a
rapport with all the teachers in the office was forged. They gradually considered me as
an ally at least, if not a member. They soon showed their usual habits by sharing
personal issues with each other, commenting on school policy and even complaining
about some higher-up post people in my presence. Through joining their conversation,
I was able to gather information such as the history of the school, school management,
63

school culture and so on, which are conducive to my investigation on the school
context.
As for the entry into students domain, at the very beginning, my two mentors
provided me with students school files, records, their essays and academic reports in
order to familiarize me with the class. Supplemented with correcting students
homework, I was able to capture every students profile and their performance at school.
Aided by a map of the class showing the seat arrangement and each students name, I
started to follow the class. I observed as many lessons as possible, as regularly as
possible with specific focus on the interaction between teachers and students, and also
among students. My daily routine was scheduled following the curriculum, which is
listed in the Table 3.3. Except for the commitment to correct students homework
during morning reading session in the office, most of the time, I moved to my seat in the
back of the class. During every break in between classes as well as the big recess, I
joined students activities and conversation. After school, I went home with students
who live in the same neighborhood as mine. Gradually, I started to gain acquaintance
with the class and its students.
Table 3.3 Daily routine at school
Time period
Students activity

Researchers activity

7:20-7:50

Correct students homework in the office

Morning reading session

Chat with teachers

7:50-8:30

First lesson*

Sit in the class

8:30-9:05

Exercise and extra-long recess

Observation and random chat

9:05-11:50

Three more lessons

Sit in the class

10 breaks in between

Observation and random chat

Lunch break

Go home with students

11:50-14:30

(many students go home for Hang out with participants

lunch, those who live far away
can stay in class under the
supervision of teacher on duty)
14:30-17:10

Three lessons

Sit in class

10 break in between

Jot down field note

17:25-18:00

Self-study session

Tutoring lesson

18:00-18:30

After school

Go home with students

Hang out with participants

*The time length for each class is 40 minutes

64

Stage two: identify and make acquaintance of participants

During classroom observation some students were identified for further contact. The
choice of the participants was based on the suggestions from teachers and school
administrators (all the teachers named the same cohort of student as troublemakers) and
my own observation. The choice was also supported by the development portfolio of
students including their homework, academic achievement, behavioral evaluation, etc.
Here, I just give a general description on how they were identified and approached.
There will be more detailed information of my participants in the Chapter 5.
The group of my participants is comprised of five students, with four boys and one
girl. Most of them were assigned seats in the back corner of the class so as to minimize
their disruption to or negative influence on the class. This group was dubbed by the
class teacher as the 4+1, which was often used in several public events, and even the
students themselves had accepted this title without embarrassment. Therefore, in this
study, I also call them as the 4+1 youths. As previously mentioned, Mrs. Strict had
offered me a natural way to approach my focus students, that is, to tutor students who
are poor at memorizing ancient poems and prose using the time-slot of self-study
session at the end of each afternoon. Thus, ten students were required to come to my
class, among whom, two were known are to be intellectually slow, three intermediate
students (not hardworking enough and Mrs. Strict thought they needed some
supervision), and the other five were my focus participants the 4+1 youths. In
order to help them memorize ten pieces of all ancient poems and prose which all
together corresponded two units, I made a schedule of daily memorizing task for them
and promised that there would be prize when all the tasks were done. Besides, I
encouraged and reassured them that after approximately one month of tutoring they
will see the result of their effort in the coming Chinese examination. So every afternoon,
they gathered in a spared classroom next to teachers office under my supervision.
Normally, they were assigned one third of the workload compared to other students
considering their lack of learning motivation and consistency. I started from refreshing
them with the key points of what they were going to memorize using lots of metaphors
and stories. Then they got approximately 20 minutes to memorize by themselves using
any way they feel most comfortable and effective as long as they stay in the classroom.
Anyone who finishes can recite to me and if passes he/she can use the remaining time to
do whatever he/she wants. And usually, students would chat with me during the spare
65

time. Thanks to this arrangement, I had the chance to get in touch with the 4+1 youths
every day.
The result of Chinese examination of these students turned out to be satisfactory.
Although they still could not pass, most of them made progress which can be attributed
to the higher mark they gained in part one, namely, writing from memory of the Chinese
poems and prose. As a result, Mrs. Nice and Mrs. Strict were more convinced to
maintain the class. More importantly, through our interaction, the 4+1 youths were
assured that I am a harmless and trustful practice teacher for I would not tell on their
little troubling secret such as having a smoke in the bathroom, playing card games in
the loft. Besides, they preferred to go to my class every day so that they could escape
from the boring self-learning class in which they were not supposed to do anything but
the homework, not to say chatting. Gradually, we established a kind of friendship and
they sometimes would invite me to their gathering after school. Thus, I was able to
witness their deviant behaviors which include drinking, smoking, skipping class,
fighting, insulting teachers, vandalism and going to forbidden places for adolescents.
Since I had more time to hang out with the 4+1 youths, they usually called me as
their sister (). However, it is worthy to note that in their terminology, sister or
brother is more like a term to address their older friends, and usually they are not sister
or brother by blood since urban families have only one child. This appellation also
implies that they are eager to establish some relationship of sisterhood or brotherhood.
It is noteworthy that before finalizing my choice of the 4+1 youths as primary
participants, I had also searched around other informal groups through the 4+1
youths extended social network. The number of potential participants reached 15
boys and 8 girls. But since the 4+1 youths was already formed basing on natural
friendship and their group activities already in place, it was chosen for in-depth
investigation. Nonetheless, I was aware then as I am now of the relatively small
sample size and potential gender imbalance, which might undermine the
transferability of the research. In order to palliate this, a constant contact with related
students was thus maintained in order to verify the representativeness of the selected
cases, and the possibility to include more group members was always open depending
on my participants interaction with them.

66

Stage Three: interview

During the whole period, observation and informal interview were conducted all the
time, but due to the casual nature of these occasions, I could not tape-record our
conversation. Instead, I jotted down whenever I could.
After having developed a good rapport with the 4+1 youths, I started to arrange for
group discussions and individual interviews, most of which took place during the spare
time of our tutoring lessons. All of the interview questions were developed from our
everyday interaction so that they were context-specific and can dig deeper into my
participants attitudes, value and reflection on their history and status quo.
Related grade teachers, class teachers and subject teachers were also interviewed. On
the one hand, teachers interview served as triangulation of the students account; on
the other, it could help me understand the school policy, teachers attitude and
difficulty in dealing with deviant students.
Stage Four: ceasing and retreat
During the second semester of my stay, new round of classroom observation was
conducted to see students coping behaviors towards the new teachers and classroom
arrangements. After two months of the new semester, most of the issues were settled,
which means that students were used to the new situation. As no new behavioral
patterns emerged from focus students, I decided to cease my field study and bid
farewell to teachers and students at the end of October. As per request by grade
teachers and the principal, a brief report of my findings was submitted to them.
However, after I left CPSS, I still keep in touch with some ordinary students and my
participants through QQ 4 so that they can update me on happenings in the class. And
every time I go back to Xiamen I will visit the school and students, and hang out with
my participants.
3.3.2.2 Data collection methods
Unobtrusive observation and participant observation
Classroom observation was designed to understand the dynamics of class and
4

It is the most popular instant messaging software in mainland China. Every student in the studied
class has at least one QQ account and uses it as the main means to contact each other after school.
67

identify potential participants at the initial stage of the research. An unobtrusive pattern
was preferred given the nature of my research. I tried to make my presence in the
classroom as inconspicuous as possible. That is why I usually took the seat at the back
of the class.
Outside the context of formal classroom-based teaching, participant observation was
predominantly adopted in studying the culture of deviant youth. Although a classic
method in cultural anthropology study in aboriginal culture, this observation technique
has also been used frequently in the research on urban neighborhoods. This can be
traced back to the Chicago Schools research on juvenile street gangs and deviant
groups such as the research by Thrasher (1963) on over 1000 street gangs and the
detailed examination by Whytes (1993) on a particular group of young men in an
Italian slum in Boston (Hebdige, 1979; Yin, 2003). There are several advantages of
participant observation in studying the culture of deviant youth: 1) Participant
observation opens thing up and makes it possible to collect all kinds of data among
young people such as their everyday routine, social activities, gossiping, genuine
feelings and so on; 2) it reduces the problem of reactivity of people changing their
behavior when knowing they are being studied. As my presence become less and less of
a curiosity, young people will take less and less interest and alert; 3) it helps me to ask
sensible questions, in a way young people are familiar with and accept, say, in native
language; and 4) it ensures me to understand what is going on around and gain
confidence about my interpretation of data (Bernard, 2006). From the foregoing, it is
quite clear that, as a strategic method, participant observation not only facilitates my
research but also helps to increase validity of data and my analysis (Crane & Angrosino,
1992; Bernard, 2006).
Interview
Many interviews were conducted throughout the process of interacting with my
participants. At the beginning, informal interviews and unstructured interviews took
place in most of the time in order to develop a good rapport and gain some background
knowledge about the young people in concern. I tried to remember the conversations in
the field, and often paused to jot a few notes and developed field notes on a daily basis.
Once acquaintance and friendship had been established with these young people, the
interviews were conducted more in depth. At the final stage of my research,
68

semi-structured

in-depth

interviews

were

predominantly

conducted.

The

semi-structured nature of the interviews means that some salient questions emerged
from my previous observation were asked to specific participants under pertinent
circumstances, although the interview itself was mostly carried out in an open-ended
and exploratory manner (Rice & Ezzy, 1999). These interviews were recorded with an
MP3 recorder after the informed consent had been gained from the participants and
their parents (more detail will be introduced in the latter part). The recorder was placed
within their sight. I promised that I would keep the recordings in confidential, and once
the study was finished I would delete them. During the process of conducting the
interviews, I also considered to what extent the presence of the MP3 recorder might
alter or distort their expression, attitudes and opinions. The same concern has also been
raised by other researchers and the extent of such undesirable effect has been reported
to be very difficult to judge (Hargreaves, 1999). As for my experience in this research,
it must be said that the presence or absence of a voice recorder seemed to have little
effect on the content or progress of our discussion.
However, the switch to in-depth interview in the final stage of my study does not
mean that informal interview was completely abandoned. On the contrary, informal
interviews remained indispensable throughout the research because a large part of the
interaction with my participants happened during their gatherings and deviant activities
which were counter formal interviews. Bernard (2006) supports this with studies on
street children and suggests that hanging out and talking informally with participants is
the appropriate way to do the research.
During the interview, I also asked participants to give a retrospective account of
their lives that dates back to their primary school years and early years in the CPSS.
The retrospective interview usually started with questions like Please recall what you
were like five years ago? or How were you doing at that time both at home and
school? The retrospective questions were aimed at enquiring about: a) my
participants demographic information including their family structure, housing,
parents occupation and education level and so on; b) the course of their lives in terms
of their upbringing and schooling, especially any significant/critical evens that might
have profound impact on their lives. These questions were brought up during both
individual and group interviews. For the individual ones, the focus was put on
personal experience of their growth; as for those interviews in group, the history of
69

how they started to hang out with each other and developed the friendship were
enquired. This was to aid my drawing a holistic picture of their status passage of
becoming deviant (Becker, 1985). But it was also noted that despite its frequent and
broad use in social science research, the reliability and accuracy of retrospective data
have always come under scrutiny (Bernard & Killworth et al, 1984; Yarrow, Campbell
& Burton, 1970). However, the use of carefully designed retrospective interview has
the advantage of quickly capturing participants life course which can at least partially
remedy the unavailability of longitudinal study (Blane, 1996; Berney & Blane, 1997).
Moreover, retrospective data are not the single source to understand my participants
lives. Teachers and school administrators were asked about their observation of my
participants change during their school period, which was supplemented by school
record of participants. Either of them serves the purpose as triangulation.

3.4 Data Analysis

As previously described, the data collection ceased when the data set reached a
saturation point. What follows is the stage of data analysis and interpretation, which
according to many experienced fieldworkers, is an even more pivotal stage of the study
(LeCompte, Preissle & Tesch, 1993). In this research, my data analysis covers three
steps as follow:

3.4.1 Initiating analysis

This stage was candidly called as tidying up by Romagnano (LeCompte, Preissle,
& Tesch, 1993). It could be said that my tidying up took place shortly before I left
CPSS when I started organizing the documents collected from the school, sorting the
field notes, and transcribing the recordings of interviews. I went through the data at
hand and made sure there was no critical gap. I realized that after an eight-month
fieldwork, three volumes of field notes in 161 pages were taken, 20 interviews
including 13 individual ones and 7 group interviews were conducted. Each interview
was about an hour in length. All these interviews were transcribed verbatim into a
109-page text. Besides, documents at both the municipal and school level concerning
the management of schools, teachers and students were collected as supplementary
materials. The following is a detailed list of the collected data:
70

Table 3.4 List of data

Type
Source

Quan.

Government

Xiamen Municipal Government, Xiamen Bureau of Education, CPSS, 12

Documents

Municipal Education Supervision Office

Field note

Daily-basis observation and participation

3 vols.

Individual

School

Interview

administrators Mr. Ding (director of student affair)

Mrs. Jing (the principal), Mrs. Lo (grade teacher)

Mr. Lin (director of academic affair)

Teachers

Mrs. Nice (class teacher and math teacher in Grade 2)

Mr. Pan (class teacher and math teacher in Grade 3)

Mrs. Strict (Chinese teacher),
Mr. Young (politics teacher)
Participants
Group Interview

Dusk, Onion, Shanji, XXL, WS

Participants

5
7

3.4.2 The coding system

The process of coding the text is the core of qualitative data analysis. As Bernard
(2006) pointed out there are two major types of coding, one is the inductive or open
coding, which is widely adopted by grounded-theory research; the other is the
deductive coding, which is representative in content analysis. The tenet of the inductive
coding is to identify themes or analytic categories in texts and subsequently build an
explanatory model whereas the deductive coding aims at testing hypothesis from the
start. In my research, I used a mixed coding approach in between inductive and
deductive suggested by Miles and Huberman (1994). This implies that I firstly start
with some general hypotheses derived from reading the literature to scan the text. But,
at the meantime, I kept my mind always open to new themes that emerged from the
texts. More explicitly, the whole coding process went as follow:
According to the theoretical framework mentioned in the literature review, the
concept of subculture is used as an analytic tool to interpret my participants deviant
behaviors. Accordingly, five dimensions were used as big themes to analyze the texts,
namely:
1) Structural problem of the society;
2) Societal reaction to the subculture;
71

3) Status passage of deviant students;

4) Social organization of the subculture;
5) Meaning and function of the subculture.
In light of a larger body of deviant theory, these themes can be further broken into
some subthemes such as social background, community, socioeconomic status of
family, teachers reaction, the peer influence, etc. Texts that pertain to different themes
were highlighted in different colors and attached memo stickers with themes and brief
description. For example, on one memo sticker, it was written parenting style, Dusk;
on the other, teacher-student, conflict, WS. Therefore, using highlighters and memo
stickers, I coded data according to particular themes and organized them into
interesting categories. Meanwhile, when I went on to view the texts, some patterns and
themes appeared to be especially prominent (Lofland & Lofland, 2006), for example,
the role of school, labeling process, strain and coping strategy of students and so on.
They were then used to refine or expand the existing coding system. The following
figure shows the overall coding process:

72

Figure 3.2 Coding system

Social background
Structural problems

Social disorganization

Community
Socioeconomic status
Family
Parenting style

School

Regulation &
Management

Teacher

Teacher-student
relationship

Underachieving

School-based
misconducts

Deviant behavior

Anti-social behaviors

Labeling

Status offenses

Societal reaction

Status passage

Values
Interaction within the
subculture
Social organization of
subculture

Norms
Symbols

Relation to the
structure

Parent culture
Agency

subculture capital
Positive meaning
Meaning and function
of the subculture

social capital
Negative meaning

73

3.5 Reliability and Validity

Although there has been decades of debate among researchers on the justification of
imposing the positivistic criteria of reliability and validity on ethnographic research,
they tended to reach compromise that there should be some differences in assessment
standard between ethnographic research and quantitative one. The reason is twofold.
First, the methodological assumption for ethnography is naturalism, which means that
the research aim at capturing the character of peoples behavior and to reveal their
native perspective, therefore, researchers cannot impose control on the people and
context as experimental research or survey do. Second, since the most important form
of data collection of ethnography is participant observation, the researcher
himself/herself is the primary instrument in the research rather than structured
questionnaire (Hammersley, 1998; Schensul, Schensul, & LeCompte, 1999).
Consequently, the connotation of reliability and validity in this research and how I
assure the research quality of the research is elucidated as follow:

3.5.1 Reliability
Reliability refers to whether the results of a study can be duplicated by both
procedures and findings. There are two types of reliability in ethnographic research:
external and internal. The former refers to the extent to which independent researcher
working in the same or similar context would obtain consistent results. The latter refers
to the extent to which researchers concerned with the same data and constructs would
be consistent in matching them (Wiersma, 2000).
In order to enhance the external reliability of the research, a comprehensive
description of the research procedure and data analysis has been provided in this
chapter and also throughout the research, with emphasis on five aspects as LeCompte et
al. (1993) proposed: the role researcher holds in the research site, the rationale and
procedure of informant selection, the social context within which the data are collected,
the concept, assumption and metatheories underlying the research, and the method of
data collection and analysis.
Since the present research was conducted by single researcher, the internal reliability
is more likely. Despite this, many techniques have been adopted to enhance the internal
74

reliability such as obtaining verbatim accounts from the participants, taking careful
field notes and so on.

3.5.2 Validity
In an ethnographic research, internal validity mainly means the extent to which an
account authentically represents the phenomena to which it refers. Most
methodologists argue that validity is a major strength of ethnographic research, because
it uses the participant observation in a natural setting. Since ethnographers can live
with people for a long period of time and get to know them well, they can better reveal
the reality of peoples life experience (Schensul, Schensul, & LeCompte, 1999). To
ensure this strength in my studies, and taking into consideration the characteristics of
my participants, I have devoted a great deal of effort in building up a mutual trust
relationship with deviant students while using participant observation and in-depth
interviews. However, there were also threats to validity.

There was always the

possibility that participants may withhold information or tell lies and that my personal
experience as researcher might taint the data collection and analysis with bias. In this
regard, the technique of triangulation was adopted. As LeCompte et al. (1993) have
concluded, triangulation bears at least three functions in ethnographic research: firstly,
by using various kinds of data collection techniques, data collected in one way can be
used to cross-check the accuracy of date gathered in another way; secondly, it can
prevent the researchers from being preoccupied with their first impression; and thirdly,
it also assists in correcting biases that occur when the ethnographer is the only observer
of the phenomenon under investigation.
With regards to the external validity, it mainly refers to the generalizability of the
research result. Wiersma (2000) pointed out that generalizability is not the focus of
qualitative research, and case study in particular. Reader of a qualitative research may
find applications in other situations. Instead, comparability and translatability are more
important to an ethnographic research. Comparability refers to the extent to which
adequate theoretical constructs and research procedures are used so that other
researchers can understand the results. The translatability is the degree to which the
researcher uses theoretical frames, definitions, and research techniques accessible to
and understood by other researchers in the same or related disciplines (LeCompte,
75

Preissle, & Tesch, 1993; Wiersma, 2000). During the process of deploying the research
finding and data analysis, I have always kept in mind these two elements and tried to
explain adequately the research procedure and theoretical constructs.

3.6 Ethical Issues

3.6.1 Informed consent
It is incontestable that research participants have right of privacy, respect and
self-determination (Murphy & Dingwall, 2001). Following the guideline of Human
Research Ethics Committee for Non-Clinical Faculties at the University of Hong Kong,
informed consents from all the participants involved should be gained before
conducting any research. These include explicit consents from teachers and school
administrators interviewed, consents from my key participants parents because all of
my key participants age below 18. Most importantly, I additionally acquired the
personal consents of five key participants, because although they are still adolescents, I
believe and respect their independent mind as well as their capacity to appreciate
benefits and risks, and make sensible decision (the content of consent forms are
attached at the end of the thesis as appendix). Apart from the above clarification, the
freedom of participants to withdraw at any time of the research and their privacy were
utterly guaranteed. However, some ethical issues need to be clarified:
Although I completely agree with the position that covert research is ethically
problematic and should not be adopted in my research, at the very beginning of it, the
real purpose of my research was still disguised in some circumstances for the sake of
protecting the study from being jeopardized. This strategy was developed after my
experience in the pilot study. During the pilot study, when I negotiated with some
school administrators and teachers for the permission of classroom observation in
several secondary schools, I found that it was often difficult for me to find an entry if I
introduced my research candidly without any reservation. That is to say, I told them
what I was interested in was the problem/deviant students in their school. This always
alerted the teachers and school administrators for they did not want the dark side of
their schools to be exposed. Same dilemma was encountered when I sat in the
classroom in the face of all kinds of curious questions thrown out by students, I
certainly could not tell them what my true purpose was otherwise it might further
76

stigmatize and embarrass those who are usually criticized by teachers, and alter the
dynamics of classroom as well. However, I still needed to give them an introduction to
my research that is truthful and without hurting my participants or affecting their
behavior.
Therefore, the tactic I adopted at the initial stage of the research was to tell the
teachers and students that my research topic is on youth culture; and that I need to sit in
the classroom and observe students interaction with teachers and their classmates.
When the research had been brought to some depth and a stable relationship with the
participants established, I explained to and only to my participants what my real
research objective is. As a matter of fact, such vagueness strategy is adopted in many
studies in order to protect the validity of data, especially when the participants in
concern are marginalized or deviant groups (Janssen, Dechesne, & Van Knippenberg,
1999; Weinber & Williams, 1972). As it turned out, this strategy did facilitate my
research in terms of gaining the access to school, ensuring the authenticity of data and
protecting the participants.

3.6.2 The role of researcher

The role of the researcher assumed by the participants and the researchers identity
and experience in the field are extremely critical to the rigor and validity of a study,
therefore, they need to be pondered carefully as a crucial part of research design. It is
widely accepted that in qualitative research, there are four types of participation
depending on the extent researcher engages in the interaction with participants, which
are, from fully-engaged to completely detached the complete participant, the
participant-as-observer, the observer-as-participant, and the complete observer
(LeCompte, Preissle, & Tesch, 1993). It is necessary to note that the degree of
participation usually varies from one study to another and even within studies. Thus
rather than defining researchers role with a fixed category, it should be viewed in a
spectrum. In the present study, my role was closer to participant-as-observer since I
could get access to the everyday life of young people under study, establish a friendship
that allows all-sided interaction with each other, and could sometimes assume myself as
an insider; yet, I was still perceived by them as a researcher, and could negotiate with
them about the ethical issue, data collecting and recording, and seek feedback on my
77

observation and interpretation. This role was assigned neither by me nor by my

participants. As a matter of fact, we co-constructed it. Given my identity as a researcher
and a graduate student, who happened to be a grown up as an all-along conforming
child, I could never be accepted as a genuine member of the subculture. Rather, they
would probably treat me just as a person on their side depending on my friendliness
and sincerity. Overall, however, this kind of relationship may be a better way to keep
the balance between objectivity and subjectivity during the research.

3.6.3 Confidentiality and criminal liability

The last ethical issue arises from the nature of my research topic deviant students.
It is clearly that the behaviors of my participants definitely would include those that are
considered as deviant or even illegal. Therefore, hanging out with them sometimes did
get me into the dilemma of to do or not to do and to tell or not to tell. These ethical
challenges emerged from minor issues such as whether to admit or not that they have
been smoking and drinking in the caf till midnight yesterday when the class teacher
asked me, to more serious ones such as inquired by the director of student affair on who
were involved in the mob fighting that ended with a boy hospitalized. There were many
moral decisions to make and I needed to strike a balance between a responsible citizen
and researcher. As a matter of fact, this is always a difficult problem for researchers
trying to look into deviance (Becker, 1963).
For me, throughout my research, the priority was to always keep confidential what
my participants told me and what they did. I will only interfere or disclose under the
circumstances that they are going to commit or have done some crime which may
seriously harm themselves and the others. This decision is inspired and justified by
Fitzgerald and Hamilton (1996)s elaborate discussion on the relationship between
confidentiality and legal liabilities. When I faced with such ethically controversial
issues that challenged my role as a responsible citizen and alleged practice teacher
during my fieldwork, I took decision according to the following tenets:
1. Gathering facts is not an offence known to law. Therefore, I can observe the 4+1
youths activities even if they sometimes violated the law. It will not make me an
accessory;
2. Interviewing a person who has committed offences or may commit offences in
78

future cannot constitute the relevant liability of aiding and abetting any offence
committed or to be committed by that interviewee.
If the principles were only these two, it would be safe for me to hear my participants
talking about their deviant behaviors in the past and some wrongdoing they are going
to commit. However, sometimes I still hesitated at keeping silent about what they are
going to do, the following notions further explains my ethical dilemma:
3. If the research is for the public good, that contribute a certain body of knowledge
into the scholarship on understanding youth deviant behavior, the conduct of
withholding certain information is justifiable. Moreover, sometimes, the harm
arising from disclosing confidential information would outweigh the harm done
by refusing to do so. Because it will endanger the future capacity to conduct
research into illegal behaviors.
4. The researcher must not accept any material benefit in return for non-disclosure
of the commission of serious indictable offences. The researcher must not
encourage or instigate criminal conduct; and
5. Researchers data can still be searched by the police if a warrant is issued.

Summary
In this chapter, I have delineated a comprehensive methodology of the research
guided by preceding literature review. The rationale of the research design an
ethnographic case study is explained. A detailed account for the choice of field and
the case selection process is given, followed by the introduction of my approach of
analyzing data. I have also discussed issues like the role of researcher, reliability and
validity, and ethical issues, all of which are serious concerns to ethnographic
researchers. In the chapters that follow, I will present the three main findings
emerging from the data.

79

CHAPTER 4
THE INNER CITY YOUTH AND CENTRAL PARK
SECONDARY SCHOOL
4.1 Introduction
This chapter expounds the findings of the research about the context in which the
deviant behaviors of the 4+1 youths occur. By doing so, it gives answer to the first
research question, namely, what are the social factors that contribute to students
deviant behaviors and how do they exert influence. The school is a primary medium
through which the influences of larger society enter into the lives of the youth. It is
thus an ideal field to reveal the intricate process of the 4+1 youths deviance.
This chapter begins with the description of mediate and immediate social contexts
of the school where the fieldwork was carried out. In what follows, I will take a close
look at the structural factors that contribute to the deviant behaviors of my
participants the 4+1 youths. Then, I turn to the school itself (CPSS) where my
participants spend most of their time. I will also introduce the school appraisal system
in Xiamen and how CPSS responds to this system. I shall argue that the social
configuration in the school is, to a large extent, mediated by the education system and
school management. The schooling context not only plays an important role in shaping
the values and norms of students but also influences their identity and subculture
construction. I shall further argue that schooling context is often one of the most
overlooked factors that contribute to students deviance. An education system
exclusively preoccupied with students academic achievement and the school
managements response to it can unintentionally lead to a process of labeling students
who are not aligned to this the system as deviant. This, in turn, induces the formation
of their deviant subculture.

4.2 The Local Context of the Field

The past three decades have witnessed a drastic social transformation in China. As
discussed earlier, the rapid development of China is more visible in its coastal areas,
80

among which Xiamen outstands. As a historic seaport in cultural and geographical

proximity to Taiwan, Xiamen was among the first batch of Special Economic Zones
when China embarked on its Opening-up Policy in the late 1970s. Since then, this
small city that used to serve mainly as coastal defense underwent a considerable
economic boom and consequent acceleration of urban development (Liu, 2008).
According to Lu (2004), Fujian is one of the first seven provinces in China that has
become industrialized. And among the major cities in Fujian, Xiamen is the most
prominent one that even surpasses the capital city Fuzhou in terms of the per capita
income, urban planning and reputation. The rapid development during these decades
has brought about some dramatic changes both in social ethos and physical layouts.

4.2.1 Prominence of materialistic goals and education as the main means

In line with national policy that gives highest priority to the development of market
economy, Xiamens social climate is driven by entrepreneurship and private economic
advancement. Following Deng Xiaopings famous statements Getting rich is glorious
and No matter if it is a white cat or a black cat; as long as it can catch mice, it is a good
cat, people overtly sought after private wellbeing through materialistic and utilitarian
pursuits. After a three-decade transformation, the obsession for monetary success has
become a dominant cultural ethos in social life and a key criterion to evaluate
individuals personal and social worth (Zhao, 2008). This situation, coined as the
Chinese Dream (Mars & Hornsby, 2008), resembles its counterpart in America: the
dominant value patterns of American culture specifically, its achievement
orientation, its competitive individualism, its universalism in goal orientations and
evaluative standards, when harnessed to the preeminent goal of monetary success
crystallize into the distinctive cultural ethos of the American Dream (Messner &
Rosenfeld, 2007, p.70-71). There is another dated societal conviction in China
education is the main if not the only legitimate means to achieve monetary and further
status success in life. Along with high value the Chinese people attach to education
(Cheng, 2001), modern theory of human capital also drives the whole society,
especially the parents, to place even greater expectation on schooling as the foremost
place of socialization of their children and, more importantly, the vehicle for social
mobility. These boil down to tremendous emphasis on education pushing young people
to study even harder and succeed academically. Those who fail to do so are considered
81

unlikely to be successful in later life and thus regarded as a disgrace for their families
(Liu & Lin, 2007).

4.2.2 Diversified population composition and fragmented neighborhood

As Xiamen is more affluent and prosperous compared with other cities in Fujian
Province and adjacent areas, the labor force from less developed areas nearby has been
rushing in. In 2009, the population of Xiamen was about 3.5 million, among which
temporary residents were nearly 30% (Xiamen Statistics Bureau, 2010). The
population flow in the city has reached an unprecedentedly high level with an average
in-migration rate of more than 50% in these three years. From Xiamens six districts,
Siming District is the archetypal one and it is where the city center and the studied
school (CPSS) are located. According to the Xiamen Statistics Bureau (2010), both the
in-migration rate and out-migration rate of the Siming District are the highest. The
former is 79.3% and the latter 61.54%, compared to 49.81% and 39.14% of the city as a
whole. The following table shows the comparison of some demographic index between
the whole city and Siming District in three years:
Table 4.1 Population information of Xiamen and Siming District
Index
2009
2008
2007

Average

In-migration

Xiamen

49.81

58.62

43.34

50.59

Rate (%)

Siming

79.30

84.32

56.36

73.33

Out-migration

Xiamen

39.14

31.09

9.99

26.74

Rate (%)

Siming

61.54

49.08

16.15

42.26

Permanent Residents (K)

2510

2460

2380

Temporary Residents (K)

996.63

977.29

918.23

Source: Xiamen Bureau of Statistics (2010). Yearbook of Xiamen Special Economic Zone. Available at
http://www.stats-xm.gov.cn/2010/

Most migrant workers undertake manual jobs such as construction, driving, estate
security, etc. Some of them may become Getihu by running small businesses such as
retailing, goods transportation, repairing, food preparation, and so on. Due to their
lower and unstable salary, they tend to reside in the inner city or in the outer skirt of the
city with inexpensive housing and lower consumption standard. The presence of
low-income residents further expands the small businesses catering for this group. This
situation is consistent with the municipal census data, which shows that the top three
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occupations of residents in Siming District are construction (38.1%), wholesale and

retailing (14.1%) and manufacturing (9.2%) (Statistics Bureau of Siming District,
2008).
Meantime, due to the deepening industrialization and urbanization, the city
landscape has also undergone dramatic changes. The phenomenon of stratification of
urban space has emerged from rapid urban development, urban gentrification and
housing commoditization (Liu, 2011). Firstly, it has been expanding outwardly and
incorporating many areas that used to belong to adjacent towns. This further draws
people from township and village to work in the city. Second, as several areas of the
inner city are scheduled for renewal, they are traded to real estate investors and turned
into middle class residences. Those whose houses are demolished, they are asked to
move to some newly built housing elsewhere. This forces them to break away from
their familiar neighborhoods and live with strangers in a new environment. At last,
some inner city areas that remain outside renewal project suffer from decaying. Thus,
more and more better-off local people start to move out and lease them to incoming
migrant workers. As a result, these areas now densely accommodate lower class local
people and migrant workers with different origins. All of these have led to
fragmentation and breakdown of the old community: the neighbors stop saying hi to
each other; they no longer keep an eye on the property and children who live downstairs
or next door as they used to; and the influx of outsiders speaking different dialects bring
along different custom, values and lifestyles. This situation, described by a score of
social disorganization theorists (Shaw & McKay, 1969; Hirschi, 1969; Bursik, 1988),
undermined the social bond and control among the members in the community. The
correlation between a deteriorated, poverty-ridden inner city occupied by poor
residents with a large amount of immigrants and the deviant behavior of young people
has widely been described (Osgood & Chambers, 2000; Kubrin & Weitzer, 2003;
Chung & Steinberg, 2006; De Coster, Heimer, & Wittrock, 2006). Related literature
points out that neighborhoods with high levels of residential instability, ethnic
heterogeneity and, most importantly, economic deprivation are conducive to youth
delinquency. These conditions erode the capacity of local institutions such as schools,
families, etc. to impose control over the behavior of residents, especially children and
adolescents. Even in the absence of cultural differences, the continuous arrival of new
people and the departure of former inhabitants make it difficult to maintain the kin and
83

friendship networks needed for effective crime control (Messner & Rosenfeld, 2007).
The above mentioned situation is the social environment where all five of my
participants live in. To give a concrete image of their living condition, I attach an
excerpt from my field note, which sketches the main landscape of the community:
Many days after school, Onion, Shanji, WS, Dusk and XXL will gather around the
office and we will head home together. Living in the same neighborhood, our troop
will send each members home one by one. Departing from the school, we should
firstly cross the 50-meter-long street of temptation. On both sides of the street,
several snack booths selling soft drinks, grilled food, hamburgers are alluring. It
always holds up our march when someone needs to grab a bite or say hi to his/her
friend who happens to be in the crowd waiting for food. After we finally get through,
cross a four-lane road with heavy transportation, pass another secondary school, we
soon enter the heart of the old commercial center Zhongshan Road. With all kinds
of shops and low price restaurants, this place is always full of tourists and local young
people. Onions home, a ramshackle tenement, is on one of the anfractuous lanes
behind the main road. When the evening comes, the entry of the lane is packed with
barbecue booths and small tables and stools. Flocks of young people will come here
for grilled meat, vegetable and beer. Onions friend is running one of these booths.
Sometimes he will come down and help out till midnight. After a swift farewell,
Onion quickly retreats to his lair for the PC game. We keep on marching towards the
next station Shanjis home. It is in a short distance from Onions but the lanes are
so puzzling and horrifying especially in the dark. I finally understand the shock Mrs.
Nice displayed in the depiction of her first visit to Shanjis home. After several turns,
we finally arrive at a wooden frame house squeezing into those closely packed
triple-decker buildings. It is a typical slum house with three or four households
sharing a public toilet at the corner of the alleyway. As the day is getting dark, I urge
the rest of them to move faster. In fact, Dusk and XXL live in the other side of the
district, which is relocation housing. But both of them want to hang out a bit and go
home by bus later. Compared to the other three students and my home, the living
condition of XXL and Dusk is rather favorable. It is a well-designed community with
spatial and bright flat rooms and self-contained facilities such as in-community
market and parks. However, since the residents have moved from different areas of
the inner city due to the urban renewal project and most of them have low income, the
community is widely considered as a slum area. When XXL and Dusk leave for the
bus station, the troop remains only WS and me. We pass the crowds of tourists, walk
through alleyways with prostitutes sitting outside the disguised brothel and finally
arrive at my home which is surrounded by several mah-jong houses under the cover
84

of elderly recreation center. Normally, these houses are open as early as 7 oclock in
the morning till midnight. The customers are residents in the neighborhood. Most of
them are either retired or out of job. Residents around always suffer from the
boisterous argument among players, noise of the collision of mah-jong blocks and
thick smoke of cigarette emitting from within. WS watches me walk up the gloomy
and narrow stairs and marches on for his home, which is just within a 5-minite walk
with same condition as mine three-decker wooden frame building located beside
several commercial mah-jong houses and a busy wet market.
(Excerpt from the field note 24/05/2009)

4.3 Inner City Youth

After an introduction of the community where my participants, the 4+1 youths
grew up in, the following sections give a more detailed information about their families
and lives. Each of them has a distinctive life experience; however, the influence of
similar social factors is equally evident.
Onion (Male, aged 15)
Onion moved to Xiamen with his parents and grandfather from adjacent county in his
elementary Grade 4. His mother works as in-house daycare in the hospital and needs to
stay in the hospital most of the time. His father is a provisional construction worker.
Because of long and intense working hours, they delegate their supervision role to the
grandfather. Since Onion is the only grandson, he highly trusts Onions ability to make
rational decisions and granted him the maximum freedom at home. Except for the
ragged condition of their rented house, Onion still has a tiny private room with his most
important equipment a computer with access to the internet. Although he claims not
being addicted, he is evidently spellbound by a popular Korean online game, DNF and
is playing day and night at home. As he says, he can make money by selling virtual
weapons and equipments to other players, which makes this game more attractive and
his truancy from school throughout almost the whole first semester of Grade 2
justifiable Cause Im not wasting time. Apart from this, as he discloses, he also
has some personal commitment to his buddies out of school, mostly gang members.
During my early stage of classroom observation, he almost only showed up in the
Chinese lesson keeping his promise to Mrs. Strict. For those lesson he happened to
present, I saw him bend over on the desk and sleep like a log.
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Gone through a tough time bullied by other students during early elementary in his
hometown, he swore to himself once he came to Xiamen that Ill never ever be
insulted again! Therefore, he started doing exercises every day, mainly push-ups and
hitting wooden logs, in order to gain physical strength and he used to be very grumpy in
the early days. Because of his toughness, he was recruited by a big brother from a gang
as early as elementary years. In order to establish his status in the gang, he used to join
in all kinds of fighting with other gangs. So by the time he entered the CPSS, he was
already a big brother in the school with many followers. As a result, Onion is
considered as the cock in the class. Some even nominate him as one of the powerful
figures in the school because of his valiancy and personal loyalty.
Shanji (Male, aged 15)
Shanji lives in a ragged house in the middle of a wet market near a commercial centre
with his parents and grandma. Same as Onions father, his father also works as
provisional construction worker, and his mother is a saleslady in the nearby department
store. Both parents are fans of mah-jong. So Shanji rarely sees them at home for they
are either at work or playing mah-jong in friends house. It was until secondary Grade 2
that Shanjis grandma moved in to take care of him. Before that, from his elementary
years through secondary Grade 1, he usually went to school without breakfast because
his parents were too occupied to take care of him. This made him dozy and unable to
concentrate on the lessons. His academic performance dropped down and so his
learning motivation. Fortunately, he now has his grandma who cooks for the family
every day and looks after her grandson. Shanji is content and proud of her cooking
skills. He frequently invites other 4+1 youths to dine in his house. As the close friend
of Onion, Shanji hangs out with him almost all the time. Since they live nearby, Shanji
usually plays PC games at Onions till midnight because Onion is the only one among
the three boys who has computer at home.
WS (Male, aged 15)
WSs family moved to Xiamen before his school age from a township in the vicinity.
They rent a house in the old commercial area. His father is a driver for the biggest meat
processing plant in the city. He can sometimes make some extra money by speculation
such as buying the meat from the factory at a relatively low price and selling it to
adjacent city. WSs mother used to run a small seafood business in her hometown but is
86

now a full-time housewife.

WSs father used to frequently adopt corporal punishment to discipline his son until
one day he encountered WSs severe resistance. That night when he tried to beat WS
using clothes rack for his late return from an internet bar, WS grabbed and threw out his
weapon and runaway for the whole night. The other day, after a desperate search for
his only son, WSs father turned to school and broke down in tears in front of the class
teacher. Later they found that Onion took WS overnight. The result turned out to be a
big victory to WS. His father promised he would never again resort to violence to
discipline him. Meanwhile, he also relaxed the control over WS as long as he tells them
his whereabouts and when he will be back every time he goes out.
XXL (Male, aged 15)
XXL moved to a relocation house in secondary Grade 1. Prior to that he lived in the
inner city neighborhood and went to the same primary school as Shanji and WS did.
XXLs father is an estate security man. A former interior renovation foreman, XXLs
father changed jobs frequently. His mother works in the laundry room in a hotel. She
used to be a migrant worker from a province in the west region of China and married
XXLs father afterwards.
The family control over XXL is the highest among the 4+1 youths. XXLs father
used to punish him physically but as XXL grew older and stronger, he could no longer
put up with his fathers bad temper and the father-son confrontation evolved into
runaway for one or two days playing PC games in Onions home or the internet bar.
XXLs father had no choice but to give up corporal punishments. This, however, did
not change his negative view about his son XXL is neither rhyme nor reason until
now. This situation was explicit during my visit to his home and I believe it is a
permanent feature in the father-son interaction.
Dusk (Female, aged 14)
Dusks family moved to the relocation house in her late primary. Her parents are both
drivers. Her mother drives for a government officer and her father works for a delivery
company. Among the 4+1 youths, Dusks family is relatively better-off. However, her
parents are working on irregular shifts, which situation made them loose control over
Dusk since Grade 1 in CPSS and gave her more freedom to hang out with friends. At
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the beginning, Dusk went out with friends after school and usually was back before
dinner. Gradually, her after-school leisure extended until midnight. On discovering that
Dusk was becoming wild, her mother just nagged at her without any effective solution,
which made Dusk deteriorate even further. Moreover, her father kept giving his
daughter pocket money every week whenever she wheedled. Dusk successfully made
use of the conflicting parenting styles between father and mother and gained further
freedom from it without any fear. She started to play truant at the end of the first
semester in Grade 2 for the simple reason that I cant get up that early. As recorded
by the registry office of school, she has skipped 128 classes by May 20, 2009 (it is
closing to the end of the first semester of Grade 2).
The following table gives a general demographic profile of the 4+1 youths
families:
Table 4.2 Family profile of the 4+1 youths
Family
Parents job
Highest
Profile

Father

Mother

House-hold

Housing condition

education income
level of

(monthly)

parents
Onion

Provisional

Nursing

Primary

construction

worker

school

Saleslady

Primary

4000

Old tenement in the

inner city

worker
Shanji

Provisional
construction

3000

school

Slum house in the

inner city

worker
WS

Driver

Housewife

Primary

4000

school
XXL

Estate

Laundress

security man
Dusk

Driver

Primary

Old tenement in the

inner city

5000

Relocation house

6000

Relocation house

school
Driver

Middle
school

From the above, it is easy to identify some commonalities they share:

First, they are all from lower-class families. Following Lus (2004) classification of

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social strata in China in the post-reform era 5, the 4+1 youths families fall into the
lower tier. According to the Statistics Bureau of Siming District (2011), the per capita
per month disposable income (PDI) in Siming district is 2911. From the above table,
the average PDI of the 4+1 youths families is below 2000. The influence of this
indicator on their children is two-fold: on the one hand, since the family members
mostly undertake labor-intensive jobs, it is very possible that the jobs will hinder the
parents to take adequate care of their children because of limited time or energy. As
introduced previously in the case descriptions of Onion, Shanji and Dusk, all of them
have inadequate parental supervision during their growth. On the other hand, because
of the modest salary, the families can only afford lower expense habitats where the poor
house condition, over-crowded population, deleterious environment are concomitant.
All of these are negative to young peoples growth, not to mention the consequently
insufficient institutional and cultural resources.
Second, their parents education level is relatively low. Not only the parents cannot
tutor their children with school work, but existing research has also points out that low
education level makes parents prone to adopt inappropriate parenting style (Chen, Liu,
& Li, 2000; Jae & Choon, 2008; Lau & Leung, 1992; Laser, Luster, & Oshio, 2007; Ma
& Li, 2002; Park, Kim, & Cho, 2008). This finding is consistent with the cases of the
4+1 youths. Although nuanced in the actual condition of each family, the parents and
grandparents tend to spoil and indulge their kids. Even those families that used to adopt
strict disciplinary measures, parents succumb in the face of their growing-up childrens
resistance.
Third, all the 4+1 youths are the only-child in their respective families. As
discussed in the Chapter one, the children produced by the one-child policy receive
more attention and creature comfort from their family. This allows them to get the
upper hand in the confrontations with their parents. By the same token, even though the
4+1 youths are from economically deprived families, they can still have weekly
pocket money and red-envelop 6. More money at their discretion means more choices

In Lus classification, there are ten social strata in China after 1978. From the top to the bottom they
are: state and social administrators; managerial staff; private entrepreneur; professionals; clerks;
individual industrialist and commercialist; business and service sector worker; agricultural laborers;
jobless, unemployed or partially unemployed.
6
As in Chinese custom, during the Lunar New Year, children can receive some extraordinary pocket
money from their elder relatives.
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for their leisure-time entertainments and larger scope of activity. This is, of course, not
necessarily negative for young people, but when taken into consideration with an
ineffective parenting style, it surely undermines the family control over these young
people.
The situation of the community and the 4+1 youths family background falls well
into the theoretical model of differential association (Sutherland, Cressey, & Luckenbill,
1992) and social control (Hirschi, 1969). When the families fall short to exert adequate
control over their children and to integrate them into conventional value system of the
society, the unattached children are more susceptible to deviant values and patterns
around, especially in a disorganized community. In fact, this hypothesis has been
proven to be relevant by numerous studies in different time and social contexts (Beaver
& Wright, 2007; Chan, 2001; Jensen, 1972; Liu, 1994; Matsueda & Heimer, 1987; Park,
et al., 2008; Stewart, 2008). However, in the real situation of young peoples life, the
relationship among their deviant behavior, family structure and community problem is
more complicated, and it is often mediated by another principal social institution the
school. Therefore, the role of school will be given a close examination in the following
passage.

4.4 Central Park Secondary School

4.4.1 General background
As we can see in the following map (Figure 4.1), the CPSS is right in the middle of
the district previously introduced. It is located at the juncture of the old commercial
centre and an emerging business street.

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Figure 4.1 Siming district and the school district

With a history of more than 80 years, CPSS is one of the oldest schools in Xiamen.
With a powerful alumni association founded by many social elites, it has escaped the
governments attempt to expropriate the land it lies on and trade it to real estate
investors. Nowadays, its main building is renewed and the other buildings are replaced
by a multifunctional complex by its alumni endowments. The two wings are cleverly
connected by a double-deck bridging area on the top of which there is a playground
with 300m synthetic racetrack while the ground floor is designed to be a sequester and a
spacious hallway. The irregular shape of the campus provides plenty of secret places
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for students. Around the school compounds, there are various shops sprawling,
restaurants, caf, groceries, snack booths and so on, are catering for students demand
and always attract streams of students after school.
In 2007, the enrollment year of the studied class, the student intake was fed by
seven main primary schools with around 290 students. All of the seven schools are in
the immediate vicinity of the school. They are topped by the only experimental
primary school in Xiamen: three are intermediate and the other three are considered to
produce poor-quality graduates in terms of learning habit and discipline. As a matter of
fact, four of my participants are from two of these notorious schools.
In recent years, the aforementioned changes in the city have imposed significant
influence on the school, which are explicitly experienced by teachers and school
administrators.
4.4.1.1 The expansion of the class size
The growing population of migrant workers has brought about several
rearrangements to the school system. New policies were enacted to guarantee the right
for children from migrant families to enroll in all ordinary school (Xiamen Municipal
Government, 2006; Xiamen Education Bureau, 2007). Accordingly, the class number
in each grade and the class size are enlarged to accommodate these students. This is a
common phenomenon for almost all the schools. A school visited in my pilot study, the
School D, used to be 7-8 classes in Grade 2. It now has 12 classes with 51-55 students
per classroom. Half of students of the School E are from rural migrant families, which
has, according to the grade teacher, never been expected before. As for CPSS, nearly
one-third of the students are from other cities or nearby underdeveloped towns. The
inflow of migrant students urges the school to be more inclusive for students from
different social and cultural backgrounds. Although they understand and accept the new
arrangements, many teachers and school administrators complain about this situation,
for it escalates the difficulties in teaching and management with general increase in
workload. Although the main focus of this study is not on the demographics leading to
differential treatment of students, it undoubtedly changes the teacher-student
interaction and undermines the efficiency of teachers to take care of all the students in
the same class. Obviously, the chances for students who are poor in both study and
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behavior tend to be handled insufficiently and improperly are even higher.

4.4.1.2 The challenge to education outcome
The capacity of formal social institutions such as school and family to socialize their
members is weakened in a neighborhood deprived economically with a diversified in
composition of residents. This is exemplified by some teachers during the interviews:
Every time we just tune the students for study, but after a summer vacation, they will
return to wildness again (Politics teacher, Lynn).
Usually students are docile in the school, even if those problem students will behave
well sometimes, but when they hang out with their ex-schoolmates from primary
school, they are just back to bad again (Biology teacher, Jane).
Many parents dont know how to teach their children. They always spoil their kids.
And some may hit them in front of teacher when we report to them some misconduct
of their child (Class teacher in the studied class, Mrs. Nice).

From the response of teachers, we can see that most of them hold a functional view
on education. They believe that school is an important agent of socialization. It
functions to instill the proper knowledge and social values to its students; and the
results are largely positive and successful. In their views, even the societys problems
can be reduced because individuals will be trained to fit into society in acceptable ways
(Ballantine, 2001). They seem to believe that if there are some problematic students, it
is often due to a complicated social environment, especially poor family education,
which counteracts the efficacy of school-based education. This perception has been
described by many social researchers. However, when they are investigating the
relationship between youth problem and school experience, much attention has been
placed on poor academic performance (see Bennett et al., 2003; Brown et al., 2008;
Hirschi & Hindelang, 1977; Jerse & Fakouri, 1978; Wang, Blomberg, & Li, 2005),
while only a few look into the contribution of school system and the dynamic of
teacher-student interaction to students deviant behavior (see Abraham, 1989; Ball,
1984; Bottrell, 2007; Lacey, 1966; Reynolds, 1976; Rist, 1970/2000). As I will disclose
in the following passages, school seems to play a more important role in students
experience and behaviors. When students like the 4+1 youths come into the school
93

with their own bearings of the structural disadvantages, the role of the school becomes
critical whether to serve as an equalizer or as a catalyzer of the negative effects of
risk factors.

4.4.2 Social relation in Central Park Secondary School

So far the social background, immediate social context of the studied school and
some potential challenges to current school education were described. These are all
important factors that influence the everyday operation of CPSS. Indeed, as I have
introduced previously, social contexts did change CPSS in terms of the recruiting
practice of students, class size and so on. However, the responses from school mostly
concentrate at the infrastructural level and in a passive manner. Most of the school
system in CPSS remains unresponsive to the changes in the society outside and some
characteristics of school organization and management were observed to be highly
relevant to students deviant behavior.
Generally speaking, the education work of school can be categorized into two:
academic work and ideo-moral work. To state specifically, one is to carry out the
syllabus and curriculum prescribed by the education authority and the other is to
indoctrinate students with right social values and prevent them from crime. In order to
supervise schools work, the education authority has developed a highly quantitative
appraisal system to evaluate schools performance and it profoundly shapes the
everyday operation of school and its management.
4.4.2.1 School appraisal system
General assessment
In China, every student takes the Certificate of Secondary Education Examination
(CSEE) on their graduation. This examination serves two purposes. One is to measure
students attainment after three-years secondary education, and the other is to serve as
the major determinant of the students future career. Each year, the municipal education
bureau will draw a line for entrance to high school according to the general score of
students. Those who pass this line will be guaranteed a place in a high school in their
school district; and of course, top students have the right to get placement among best
schools. As for those who score below this line, they are allowed to go to vocational
94

schools of their choice. Although the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE)
in China is well-known as the major and final means of screening and selecting students
and the process has been depicted as a cruel and fierce battle. However, the real battle
has started as early as in the CSEE. The discrepancy of education quality among
different high schools and the scarcity of place in prestigious ones push the parents and
their children to prepare as early as possible. Once you get into the prestigious high
school, as the folks say, youve already stepped one foot into the key university.
Therefore, the CSEE is crucial to students. In addition, schools reputation and interest
also depends on the result of this examination. The passing rate, the average score of
students, the number of students who enter key high school are all important indicators
to measure schools performance. Parents and students often choose their school based
on the outcomes in the Examination, which in turn affects the schools prestige,
popularity, future

intake quality,

including

revenue from government or

nongovernment sources such as subsidy and sponsorship.

Based on the requirement of the CSEE, the Local Education Authority dictates a
school appraisal system to assess the teaching quality of schools (Xiamen Education
Bureau, 2007; 2008). The measurement can be capsulated into the following function,
which is directly connected to the students scores in the Examination:
P= ( x /750*0.4+G*0.2+H*0.2+Y*0.2)*K*100

In this equation,
P refers to the score of assessment on the teaching quality of school.
x

refers to the average score of all the six subjects (Chinese, Math, English, Physics,

Chemistry and Politics) in the school. It can be elicited from dividing the sum of
graduates score of all subjects by the number of expecting graduates, which is
comprised of the number of students who finally sit for the examination and those who
fail to.
G refers to the general pass rate, which comes from dividing the number of students
who pass all six subjects by the number of expecting graduates.
H refers to the eligible rate of school in the examination. The cutting line is decided
95

according to the result of the whole city.

Y refers to the excellent rate. Same as the above arithmetic, it comes from dividing
the number of students whose score is above 600, namely 80% of the total score, 750,
by expected number of gradates.
K refers to the rate of students who graduate on time. K equals to dividing the
number of expecting graduates by a combination of the number of enrollment and
incoming students during three years minus outgoing students.
The above equation clearly indicates the education authoritys emphasis on
academic-oriented subjects. This on the one hand, drives schools, teachers to dispose
most of their attention and resource on the aforementioned six subjects. As I have
observed in the studied class, the ethos of the school also influences its students. For
example, students in general tend to be more focused on and disciplined in the main
subjects while looser behaviors are displayed in those subjects that are unimportant.
On the other hand, students with different aptitude or gift in those unimportant
subjects or areas such as music, sports, leadership, etc. tend to be undervalued. In an
atmosphere that students multiple-intelligence is less valued, students with difficulty
in academic-oriented subjects are more likely to feel strained at school.
Additional award
In addition to the general assessment, the Xiamen Education Bureau has sets up an
Award for best teaching quality to encourage schools that perform well or make
progress. The winners gets extra subsidy. The criteria for the award are: 1) the
aforementioned P value must reach the school districts excellent level; 2) the school
has not violated any regulation of the government during the year of application; 3)
during the past three years, there were no delinquency or serious accident among
students; 4) the on-schedule graduating rate of the school during the three years must
exceed the average of whole city and the dropout rate must be limited within 1%; 5) in
minor subjects examinations, namely history, geography and biology, the pass rate
must exceed 90%.
Again, although this award includes other dimensions of school education as criteria,
the preoccupation with P value as the main indicator is evident.

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Occasional inspection
Every once in a while the Municipal Education Supervision Office (MESO) visits
the school over some special issues such as enhancing school safety, building
civilized school, minimizing and preventing dropouts, etc. These special issues are
decided top-down from the Ministry of Education and inspections are undertaken by
the provincial office and municipal office. Take the minimizing and preventing
dropouts inspection in 2008, for example. It was arranged by MESO and the group of
inspectors comprises officers from the school district and municipal level as well as
school administrators. Inspectors randomly visited 26 secondary schools without prior
notice and examined the attendance record in the Grade 2 and Grade 3. According to
the report, the result is unsatisfactory; the average dropout rate is over 2% with a peak
of 10% in some schools (MESO, 2008). A reform requirement was thereafter dictated
to every school. However, the report ended with an interesting justification, in order to
be prepared for the inspection from provincial education supervision office. I also
remember when the school was preparing for the civilized school inspection, the
CPSS students reluctant to wear proper uniform were asked to stay at home that day.
From this case we can also see that although many policy and regulation from the state
are out of good cause, they sometimes become superficial if not a burden to educators
in practice.
4.4.2.2 School management
It can be seen from the foregoing that the schools disposition revolves around the
school appraisal assessment. The latter forces the school to focus on three things. The
first one is obviously, the academic performance of its students; the second is the
behavior of students, and the third, the number of students who sit for the examination.
As the main stakeholder to carry out the plan, most of the duty rest on the teachers
shoulders. The assessment is further broken down into many requirements on teachers:
Students academic performance
Undoubtedly that the main concerns of teachers work is improving students
academic performance, which is also the major criterion to measure teaching
effectiveness. Therefore the unit examinations, mid-term examinations and final
examinations are touchstone for teachers reputation. Teachers in the same subject area
97

tend to compare the result of his/her class with each other. Apart from these informal
competitions, the crucial one is students scores at the CSEE. The teacher whose class
lags behind will not be assigned to senior class next time, which has negative impacts
on their performance evaluation and further promotion. So under this pressure, they
have to take whatever opportunities to monitor and improve students academic
performance, among which, homework is seen to be one of the effective mechanisms.
Homework
Homework is believed to be an indispensable tool for students to consolidate their
knowledge. The teachers of major subjects try to partition the outer-curricular time of
students by assigning them an amount of daily homework that is perceived reasonable.
However, they may fail to realize that the workload can become too demanding for
students. Or, the other side of the truth may be, even though they know the workload is
heavy, they have to make sure their subjects have a share in students outer-curricular
time. These teachers believe that this is highly related to the examination results.
Therefore, it is surprising that although the education reform of secondary school was
launched in 2000 and there are explicit instructions on alleviating students workload
(Ministry of Education, 2010; Xiamen Education Bureau, 2006), the workload in the
studied class is heavier than my own during the 1990s. As a matter of fact, according to
existing research (Law, 2006; Li & Fan, 2011) and the information from my pilot study,
this is a very common phenomenon in almost every school. In the studied class, many
students complained to me about the unbearable workload and beg me to petition for a
relief from teachers. I asked some average students to calculate the time it takes to
finish homework every night. The result was worrying:

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Table 4.3 Students workload

Subject
Task
Chinese (82)

Time

Copy explanation of ancient

38

words and phrase

Translate ancient passage into

31

plain Chinese
Finish exercises book

13

Listening and reading

20

Exercise

10

Dictation by parent

Math (43)

Exercise

43

Chemistry (33)

Exercise

33

English (38)

196

Total time

If we assume a student starts doing homework after dinner at 7:30, it will be finished
after 10:30. It should be noted that this is just the record from average students. For
those who have difficulty in one or more subjects, it may take till midnight. Some just
finish partially, and leave the rest to tomorrows reading session. Every morning, when
I stepped into the classroom, I could see many students getting their heads down and
copying others homework in a hurry, among them even some good students. Frankly
speaking, for most students, homework is a meaningless chore to be dispensed with as
quickly as possible rather than something to be done carefully.
The unreasonably heavy workload and exam-oriented education is deleterious to
students mental and physical health. Students are not only deprived from sleep and
physical exercise but also exposed to high level of stress (Huang, 2011). Ironically,
the homework is not an exclusive challenge for students. Sometimes teachers can be
the victim. In the middle of each term, the office of academic affair will examine
students homework of every subject as it is prescribed by the municipal education
bureau. The finishing rate and the quality of homework have direct relation with
teachers performance, which affects their salary and promotion. Thus, teachers daily
routine is to push students lagging behind to hand in their homework. Students will be
detained after school until they finish the homework. Parents could also be called in if
their children refuse to fulfill their duty. This often induces conflicts among teachers,
parents and students.
99

Student management
There are a number of regulations to discipline students behaviors and these are
carried out by teachers in their day-to-day interaction with students. Generally, they
have to supervise students behaviors according to the five mottoes listed in the
Middle school student code of daily conduct, namely, Self-respect and self-love,
mind the appearance, Be honest and trustworthy, treat others with good manners,
Abide by the rules and regulations, study hard, Be diligent and thrifty, show filial
piety to parents and Exercise strict self-discipline, comply with the social ethics
(Ministry of Education, 2004). They also need to prevent them from committing
delinquency as prescribed by the Law of the People's Republic of China on Prevention
of Juvenile Delinquency (SCNPCC), 1999). Normally, each school will develop their
own regulations to suit the practical situation of the school and students. In CPSS, the
government regulations are tailored and categorized into different domains to monitor
its students, as shown in the following table:
Table 4.4 Student management
Domains
Behaviors that constitute violation
Attendance

Being late; skipping class; playing truant; do not attend assembly, morning
exercise or other collective activities

Dress Code

Not in uniform or wearing unmatched uniform 7; long hair 8; dyed hair;

wearing makeup, ornaments or high heels

Class

Talking without teachers permission; interrupting teacher or other

discipline

students; doing things irrelevant to study; cheating on exams; fail to finish

homework

Out-of-class

Talking during assembly; fighting; bullying; vandalizing; being disrespect

discipline

to teachers; using foul language

Status offense

Smoking; drinking; gambling; using drugs; going to commercial places

that are forbidden to juvenile

*Source: abbreviated from CPSSs Student Manual (2007).

As a daily routine, there will be a monitoring group formed by model students in

different grades to rate each class based on the regulation described above according to
a scoring scale stipulated by the office of student affair. Their practice is under
7

The shirt and trousers do not belong to same set of uniform

Code of hairstyle at school is quite strict. For boy, brush cut is preferred, no fringe is allowed and
earlobes must be visible. As for girl, the fringe should not cover the eyebrows. Every month, the grade
teacher will inspect all the classes. Students whose hairstyle is inadequate must have their haircut as
soon as possible.
100
8

supervision and guidance of the director of the office of student affair, Mr. Ding. The
daily result will be summed up on a weekly-basis and constitutes the total score of each
class. In this Weekly appraisal, every student contributes to the score of their class,
and the class that scores highest will be awarded a red flag demonstrating their good
performance. Although this is just an encouragement mechanism for students, some
teachers told me that the awarding of flag is not exactly based on students scoring but
the impression of school administrators which rests mainly on each classs academic
performance, bad results will still undermine the whole classs self-esteem as well as
the class teachers reputation. Also, the rating of a class is a part of the criteria to
nominate Excellent Class at the school district level and municipal level. The winner
will be awarded extra fund. If a teacher appears incapable of managing the class well, it
is less likely that he/she will be assigned the post as class teacher next time. Since one
of the requirements for teacher to be promoted in their title of post is that they need to
be a class teacher for at least 3 continuous years, this will definitely undermine their
promotion.
As a commonly adopted mechanism with a long history (dates back long before my
primary years in the 1980s) and wide range (in almost all the schools from primary
through senior high), it is claimed to be conducive to foster the solidarity within the
class and encourage the mutual-supervision among peers. However, this appraisal
system is prescriptive in nature and aims at restricting and controlling students rather
than empowering or encouraging. Therefore, it is very easy to generate students
resistance and student management often becomes a battlefield between teacher and
students. Those who repeatedly violate the rules or run into conflict with teachers are
likely to be labeled as problem/deviant students.
Attendance rate for the CSEE
As a common denominator in almost all the sub-equations, we can see an important
share of the expecting graduates, upon which the values of G, H, Y and K depend. Since
the majority of the students will take the exam, what really counts is the unexpected
number of those who fail to sit in. Because not only do these absent students make little
contribution to the total score, they also significantly bring down the P value. This
group of students is termed as drifters in the governments document (Xiamen
Education Bureau, 2008). The school tries best to keep the number of drifters small
and monitors potential drifters.
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Drifters are not the same as dropouts. Drifters do not abruptly quit school.
Instead, there is a process of drifting away. They are underachievers for various causes.
At the beginning, they may come to school for a couple of days and play truant for a
while. Some of them retreat to internet addiction, some hang out with friends who have
graduated or also drifting away from other schools and some even join in the gang.
Later, when the lifestyle outside surpasses school life or the school and the family lose
control over them, they stop coming to school and become absent from the
Examination. Even before they become drifters, they are considered as
problem/deviant students for their behavior is causing and will cause more trouble to
school. The diagram below visualizes the vicious circle of the production of drifters.
Note that a student jumps into this deleterious situation at any stage. Ironically, in order
to prevent student from being a drifter, sometimes the school will bring down the
behavioral standard for deviant students. This is one of the compromises that school
make with them. However, the ensuring dual-standard brings teachers additional
difficulties to discipline students due to the fact that behaviors of deviant students will
exert negative influence on their classmate as well as the class culture. In the Chapter 5,
there will be a more detailed description of the interaction between the school and the
4+1 youths who are at risk of becoming drifters.
Figure 4.2 Vicious circle of drifter

Underachieve for
various causes

Considered as
deviant student

Become a
drifter'

Violate school
regulation/ cause
trouble to teachers

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Skip class or play

truant from school

Summary
Regardless of low or affluent social backgrounds, Chinese parents usually take for
granted the fact that education is good (Cheng, 2001). They generally regard
schooling as the most important pathways for upward social mobility of their children,
depite the fact that there is a growing skepticism about the transformative capacity of
schooling in post-socialist China. Many existing research on deviant youth seldom
question the nature of schooling either. Perhaps this is due to the fact that in finding
the possible explanations for students deviant behaviors, they overlook the nature,
quality and operation of the school regimes in which students are held to deviate.
Instead, they are prone to accredit childrens deviance to their family origins, abilities
and personality (Reynold, 1976).
The data collected through my participatory observations in CPSS suggests that
school regime plays a crucial role in the formation of students deviant behaviors. The
school, which defines achievement in education by test scores alone, drives teachers
to label students with low academic performance, who are usually from low social
class. This subsequently undermines their self-image and increase the likelihood of
their further misconduct. The findings are consistent with Hargreavess (1999)
research on streaming system in Lumley School and Balls (1984) argument on the
banding system in Beachside Comprehensive that have disclosed the influence of
school organization on students formation of informal group and the development of
subcultural polarization. The findings of the present research unveil a paradox.
Schools are assumed to foster students betterment. However, the findings of this
research suggest that schools and educational system as a whole can drive students in
the opposite direction of deviance. School can become a petri dish for deviant youth
where students with various risk factors such as underachieving, poor family
education, disorganized community, negative peer influence germinate and grow.
This chapter was devoted to a better understanding of the structure and unintended
consequences of education system and organization in the school (Hargreaves, 1999,
p. x). It is through the examination of the conflicts and deleterious effects of school
management that our understanding of the sociology of schooling can be advanced.
However, a description of negative side of schooling is not to disparage or impugn the
sincerity and industry of many of the teachers. It should be noted that I have tried to
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write the research findings as objectively as possible and there is no intention of

magnifying the defects of the school at the expense of its many virtues.
In the following chapter, I will take a close look at the process of how the 4+1
youths adapt to the existing school regime and how their coping strategy becomes
labeled as deviant. This process can only be displayed from within their day-to-day
interaction with teachers and school administrators. As the foregoing introduction of
school system is relatively abstract, the description of a real half day in CPSS is
appended at the end this chapter with the purpose of setting the scenario for the
coming chapter:
One day in CPSS
It is a nice Monday in March. Im riding my bicycle to school and come across
Shanji, a student in my class. He is heading for the bus station to meet up his buddy,
WS and together they will take bus to school as usual. I wish him good luck for
coming school on time because even by bike and being able to take some short cuts, I
may still run late. But taking a bus, hmmm, I am afraid they will be scolded by the
inspecting teacher again. After a fast ride, I finally arrive, when the clock just turned
7:20. I am welcomed by student monitors at the gate by a salute of young pioneer
along with a morning greeting. Their duty is to checkup every students passing by
and mark down those who do not wear uniform; forget to put on red- scarf; forget to
bring the student card or come late. The sum score of each class will be subtracted by
the number of violators. Behind the student monitors stands their supervising teacher,
Mr. Ding, the Director of Student Affair. He kindly smiles at me and suddenly
changes his countenance to those who come late. When the gate starts to close
leaving just a small slot, I notice the first batch of late- comers is caught, among
whom, Shanji and WS is being scolded by Mr. Ding. Poor boys, I sigh in my
heart
As there is going to be morning assembly as the Monday routine, the familiar
music that summons student to assemble on the playground is already on. Students
start to gather on the stipulated place for their class in droves. In less than five
minutes, most of the students in my class have arrived. After warm greetings to me,
they continue the chitchat with each other nearby before teacher calls for a stop. The
monitor on duty is busy counting the attendance and as I can see, Onion and Dusk are
missing as usual. From not far away, Shanji and WS are walking slowly to join the
class after a lesson by Mr. Ding, with their dandiacal pose.
After the flag-raising ceremony, the speech today is Save the resource but
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apparently few students listen to the teacher on the stage. I can always hear sporadic
chat in every corner. So Mrs. Nices job is to walk around and stop chitchats when the
volume reaches a noticeable level. In fact, for class teachers, the morning assembly is
also a showcase of their ability to manage the class. As the last item, Mr. Ding
announces the Red Crosss call for a new round of donation. Again?! some student
whines out. Mrs. Strict whispers to me it has been several fundraisings of this kind
this semester. I also remember seeing a compliment list of students who have donated
more than 500 for the earthquake of Sichuan on the notice board in the classroom.
After a 30-minute assembly, students are dismissed to return to their classes and
prepare for the first lesson after a 10-minute break. I walk up with students to the
classroom. Some of them are busy handing in their homework to subject assistants as
the exercise books are supposed to be put on respective subject teachers desks by the
end of morning reading session; and since this session is taken place by assembly
today, they need to finish this before the first lesson.
Shortly after the bell rings, the English teacher Mrs. Cute walks in. The whole
class turns excited because her lesson is always full of little competitions among
groups and thus produces lots of interactions and fun. Besides, as the youngest
teacher in the grade, Mrs. Cute is closer to students in terms of her speaking and
dressing style. She is nominated as the prettiest and most popular teacher in the grade
by students. With relatively innovative teaching method, the classes she teaches
usually score higher than others. However, while most of the students are actively
involved in the lesson, some of them in the back row are rather detached. Onion is
sleeping as usual, XXL is reading novel secretly, Shanji is talking with WS about the
PC game characters and Dusk, like last week, will only show up later in the morning
or in the afternoon.
To most of the students, the 40- minute in English class is considered the easiest to
pass than that in other lessons. Even when the class is dismissed, they are still arguing
about the result of the competition during the break. Equally, the Chinese lesson that
follows is also interesting because Mrs. Stricts humorous tone and amusing story can
always draw their attention. But during this lesson, I need to retreat to the teachers
office for Mrs. Stricts reluctance towards sitting-ins. Instead, in order to create the
rapport and also as her assistance, I try to help her to correct students homework.
In the teachers office, there are stacks of exercise book piling on almost every
teachers desk. As it is close to the mid-term, they have to deal with the biannual
quality examination carried out by the Office of Academic Affair of the school.
Two classes in each grade will subject to spot-check and all the students homework
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of the core subjects will be submitted for examination. Teachers teaching quality
will be rated based on the finishing rate of students and the quality of their homework.
So it always requires consistent persuasion and moderate threat two weeks before the
inspection in order to gather all the students filled exercise books on time. Despite
the unremitting effort, there are still some students who are uncooperative. More
effective resolution thus needs to be undertaken: in the other side of the office, two
students from Mrs. Cutes class are standing with their heads down. They are waiting
for the parents to come because they have not finished the homework for three days.
Actually this is a common scenario in the office, whenever there are students who fail
to submit their homework on time, they will be referred to the class teacher to handle
and this usually leads to a call to their parent and a detention after school until they
finish. However, not all parents are supportive. As I witness today, although one of
the students mother does come and promise to supervise her son on the homework,
the other students father just abruptly cuts the phone.
There is a 30-minute big recess after the second lesson, which comprises a
morning exercises and a prolonged break. Today, after the exercises, two students are
asked to read their confession letter in front of all the students. One is from Grade 3
who had a fight with students from adjacent school. The other is from Grade 2 who
bullied his classmate. Although this is a severe punishment, neither of them seems
regretful or sad; rather, it seems like a big day to them. I notice the latter student
even wears a brand new pair of NIKE sneakers with twinkling tick. Their slack tone
is encouraged by students chuckles from the floor.
The third lesson is Math, students are going to have a unit test and I will act as
invigilator for Mrs. Nice when she is away for a while. While students are busy
working out the result, Onion, Shanji, WS and XXL are playing with their pens or
erasers with their paper empty. As a compromise, they are allowed to review related
section in the book first. But this does not seem useful because they still cannot
comprehend the content of the book. So after a 5-minute attempt, Onion resolves to
sleeping again, the other boys try to copy some answers from classmates.
The music of eye exercises signals the cessation of the test. All the students are
supposed to drop their pens and the leaders of each group will collect the papers.
Meanwhile, the class monitor walks around the class to make sure everyone close
their eyes and do the exercise in their seats. Same as the attendance rate and
punctuation, students performance during eye exercises is another item in the
weekly class appraisal and competition. One rule-breaker will cause a 0.5 points
subtraction from the total score of each class.
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After the tense test, students finally can have a relaxing and fun time in the follow
lesson- PE. I return to the office to continue helping Mrs. Strict with the homework.
The purpose of the exercise is to help student go over the subject matter of each
lesson. To facilitate their self-learning, it is affixed with full answer at the back.
Although at the beginning of the term, teacher will ask them to tear off the answer
pages and store them in the office, most of them manage to acquire the answer pages
from the bookstore. This is acquiesced by Mrs. Strict and also the other Chinese
teachers for they believe that even if students just copy from the answer pages at least
they still have some impression of the right answers. Since Mrs. Strict has finished
her lessons today, we are able to have a chat while working together. Naturally, other
teachers in the office also join in. Dont ever try to be a teacher! When Mrs. Strict
asks about my career plan, she immediately cautions. Following this, a flood of
complaint is poured out by all the teachers from which a sentiment of powerlessness,
disappointment and even anger towards education system and school management is
explicitly expressed. We are just donkeys working around the mill of Examination
(Certificate of Secondary Education Examination), Mrs. Cute complains, 12 hours
a days working, endless exams and extra works, and unfair treatment. As Mrs.
Strict discloses afterward, Mrs. Cute is caught in a predicament with the school
administrator. Couple days ago, she was asked to accommodate 5 more students in
her class. They are transferred from elsewhere whose academic performance,
according to the record, fall in the last tier of students in the school. This intake
definitely will undermine the overall academic performance of her class which has
long been ahead of others; and this practice is believed to be the conspiracy of school
administrator. Education is more like an unrewarding job, Mrs. Strict comments,
even if you are doing well, you got no acknowledgement. For those high-performing
students, they wont attribute their success to your work if they get good result finally
in the Examination. As for underachievers, even if you really want to help them, its
time-consuming and you may end up wasting your energy while getting nowhere.
Whats worse, your effort wont count according to the schools standard. Mrs.
Stricts opinion receives a broad agreement.
As the bell rings, it comes to the end of the morning lessons. Students are
dismissed for a 2-hour lunch break.
(Excerpt from the field note 16/03/2009)

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CHAPTER 5
FROM CONFORMIST TO TRUCE-MAKING:
ADAPTATION MODES OF STUDENTS
5.1 Introduction
The previous chapter gives a detailed account of the school system, teacher
appraisal policy and student management methods in the CPSS. It argues that the
school regime, which emphasizes students academic attainment, often places
increased stress on those students who fail to meet academic standards, and that its
bureaucratic approach to student management tends to induce conflict between
students and teachers: I observed the former daily during my time at the school, and
frequently heard anecdotal reports of teacher-student confrontation. Those students
who repeatedly fail to meet the schools expectations, violate regulations or are cheeky
towards teachers are gradually labeled as deviant students.
Following the theoretical tenets of the Strain Theory, and with special reference to
Woods refined model of student adaptation as an analytic tool, this chapter will
examine closely how school regime and students reaction to it influence students
attitudes and behavior. It will first briefly introduce the common adaptation modes
used by different types of students, then focus on adaptation among the 4+1 youths;
although each of these students follows their own unique trajectory in falling behind
in the school system, they all eventually end up using a similar, specific adaptation
mode, which will be introduced at the end of the chapter.
Students coping strategies and adaptation modes are their initial steps towards a
solution to the problems they encounter in the school. Therefore, by answering the
research questions, How do students react to their social contexts and What is the
process that forms their subculture, this chapter serves as a bridge between the
preceding chapter and the succeeding one, which elaborately delineates the 4+1
youths subculture.

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5.2 A recapitulation of Strain Theory and Woods Model

As introduced in the literature review chapter, the key point of Mertons (1938)
Strain Theory is that the anomie state of individual (deviant behavior in this instance)
arises from a discrepancy between a widely accepted goal and the means available to
realize same. Since the 1920s and 1930s, according to Merton, almost everyone in the
United State has internalized the culturally approved goals of monetary success and
material prosperity, and the prescribed institutionalized means of attaining these,
namely attending school, going to college, getting a well-paid job, etc. However, not all
members of society have the same access to legitimate means, especially not members
of the lower economic and social classes (Zhao, 2008). This disjunction between
idealized, socially advocated goals and the reality of reduced life chances and resources
for achievement in socially approved ways places many individuals in a state of
helpless and hopeless frustration or anomie (Thompson & Bynum, 2010).
Based on different combinations of individuals basic binary attitudes (elimination
and acceptance) toward cultural goals and institutionalized means, Merton develops a
model of the various adjustments or adaptations individuals make to cope in society or
groups. The model is widely used, and has been further elaborated on by other
researchers to make sense of the ways in which students adapt to school: Woods
typology of pupils adaptation in Lowfield Secondary School is recognized as a
well-developed version of Mertons model. With regards to students diverse attitudes
towards culturally approved goals and means, it breaks the over-simplistic dichotomy
down into six detailed states: indifference; indulgence; identification; rejection with
replacement; rejection; ambivalence and rejection without replacement. By combining
any two of these attitudes, the various adaptation modes used by students can be
described, although not exhaustively so. Therefore, Woods model is not only a
typology of student adaptation, but also an analytic tool for describing the courses
individuals follow to cope in school.
As pointed out in Chapter 2, however, Woods conceptualization of goals and means
is constrained by educational aspirations and expectations, and is thus not entirely
relevant to the real situations faced by young people (Farnworth & Leiber, 1989).
Therefore, in the following passages, I will borrow selectively from Woods framework
to depict the general adaptation mode used by students in the studied class, then focus
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on the adjustments used by each of 4+1 youths. First, however, it is necessary to

reframe the definition of goals and means to suit the context of Chinese culture and
society in the reform era.

5.3 Defining Goal and Means in the Field

5.3.1 Goal
In Chinas post-reform society, the establishment of market socialism, together with
a government supported shift in cultural orientation, has changed the pursuit of
personal wealth from a condemned social evil to an overtly encouraged virtue (Zhao,
2008). After more than three decades advocacy and numerous instances of people who
jump into the sea of commerce () and emerge, seemingly instantly, rich and
successful, the quest for wealth and other symbols of economic success has become the
predominant goal of Chinese people from all social strata and in every social sector, as
some of the 4+1 youths note:
WS: Last night in my dreams I was so rich, surrounded by so much money. I counted
and counted untill my hands were sore, and then I woke up. You know, I always have
these kinds of dreams. How I wish it could come true!

Onions fantasy is even more detailed, focusing on how to become rich:

Onion: My favorite TV programs are those with interviews of millionaires. I like to
hear their stories about how they got rich. One day I will become one of them!

Clearly, the 4+1 youths have deeply internalized the culturally approved gold of
acquiring wealth, meaning that their attitude can be categorized as identification or at
least indulgence, an attitude shared by the rest of the students in the studied class. The
difference is that, for the other students, their implicit goal is not to become rich;
rather, it is to live a better life.

5.3.2 Means
The socially prescribed means available to young people comprise two layers. As an
overarching means, society expects the younger generation to follow an idealized path:
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go through the education system; get as high a degree as possible; earn qualifications or
diplomas that will secure a decent, well-paying job. As the single most important
institution for the socialization of young people, it is the responsibility of schools to
translate general means into more tangible norms or standards that channel students
into realizing societal goals academic standards, and behavioral standards.
Since, as has been argued in the preceding chapter, schools concentrate mainly on
academic performance, behavioral standards are thus established based on their ability
to affect academic performance positively. Good behavior involves listening and being
attentive, and is therefore, conducive to greater academic performance. Teachers thus
become favorably disposed towards students who are well-behaved and try hard, and
are more willing to tolerate poor behavior among high academic achievers. As a result,
students adjust to the prescribed means and standards in different ways.

5.4 Teachers Perception and Students Adaptation Modes

Of the six classes in the same grade at the subject school, the class under
investigation was a bit below average academically. While it shared teachers with the
adjacent class, that class ranked first in the grade, whereas the studied class was
usually among the bottom two or three. Their teachers, Mrs. Nice and Mrs. Strict
mostly attributed this to a slack class culture and learning atmosphere, the fundamental
cause of which, they believed, was the composition of the students and their family
backgrounds; a higher proportion of students in the studied class came from notorious
elementary schools, and they scored lower, on average, on aptitude tests when
entering CPSS. Based on teachers home visit experiences, coupled with students
family information, the class also contained more students from slum areas or migrant
families. Therefore, the studied class was perceived as a poorer class by teachers from
the very beginning.
My conversations revealed that teachers, based on their years of experience, have
developed several widely-held beliefs about students. The first is that students from
better family backgrounds tend to be easier to teach, because they enjoy conditions that
are conducive to their studies, including a favorable learning and living environment,
well-educated parents who care about their school performance, agreeable manners and
good habits resulting from good upbringing. The second is that most underachievers
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and deviant students face some sort of family problems a broken home, poor
parenting and a poor living environment are among the top causes, often in
combination. As Mrs. Strict vividly states:
It is true, the old saying, a dragon begets a dragon, a phoenix begets a phoenix
(like father, like son). The legend of the poor student who achieves success is no
longer salient, compared to previous days. Parents who are more literate pay more
attention to their children; for rural immigrant workers or greengrocers, their
childrens level of academic achievement is relatively low.

Dozens of studies from social researchers support to this perception: early classics by
Coleman et al. (1966) and Jencks (1975), as well as more recent studies (Conley &
Albright, 2004; Hung, 2007; Ni, 1987-88; OECD, 2010; Wu, 1998), all validate teacher
stereotypes about students from different family backgrounds. While no longer
conveyed in everyday practice as explicitly as in the 1970s classrooms described by
Rist (1970/2000), in which children were assigned to different tables based on their
social classes, these perceptions have nonetheless profoundly influenced the ways in
which teachers interact with students, and how students react to them.
The observed class consisted of 48 students in a 50 square meter classroom, making
it a close-packed, but typical Chinese classroom. From my seat in the middle of the last
row, I could easily observe all the students behavior. The more troublesome students
could be rapidly identified, thanks to their overactive behavior and their teachers
admonitory gazes or criticisms. However, after observing the class over several lessons,
it was interesting to see that every student, no matter what his or her academic level is,
misbehaved at some point, even those characterized by teachers as good students.
Based on their behaviors, students can be divided into three types, from which a
diffusion of deviance is observed.

5.4.1 Colonization secret deviance among good students

Yvonne was considered a model student, consistently rank among the top ten
students in all subjects. She was the student assistant of the classs Physics teacher and
conspicuously co-operated with teachers, both in and out of class. However, in many
lessons (except those taught by strict teachers), she would turn around and talk with
the girls sitting behind her; many times I observed her copying from other students
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homework during self-study sessions.

Eugenia was one of the class monitors 9, and as such responsible for maintaining
classroom standards, but could be seen taking quick bites of cake while the teacher
faced the blackboard during Maths lessons. During Politics, while other students were
working in their exercise books, as instructed, she continually asked Mr. Young trivial
questions, such as What about those students who forgot to bring their exercise books?
and Hey sir, do I need to answer all the questions?
Deane was disliked by many students in the class because he was always strict with
others but loose within himself and promptly denied any wrongdoing when he is
seen to make a mistake. When acting as class monitor, he would secretly erase his
name from the class diary in which is the monitors and subject teachers record student
misbehavior.
In reality, the teachers were generally aware of these students cunning deeds, but
still saw them as good students, because they are smart kids, and I know they are
bored when I repeat myself by explaining the answers to the other students (Mrs.
Strict); as Mrs. Nice noted, Yeah, I know Deane is a little bit selfish, but he is really a
talented kid. It is noteworthy that, in teachers terminology, adjectives like smart and
talented mainly refer to students academic performance and their potential to get
good CSEE marks and go to key high school. Interestingly, most of these good
students lived in high-grade apartments and had parents who were management-level
employees in municipal departments or companies, further reinforcing teachers
aforementioned preconceptions of middle-class students.
From my observations, it is difficult to believe that these good students genuinely
identified with school rules and values; more likely, they acted because of
instrumental concerns about getting good exam results rewards. In other words, their
conformity was a calculated strategy rather than simply the product of successful
socialization into school values and norms (Hammersley & Turner, 1984, p.162).
Although there is no evidence that teachers tolerance directly contributed to this
instrumental conformity, it was clearly an important source of encouragement.
The good students strategy of superficially conforming to teachers requirements
9

There are five monitors in the class, in order to maintain discipline. One is on duty each day,
although they can also collaborate if needed.
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and school regulations in order to pass their courses and stay out of trouble falls into the
category of colonization, which combines indifference towards goals with
ambivalence about means. According to Woods, colonizers employ both official and
unofficial means to achieve either official or unofficial ends. In addition to taking
advantage of all the system has to offer, colonizers at times will pursue their goals
through illegitimate means, such as copying others homework, cheating on tests or
lying to avoid punishment. However, as long as they are not caught by teachers (or,
more precisely, as long as teachers consider their behavior innocuous), their status as
good students will not be challenged.

5.4.2 Opportunism temporal deviance of troublemakers

Ellen liked talking to himself while teacher was speaking, and was quick to take the
teachers words and turn them into a joke. As his classmates did not find him funny
and would seldom follow his lead, teachers usually just left him alone. If necessary,
however, they could easily stare him into silence for quite a while.
Students like Ellen were also fond of playing tricks on others during recess, such as
hiding someones school bag or pencil box; the class teacher, Mrs. Nice, expressly
forbade such tricks, but to little effect. These students showed little interest in teaching
content and seemed to view the class as just another play ground, and looked for
someone with whom to play, be it the teacher or other classmates; to them, studying
was an unpleasant chore they had to endure between intervals of play. They would
switch between play and study based on teacher reaction; if caught by teachers, either
in or out of class, they would swiftly stop their misconduct, only to resume their antics
once the teacher relaxed their control. Mrs. Nice acknowledged this as typical
opportunistic behavior, adding:
Most of them are just nave naughty kids whose self-discipline is weak and some of
them just want to attract others attention. They dont really have the guts to be bad
and, usually, most of them will turn back to normal later, especially when disciplinary
threats are used. Some of these kids can make intermediate scores or even better,
such as Ellen. But still, a few will slip into the group of deviant students if they
continue to work and behave poorly.

Indeed, opportunism is an intermediate stage in the evolution of students

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adaptation mode, from which they can move either upward (to become conformists or
colonizers) or downward (to become true deviants). Mrs. Nices answer also touches on
some predictors for this movement: teachers reactions and students later performance
(mostly in an academic sense). Her comment, however, leaves out one important factor
parental involvement. Normally, when teachers identify problem students, parents
are soon contacted. The parents response, including home-based intervention and
communicating with teachers by phone or in person, is critical; however, based on my
observation of several in-school teacher-parent communications, the former usually
mediates the effect of the latter. Parental feedback conveys many messages to the
teacher, including their attitude towards the issue, the expectations they have of their
children, their parenting skills and, more profoundly, their education level and
socioeconomic status, all of which affect teachers effort to help their children (Barge
& Loges, 2003; Bakker, Denessen, & Brus-Laeven, 2007; Weininger & Lareau, 2003).
This is not to imply that teachers deliberately treat students differently based on how
they perceive their parents; however, students whose parents have regular, good
communications with teachers and are seen as supportive and collaborative get more
help and attention from teachers, especially in classes with high student-teacher ratios.
In Ellens case, when his mother (a lecturer in the local college) was informed of her
sons misconduct and study problems, she quickly hired a private tutor and wrote a
sensational letter, explaining Ellens emotional and behavioral difficulties and asking
for the teachers assistance. As a result of her active intervention, Ellen gradually got
back on the right track. Opportunists from lower-class families or who had inattentive
parents, however, had a different experience, as can be seen in the 4+1 youths cases
below.

5.4.3 Retreatism dormant deviant of real figures

The behavior of another group of students in the class was worse than that
discussed above. These students rarely acted up during lessons, but were notorious for
their misbehavior in and out of school. Based on my observations, their seats were
usually in the last row or in the corner, and their classmates saw them as the overlords
of the class. However, for most of the time during lessons, they just aimlessly leaned
against the desk or wall, sometimes napping, sometimes whispering to others, reading
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novels, or playing cell-phone games. They displayed an indifference to school and all
activities associated with it. Normally, the teacher would turn a blind eye to their acts as
long as they did not disrupt the whole class; after class, however, when reunited with
friends from their or other classes and grades, these students came alive. Hence, I refer
to them as dormant deviants. This is exactly the behavioral pattern of the 4+1 youths;
however, based on their retrospective accounts of their past behaviors, there was
significant change in their adaptive role during the course of schooling. Observation
and analysis must go beyond the temporal school domain to capture the complexities
of their school lives; their past stories must also be taken into account. Therefore, a
series of in depth interviews was conducted with the 4+1 youths, both individually
and as a group, supplemented by comments from other students and teachers, to reveal
the various courses their adaptations as follow.

5.5 The 4+1 Youths Adaptation Trajectories

To get a more complete picture of each 4+1 youths path of adaptation, I asked
them, over the course of several group interviews, to recount their history over the
past three years. Since they had known each other from their elementary school years,
while one recalled his/her story, one or more of the others would sometimes cut in to
correct perceived errors or omissions. Class observation, student documentation and
teacher comments complemented their story. As previously discussed, the pursuit of
financial success was deeply incorporated into the 4+1 youths value systems, but the
attitude each had towards the conventional means was distinct from that of the others,
and changed to reflect their situation and feelings at the school at different points of
time. As Woods (1979, p.78) concludes:
An individual career and composition can be very complicated. A pupil might adopt
one mode through his school life, though it is more likely he will move through a
series. He might adopt one for a long time or less, usually oscillate back and forth
between several. He might employ one mode for on section of the school, one subject
or one teacher, and another for another. He might have a dominant mode, or a mixture
of them.

Moreover, their attitudes towards different aspects of the school system also varied;
therefore, I will introduce each 4+1 youths attitude about and reaction to legitimate
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means separately. In each case, the discussion will focus on three aspects of their school
life the curriculum, their teacher and the institution.

5.5.1 Dusk
Dusks initial attitude was one of identification towards academic performance, as
can be inferred by her acceptance of the seat number mechanism 10 . During the
individual interview about her earlier performance in school, Dusk expressed pride in
her seat number and the academic status it implied:
My seat number is 16, which means I placed 16th in our entry test. And I remember
that, in the mid-term exam or final exam in Grade 1, I ranked 76th in the grade and
my Chinese was 23rd. You know, at that time, Sharon was first and I was runner-up.
Even Yvonne 11 was behind me.

Identifying with both the goal and means, Dusks initial behaviors at school was
largely conforming as she put it, I was still good student at that time. As a result, she
got into trouble only on rare occasions, such as when she would play tricks on her
Politics teacher, Mr. W; she found his lessons boring and he is relatively soft, so,
when he dressed in white, I used a marker to draw on his shirt. If [his shirt] was black,
I used a correction pen. And the whole class laughed. But since Dusks academic level
is not bad, she was less considered as a problem, just a little bit wild as her former
class teacher at that time, Mrs. Red, commented. Therefore, her adaptation mode during
her early years at CPSS was colonization.
During the second semester of Grade 1, Dusk met her first boyfriend at the school.
By her own admission, she started to pay more attention to her appearance then,
because it is said that, once you have your first boyfriend, there will be a second one,
and then a third one, and you become prettier and prettier [each time]. This attitude led
her to challenge the school dress code. Her first efforts were relatively minor, such as
rolling up her pant legs to make it look as if she were wearing more fashionable ankle
pants, or drawing graffiti on her sweater to express her current mood; later, she started
10

As described in the previous chapter, every student entering CPSS must first take an aptitude test;
his/her seat number in the class is based on their test score ranking. This seat number is used on many
occasions. For example, when the school or a higher authority conducts spot tests, they will generally
randomly select an array of students whose seat numbers have the same last digit. Teachers usually sort
students papers in order of their seat number.
11
The girl who always ranks within the top three in almost all subjects.
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to paint her nails black. This finally raised Mrs. Reds concern, and she was asked to
remove the nail oil, barehanded, in front of Mrs. Red. In order to get rid of her
disgusting face, Dusk did as she was told. But this did not stop her pursuit of beauty.
That summer, she got her ear pierced and curled her hair, indicating that she was
moving from identification with the school to rejection of it. At the same time, Dusk
got her first part-time job, at a roller skating club. The job justified her going out at
night and coming home late, and allowed her to hang out with her colleagues,
including some young adult around 18 years old. This lifestyle persisted until the new
semester came and she could not, or more precisely, chose not to tune up for school life.
She began to adopt the adaptation mode of retreatism, playing truant because she
couldnt get up that early because [she had] stayed up late [the previous] night. By
May 20, 2009, she had skipped 128 classes recorded by the registry office of school,
and had become a frequent visitor to Mr. Dings office.
However, Dusk was rarely involved in conflicts with her teachers. During most of
her encounters with teachers and school administrators, she sat quietly, making the
occasional indifferent response. Since the school did not want to irritate her for the fear
that she might become a drifter 12, her truancy was tolerated for the most part. On
those occasions when Dusk did happen to come to school, she just leaned on the desk
during lessons and hung out with other 4+1 youths at recess.

5.5.2 WS
Like Dusk, WSs attitude towards academic performance was, in the beginning, one
of identification or at least indulgence. This was a carryover from his primary
school years, according to his positive comments during a group interview:
I usually got full mark in both Chinese and Maths in primary school from Grade 1 to
Grade 4. In Grade 5, it turned down a little, JUST a little. I still scored 80 or 90,
though. But then I was really too weak in English. Dont know why, just couldnt
catch-up. I remember the best score I ever got in English was just slightly above
60but I still ranked 25th in the test when I came to CPSS.
12

A term introduced in the previous chapter, that refers to drop-outs who do not take the
standardized secondary school certificate test; the more drifters a school has, the lower its overall
average test score. The schools reputation and its teachers rewards are largely dependent on the
students average test scores.
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This was supported by Shanjis comment, delievered with a slight air of

appreciation:
Yeah, he was really doing quite well in primary school, but you know why he sucks
now? Just because he doesnt want to, not because he cant.

Following Shanjis comment, we continued to talk about their lives in primary

school and I tried to probe WSs reluctance to study. Aside from anecdotes about
hanging around with friends after school, his most frequent memories of school
involve conflict with teachers. A poor teacher-student relationship did not directly
cause WSs loss of interest in learning; however, it did contribute to his ambivalent
attitude towards teachers and the school. In his first year at CPSS, WSs adaptation
mode was opportunism, in that he appeared to comply with teacher requests and
school regulations, but his behavior was not always consistent and, from time to time,
he would surreptitiously misconduct by copying someone elses homework or talking
to nearby classmates. However, this phase ended following a confrontation with his
physics teacher, Mrs. Funk.
The battle was well-known and bitter, and happened during the second term of
Grade 1. At the time, Mrs. Funk was pregnant and sometimes seemed emotional.
According to many students, it was common for her to lecture the whole class over
trivial matters. One day, she found WS doing homework from another subject during
her class and scolded him, angrily grabbed his workbook. WS, irritated, tried to
struggle with her for it, accidentally scratching Mrs. Funks arm. This proved
disastrous for him. His parents were called in. He was given a demerit and was
required to write a confession note to be placed on the wall of the classroom, where it
still hung when I enter the classroom in their Grade 2.
Not all parties saw WSs actions in the incident as accidental; to the teachers, he is a
total ruffian, with Mrs. Funk going so far as to say that [when] you look into WSs
eyes, there is some evil in this kid. Indeed, before I first entered the classroom, when
the class teacher discussed the problem students with me, the assault incident is the
first thing she mentioned about WS. To the students, however, WS is merely a
scapegoat who happened to make the wrong choice at the wrong time. All of them
emphasized how unreasonable and frightening Mrs. Funk appeared at that time, stating
that She always threatened us that, if there were any negative effect on her baby from
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teaching us, there would be consequences and noting that She once called Eugenia a
bitch during a lesson.
As my direct observation did not begin until the groups second semester of Grade 2,
there are insufficient data to conclude that this incident directly changed WSs attitude
and behavior into that of a deviant student. However, it did increase the likelihood he
would be labeled a problem or troublemaker in his interaction with teachers thereafter.
In addition, it drove WS to identify with other 4+1 youths, who had had more or less
similar problems during that period, eventually becoming part of their informal group.
So, long before I entered the classroom, WSs adaptation mode had moved from
opportunism to a mixture of mostly retreatism and sporadic rebellion, where it
remained for the duration of the study. As I observed in the classroom, he spent most
of each lesson just passing the time practicing spinning a book on his finger tips for a
whole class; mucking about with Shanji; playing cell-phone games or chatting online
via cell-phone. Usually, his teachers would just turn a blind eye to this, as long as he did
not interrupt other good students; only when his trick was publicly disclosed and
forbidden by some teacher or his gadget taken away, would he clash with the teacher
and be seen as a rebel, as the following example shows.
During Chinese class in the first semester of Grade 3, WS was, as usual, sitting with
his head down and playing with his cell-phone, which was in his desk drawer. His
inattention was obvious, and Mrs. Strict twice asked him to listen to her; each time, he
would stop playing for a while, and then soon resume his game. Finally, Mrs. Strict
asked him to give her the thing he had been paying attention to, which she assumed
was a book. WS reached into the drawer and drew out his Politics book, claiming that
he had been reading it. As he told me later, normally the teacher would stop probing
and leave him alone at this point; Mrs. Strict, however, did not. Again, she asked him
to give her the book he had been reading, at which point WS offered up his History
text. Feeling she was being played for a fool in front of the whole class, Mrs. Strict
searched the drawer herself and, finding the cell-phone, yelled at WS to get out. He
walked out of the class, slamming the door heavily.

5.5.3 Shanji
As mentioned in the foregoing chapter, Shanjis family background was the least
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supportive of his school studies. By the time he entered CPSS, his attitude towards
academic performance was rather indifferent and ambivalent:
Shanji: Well, in my primary Grade 1 my Chinese and Maths scores were 99 and 96
respectively; and then, in Grade 2, 100 and 100; Grade 3 both were 80 something,
Grade 4, ehh, both 70 something; started with Grade 5, wow, dropped below 50, till
Grade 6 it was only 30 something.
LL: Wow, such a sharp decline; do you know why?
Shanji: Dont know. Maybe I just felt bored. Oh, I remembered, from Grade 1 to
Grade 4 I stayed at my aunts, then I went back home 13.

With this attitude towards school and teachers, his behavior was rather loose, but was
interpreted by teachers as a gesture of disdain. In Mrs. Stricts description, he always
put on those cheeky expressions in the school. During the lessons when other students
were listening attentively, he just put his head sideways down on the desk or gazed out
of the window. Once a teacher categorizes a student as wild, his or her reactions to
their encounters are easily biased. The following is Shanjis description of a conflict
with Mrs. Strict, offered when he retreated from the classroom to my office in the
middle of a Chinese lesson:
Shit, Mrs. Strict is so unbearable! You know, I didnt do the homework so I had to
stand at the back and finish it. But when I wanted to hand it in to Mrs. Strict, a bottle
of water just dropped down from under my arm. You know, its just slipped out, I
didnt mean it, and I tried to pick it up. But Mrs. Strict told me to stop making a prank
and she upset me a lot. So I replied, its just my water dropping down, what big deal?
But she just went and kicked it away. It really got on my nerves. Once again I said,
the water just fell down, what did I do wrong? Then she started to say
blah-blah-blah, and wanted me to get out. So here I am.

During one chemistry lesson, students were so excited about a coming experiment
that would allow them to light an extinct candle from a burning match from a short
distance, using sublimation; even the 4+1 youths were itching to try it. But when Mr.
Stone kept reiterating the requirements and the report they needed to finish afterward,
many of them got bored and began touching some of the equipment, distracting other
students. Irritated, Mr. Stone declared that anyone touching anything on the desk would

13

I introduced Shanjis family background in Chapter 4. Generally, his parents were either busy at
work or playing mah-jong; he was almost unattended at home and usually went to school without
breakfast.
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be banned from the experiment and would have to stand at the back of the class.
Immediately, Shanji volunteered to receive this treatment; after being banished, he
walked to the back and mumbled to me, I mean it. He is too talky; we wont have time
to do the experiment after he finishes.

5.5.4 XXL
Coming from the same primary school class as Shanji, XXLs status was similar.
Unlike the slender Shanji, however, XXL was strong and muscular, so his cheeky
expression was often seen as intimidating, which inclined him to adopt the rebellion
adaptation mode from the beginning.
My first exposure to XXL came on my first day in the classroom (in the second
semester of Grade 2), when I noticed one of the confession notes on the back wall. The
note read:
I confess that I hit Deane (one of the monitors) for putting down my name on the
misbehave list. After the teacher talked to me, I realized that this was totally wrong. I
should not have resorted to violence and hurt my classmate badly. I promise that I
will not do this again.

This incident had happened in the second semester of Grade 1; according to other
students, XXL had been involved in many similar conflicts before and after this
incident, and he was seen as something of a class bully. As I got to know him,
however, I found he was not the atrocious person as I had imagined. During my
classroom observations, I frequently found him secretly reading romantic novels.
While it was difficult to picture such a muscular boy liking love stories written to
appeal to girls, reading them was his main time killer technique, one he used during
almost every lesson. He rarely finished any homework unless the teachers pushed him
to do so by threatening to call his father. Among the 4+1 youths, he was the only one
who still succumbed to that trick, something for which the other made fun of him.
During most outdoor activities, such as morning assembly, morning exercises and big
recess, XXL would quietly disappear with the other 4+1 youths and return a few
minutes before the next lesson began, smelling of cigarette smoke. From this, it can be
seen that XXLs role in the school switched from rebel to retreatist.
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5.5.5 Onion
Possessing a worldly view of society and school most of his counterparts lacked,
Onion came to CPSS to finish his final three year of compulsory education. When his
teachers tried to persuade him to pay more attention to his school work, he told them he
would probably end up helping out at his uncles fish pond in the hopes of starting his
own seafood business one day. As early as Grade 1, he rejected academically-oriented
school activities, preferring, instead, to use his fists and courage to build social
networks with gang members, both in and out of school. Unlike the other 4+1 youths,
he was a retreatist from the very beginning and had played truant since the second
semester of Grade 1, reasoning that, Since most of the time Im in the class is spent
sleeping, whats the point of coming to school? Isnt it more comfortable to sleep in my
bed? Initially, some teachers attempted to reform him; Onion managed to negotiate
with them in a modest and polite manner and reach some sort of agreement:
Onion: I only come to school for the Chinese lessons. Say for example, if the Chinese
class is the third lesson in the morning, Ill arrive right before it and maybe stay till
the lunch break, and I wont come in the afternoon.
LL: Why?
Onion: Its a deal I made with Mrs. Strict. We had a talk and I could see that she cared
about me, so I promised her. The grade teacher also agreed.
LL: How about the homework?
Onion: Well, it is easy to handle. I told to the grade teacher that I can sincerely try to
study, but it is not really possible for me to do the homework, because I really dont
know how. And he replied, okay, we can forget about homework, as long as youre
willing to study I always speak to teachers respectfully. If anyone of them calls
me in, I know I must have done something wrong. Say for example, Ms. Smart
scolds me for not finishing the homework, if she asks, Onion, you didnt hand in
the homework today, right? Ill say yes, and she follows, So? I reply, Ill do it
right away. But its just this. Later, when she gets more and more used to it, it will
become normal that I dont hand it in.
LL: And how about other behaviors, like hair style?
Onion: Oh, as for hair, I told the grade teacher that I really couldnt give in. I said,
well, lets both take a step back, Ill cut as much as I think is possible, and you let me
pass. Once I gain the grade teachers consent as well as Mr. Dings, how can the
other teacher say anything?
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From the above interview, we can see Onions cunningness. He knew school
administrators and teachers were reluctant to push him too hard, lest he become a
drifter, which would cause the school more trouble than the laissez-faire strategy
they adopted. He understood the schools bureaucratic nature and the hierarchy among
its teachers, and used these to negotiate his freedom. During his encounters with
teachers, he always displayed deference. However, if some teacher refused to go easy
on him, he did not hesitate to show his disruptive power. Onions confrontation with Mr.
W was another popular student anecdote, as shown below.
During a Politics lesson in the second semester of Grade 1, Onion was, as usual,
sleeping. The teacher, Mr. W, tried to repeatedly to wake him, which provoked Onion,
who responded, You want me to wake up? Okay, I wont sleep now, Ill play with you!
When Mr. W used Onions case to emphasize the importance of study by saying, If
you dont study hard, you wont find any job in future, Onion argued with him,
quoting an earlier statement by Mr. W and saying, Didnt you just say that gold will
glitter anyway? The lesson soon turned into a war of words between the two. Finally,
Onion said, Mr. W tried to use his power as a teacher to mute me and told me to get
out, Onion left the classroom, but the lesson had obviously been derailed and Mr. Ws
authority in the class undermined.

5.6 Truce-making: Adaptation Modes of the 4+1 Youths

From the above cases, we can see the dynamic paths of the 4+1 youths adaptation
various modes. Drawing upon Woods framework, they can be encapsulated into the
following figure:

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Figure 5.1 Adaptation mode of 4+1 youth

GOALS
Indifference

Indulgence

Identification

Indifference
Indulgence

Ingratiation

Identification

Compliance

M
E Rejection

Retreatism

A with
N replacement
S
Ambivalent

colonization

Rejection

Opportunism

Opportunism

Rebellion

Rebellion

Truce-making

without
replacement
Key
: trajectory of Shanji, XXL and WS
: trajectory of Dusk
: trajectory of Onion

Figure 5.1 shows the various paths of 4+1 youths adaptation to the school regime.
Shanji, WS and XXL initially conformed to the schools academic values and
regulations; however, as they gradually fell behind academically and could not or
would not continue to follow the rules, they soon switched to testing the limits of the
school and their teachers. However, as discussed in a previous chapter, the existing
school system is rife with bureaucratic and managerial regulations that focus on
prescribed standards, quality and academic outcomes. Their limit testing was
considered detrimental to teacher authority, class discipline and students academic
performance, and led to conflict with teachers and school administrators. As a result of
the incidents mentioned above (and others like them), they were branded as class
troublemakers, a label that colored their future encounters and made teachers more
likely to treat them as such, thus perpetuating their deviant status. This is coincides
with Woods findings that when a school has an ideology of traditionalism and
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paternalism and teachers who feel alienated in their job, known deviants are
commonly picked on and shown up by teachers when they need to discipline the
whole class or shore up their authority (Woods, 1975). For Dusk and Onion, it was not
their in-school conflicts, but their reckless truancy and out-of-school activities that
defined them as deviant students. Afraid to turn them into drifters, however, the
school simply stepped aside. The negative label they bore, coupled with the schools
lack of intervention, alienated Dusk and Onion more and more.
Although each of the 4+1 youths has their own character defined by their personal
traits and past experiences, and each has taken a different processes to becoming a
problem student, there are nonetheless similarities in their trajectories. As early as the
last semester of Grade 1, these students had already begun to resist teachers and school
administrators authority, indulging in behaviors, both in and out of school, that more
and more frequently resulted in their being punished or reprimanded. The process
clearly illustrates how labeling a student as deviant becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy
(Merton, 1968).
As Becker (1963) eloquently argues, deviance is actually constructed by social
control groups (e.g. government, police, school) that define right and wrong, and use
those definitions to scrutinize and differentiate those who violate these norms. In the
context of school, teachers follow school regulations and espouse the social values
they believe will help them to manage and educate their students. Students who break
school rules, disrupt the class or distain their teachers are deemed problem students
and given negative labels. In this instance, CPSS teachers coined the term 4+1 to
indentify Dusk, Onion, Shanji, WS and XXL as a deviant group; this negative label
undermined the students self-image and increased the likelihood of further
misconduct, which, in turn, solidified their teachers unfavorable perceptions and
began a downward-spiralling process of increased deviance and secondary deviance
(Lemert, 1951). Eventually, the self-fulfilling prophecy was realized the students
incorporated the stigmatizing label into their identity and actively lived up to it
(Matsueda, 1992). Lower-class students like the 4+1 youths have relatively few
chances to escape this sort of vicious cycle, as they do not have access to the family or
community resources need to change their deviant behavior, unlike middle-class
counterparts, like Ellen, who enjoy an opportunity buffer (Hannon, 2003).
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Nobody wants their school life to be a misery, especially when remaining in school
is not just compulsory, but is also the best instrumental choice for their economic
future; most of the deviant students at the school therefore chose, as a sort of
survival technique, to adopt a relatively less troublesome adaptation mode, retreatism.
For Onion and Dusk, the process was more straightforward, as they directly switched
to the same adaptation mode as the other three after shorter transitional period;
nonetheless, they also went through a period of negotiation in order to reach a truce
with school authorities, as Reynolds terms it. According to Reynolds (1976), teachers
and deviant students will very often make truce through interaction; both sides tacitly
bargain and reach a negotiated agreement in which the teachers exert less control and
the students limit their rule-breaking conduct to an acceptable level, so that students
can enjoy stress-free time lessons and the teachers can teach smoothly. This is identical
to the 4+1 youths cases with Onions case being the most salient. It is noteworthy,
however, that this negotiation is never a one-off effort; the students still need to
oscillate between rebellion and retreatism in order to reiterate or update their truce with
the school. To better capture the character of this unique process, therefore, I refer to
their adaptation mode as truce-making.
In addition to affording the 4+1 youths more freedom during lessons, the truce also
involved the school tolerating dress code violations (such as the four boys hair and
Dusks make-up), ignoring poor attendance, excusing the group from daily homework
(as long as it is finished before the bi-annual inspection) and allowing them to drink
and smoke (as long as they do so where teachers cannot see them), among other points.
However, while the truce allowed the group to have a relatively carefree time at school,
it was a fragile truce, one that could break down at any time, if:
1) Teachers attempted to exert control over areas where the students believed they
had autonomy, as in the confrontation between Onion and Mr. W; or
2) Student misbehavior went beyond that teachers were willing to tolerate, forcing
them to re-assert their authority, as in the conflict between Shanji and Mrs. Strict.

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Summary
The preceding chapter has the focused on problematic aspects of how the CPSS
school organization and its possible role in producing deviant behavior among students,
and looked closely at how students with different dispositions adapted to school norms,
values and regulations, all of which centered on students academic performance. The
reactions of each of the study participants, the 4+1 youths, were distinct, reflecting a
unique combination of structural factors, including community, family and peer
influence among others, mediated by their personal traits. In the literature of youth
studies, negative aspects of structural factors and individual characteristics are usually
interpreted as risk factors; as illuminated by the cases of the 4+1 youths, these factors
weigh differently on each students life, inducing different adaptation trajectories for
each of them. Thus, highlighting the adaptation trajectories of the 4+1 youths creates
more complete pictures of how each became a deviant. Faced with a series of structural
disadvantages (disorganized community, poor parenting, negative peer influences, etc.)
and a poor school experience (overemphasis on academic performance in a reduced set
of subjects, strict behavioral code), the 4+1 youths began to demonstrate signs of
maladjustment, which were exacerbated by their teachers and schools reaction
(negative labeling), finally driving the students to develop an alternative adaptation
mode truce-making. Figure 5.2, below, encapsulates this process.
A process of differentiation and sub-cultural polarization occurs almost
simultaneously with the individuals development of an adaptation pattern (Lacey,
1984). Students with a similar disposition or who are at similar level or condition will
spontaneously begin to hang out together; as this becomes habit, they start to form
informal groups and, eventually, begin to adopt similar adaptation modes. In this sense,
the relationship between individuals adaptations and the subculture of different student
groups is intertwined. On the one hand, the fact that students have similar problems
and coping strategies informs the nature of their informal groups and subsequent
subculture; on the other hand, this subculture informs and supports the students to
adoption of a certain adaptation mode. In CPSS, the differentiation of students based on
academic performance and behavior is ongoing from their first semester. Based on my
observations, students who are considered underachievers and troublemakers gradually
converge. Since in-class divisions significantly define students in-school activities and
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closeness, most informal groups are formed within the class. This is how the 4+1
youths group and subculture were born. The following chapter provides a detailed
account of the formation, elements and, especially, the meaning of that subculture.

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Figure 5.2 The process of students adaptation to the school regime

School
regime

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CHAPTER 6
MUDDLING THROUGH MY SCHOOL LIFE: DEVIANT
STUDENTS SUBCULTURE
6.1 Introduction
The previous chapter detailed how individual students with cumulative
disadvantages (Hannon, 2003) adapted to the school system, with special focus on the
4+1 youths. By the end of the second semester of Grade 1, their adaptation modes had
converged into a unique form I call truce-making, initially facilitated and further
reinforced by the informal group they had formed. Through continuously hanging out
together and interacting with teachers as a group, the 4+1 youths developed their own
behavioral pattern, a sense of belonging and a commitment to the group; hence, their
lifestyle can be understood as a subculture. Therefore, this chapter will address the
research question dealing with the organization of the subculture. I will firstly give a
thick description of the 4+1 youths subculture, which is comprised of three basic
elements that will be introduced later. In the relatively descriptive introduction, some
essential characters of the subculture are identified and discussed to lay a solid
background for the Chapter 7, which will discuss in depth the limitations and possible
positive meanings of this subculture.

6.2 The Relation of Subculture Members

As introduced in the previous chapter, Onion was famous for his toughness and
personal loyalty, as well as the smart way he dealt with teachers. Usually,
confrontations between students and teachers will end badly, with, for example, a
teacher being assaulted by a furious student and a student receiving a serious
punishment. Onion, however, always managed to assert his rights without crossing his
teachers tolerance threshold, an ability much admired by other students, not only
within the group, but also in the whole grade. H was, naturally, the leader of the 4+1
youths.
Dusk is the most recent addition to the group, and its lone female member.
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However, she is very active and usually initiates most of the groups gatherings outside
of school. She frequently changes boyfriends, most of whom are from better-off
families and gang leaders in their own territory. These connections give Dusk a large
social network, particularly among young adults, students, new graduates and
drop-outs.
Shanji and WS are followers of Onion. The three live near each other and are
together most of the time, usually huddling together at Onions house to play computer
games or watch videos. Due to their different personalities, however, their positions in
the group differ. Shanji is easily led and seems to be in Onions thrall, while WS seems
to think for himself. A fan of Michael Scofield 14, WS emulates the ease and charm
with which the actors character seems to handle crises, and considers himself smarter
than the others group members. He usually quietly observes Onions words and deeds,
then decides whether to follow along.
XXLs situation is somewhat complicated. Although he is an acknowledged group
member and rarely absent from their gatherings, he is always teased by the others for
his conceit and rudeness their word for doesnt know how to act like a man. This
drives him closer to another informal group in the school, whose leader is hierarchically
beneath Onion in the overall structure of the larger gang to which they belong. By the
end of this study, unlike the other boys who gradually dropped out of the gang, XXL
was still trying to establish his reputation as a tough guy by actively joining in gang
activities. He frequently regaled me with stories about being trained by his big brother,
fighting with students in another factions and his newly recruited followers. The
following figure sketches the relationships in the group:

14

The lead actor in the popular American TV Series, Prison Break

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Figure 6.1 Interrelation of 4+1 youth

To ensure the validity of my research, I focused on five core youths as an integral

case, the so-called 4+1 youths; however, my observations and communications
included up to 10 additional young people loosely attached to the group. The
relationship between the 4+1 youths was not an enclosing circle, it was open and
outstretched; the multi-point star symbols used in Figure 6.1, above, represent each
members proclivity to make various social relations outside the group. Comments
from these outsiders deepened my understanding of the 4+1 youths, and made me
even more confident that the arguments I make about the 4+1 youths can be
generalized to apply to other deviant youth in similar circumstances. Therefore, their
interactions with other gang members were taken into account in order to comprehend
their subculture in a more holistic and dynamic way. The group was always
undergoing changes, incorporating other elements through interaction with other
students, gang members and the wider society, and each of the five core members had
established their own interconnected social network outside the group.

6.3 The Elements of Subculture

As discussed in Chapter 3, after becoming acquainted with the 4+1 youths through
the daily Chinese tutoring session, I gradually came to be seen as one of their members
and was allowed to join in their activities, both in and out of school. During the
eight-month-period I spent hanging out with them, they frequently used one term when
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talking about their life, muddling through ( hun), which is used in this study in
relation to their subculture. The term hun is widely used in Chinese society, generally
to describe the actions and attitudes one takes to survive in a system while making
minimal effort and not fully perform ones role. Even normal people will sometimes
describe themselves as muddling through their lives, although without too much
negative connotation. But when one is involved in illicit activities such as gambling
and fighting, particularly if one lives off their avails, he/she will be called as a
muddler ( hunhun). In recent years, drastic social transformations have
generated a large number of muddlers in Chinas villages, urban outskirts and inner
cities (Chen, 2010; Gao, 2010; Huang, 2008a; Huang, 2008b).
In the case of the 4+1 youths, the primary locale in which they demonstrated a
muddling subculture is the school, from whence it extended to the other aspects of
their life. The various latent identities and culture brought in by its members
(Hammersley & Woods, 1984) and structural factors such as class, gender and
generation were woven into the fabric of this multiple-faceted subculture, contributing
to its tight boundaries and distinctive shape. These shapes and each element of the
subculture will be underscored in the following analysis.

6.3.1 Muddling through the schooling()

For the 4+1 youths, life in school was quite easy. By reaching a truce with the
school administrators and teachers (by essentially promising to attend classes to
minimize their disruptive behaviors), they enjoyed relatively more autonomy in school
than did other students. As a result, WS and Shanji were chronically late for school,
Onion occasionally chose to disappear from lessons other than Chinese, and Dusk
usually cut morning classes, only to show up during the afternoon. In addition, Shanji,
Onion and Dusk slept in their classes, XXL read romantic novels and WS played games
on his mobile phone, almost every day. They rarely finished their homework, but
somehow managed to submit completed workbooks in time for their teachers periodic
homework reviews (often due to those same teachers consistent reminders).
Moreover, the 4+1 youths were excused from regular gatherings such as Monday
assembly, morning exercises and grade meetings. On such occasions, they would
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huddle in the toilet to smoke or play card games; later in the study, they would boldly
do this in the classroom after other students had left for other lessons or assembly; they
frequently asserted that the most dangerous place is actually the safest.
Given their loose behavior at school, involving the 4+1 youths in any
academic-oriented activity was always difficult; unexpectedly, however, they were
immediately interested in my tutoring lessons when I announced the proposal in the
class. These lessons were given during the last lesson of the day, normally a self-study
session for students to work on their homework; Mrs. Strict allowed those students
who had difficulty memorizing ancient Chinese poems and essays (mostly due to
laziness) to join the tutoring class instead, in hopes it would help them to catch up. To
avoid disturbing other students, the lessons were given in a separate, vacant classroom,
which, I later discovered, was the main reason, apart from curiosity about the new
practice teacher, the 4+1 youths wanted to join in:
WS: Hooray, tutoring lesson again! Cant wait to get out of that prison-like
classroom.
Shanji: Yeah, you know what, they (the monitors) dont even allow me to say a word,
stupid girls!
XXL: Guys, be quick, give me a cigarette.
Dusk: (yawns) Are we going to the House (a caf nearby) for a drink after school?
(Onion continues to lean on the desk, sleeping).

To them, the lessons and the space in which they were delivered were a way to
escape the stern control of the class monitors. The group had no use for the self-study
sessions, since they had no need to do homework; however, the rules forbade them
from doing anything else, and the self-study sessions were thus a long, boring stretch
of purgatory. Therefore, the tutoring sessions were a form of rescue, especially after I
promised to let them do what they want after they finished the daily task, provided they
did not make too much noise for the remainder of the period. Even with this
agreement in place, however, stopping their excess conversation and channeling their
attention took a great deal of effort, and I had to shut down their dialogues at any time.
The situation was, however, manageable all along. Although what the group really
wanted was free time, they, like all the other tutoring session students, followed the
schedule laid out, which was to memorize one ancient poem or three paragraphs of an
ancient essay each day. All understood that ancient poems and essays accounted for a
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large portion (approximately 30 marks) of the CSEE Chinese examination paper.

Given their poor academic performance in all subjects, this was probably the easiest
way in which they could improve their examination marks and their chances of getting
a diploma. Therefore, the 4+1 youths interest in and willingness to complete the
daily assignments was a means of realizing their grand plan for their future:
L.L: Imagine where you will be in three years?
WS: Three yearsthen Ill be 17. Well, vocational school of course, where else do
you think I could be?
L.L: Describe it in more detail, like which school and subject or other options.
WS: I dont even know how many vocational schools there are.
XXL: Hey, hey guys, listen to me. I wanna to go to the Business & Technology
Institute. There are many skills you can learn and as for meprobably those skills
with which I can make money, lots of money.
Shanji: I dont care a shit about the subject as long as I can make money when I get
out.
L.L:

How do you define make lots of money?

Shanji: Just that you can get a job immediately andmake lots of money
XXL:

Yeah, but first you need to have some skill.

Shanji: Of course, I know.

L.L:

So, what kind of skill do you want to have?

Shanji: Damn, how would I know? There are so many!

XXL: Car repair.
Shanji, WS: Go eat shit, fucker!
Shanji: You probably can only collect rubbish.
WS: Wait, a car repair job actually is not bad. You do the math, there are three or
four hundred car in Xiamen 15
XXL: Yeah, 10 cars per day.
Shanji, WS: (yelling) What the fuck, 10 for each day?!
WS: You think they grow cars for you to repair? Moron!
L.L: Hey, come back to me. So whats your guys pragmatic plan?
WS: Well, go to vocational school, learn car repair or driving or cooking. Better to
be a chef in big restaurant lobster, sea cucumber, sea urchin
XXL: Bullshit, at first you can only wash dishes, then cut vegetables.
WS: How about a nutritionist, they get a pretty high salary, now.
L.L: Where did you get these ideas about jobs? Who introduced you the Business &
Technology Institute?
15

Actually, there are over 380,000 cars in Xiamen.

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Shanji: My cousin sister. She learned both Japanese and Medicine there, so did my
cousin brother.
L.L: And you, XXL? Didnt you just say you want to learn car repair?
XXL: Who told you so? I want to be a chef!

From the conversation, it was evident that nobody had a tangible plan for their future,
and that the dreams they did have were either idealistic or too vague. Most of their
aspirations and expectations were in a constant state of flux, and XXL even changed his
future career plans just because the others laughed at him. Nonetheless, all of the 4+1
youths spoke with relative optimism about their future, if only because they would be
out of school and earning and spending money at their discretion, all of which
symbolized their independence. Later, in the individual interviews, some of them
advanced more detailed career plans:
Dusk: Im thinking about moving out and renting a small house with some of my
girlfriends. We are also colleagues at the pub. You know our team leader Icy, she
rents a three-room apartment with five other friends. The rental is only 300 per month
per person. If I dont need to come to school, we can go to work and return home
together, then it can save way much money, just 10 yuan per day per person. If I work
in the bar every night, I can make more than 1500 a month. 300 for rental,
150 for cab, Ill still have some spare money.
WS: My father will teach me to drive. With that skill, I can find a job with the bus
company. If that doesnt work, there are still many ways to make money. You know, I
earn 1000 by delivering goods for a shopkeeper during summer. It is pretty easy. If
I had a diploma, the shopkeeper could give me more. My mother got me this job. We
work from 10 at night till the morning. But we can still got some sleep in the interval.
Onion: My uncle has a fishpond in my hometown. It can make thousands a month.
He promised to take me as apprentice after graduation.

Once again, the youths foremost goal was to make money; to them, a school
education was just a path they had to take to reach the status they wanted. They stayed
at school because they needed a diploma so they could apply for vocational school or
find a job after graduation. In this context, academic achievement simply did not
matter to them; indeed, they were eager to be rid of homework, annoying teachers and
endless exams, once and for all.
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6.3.2 Muddling through the days ()

Much like Willis lads and Zhous (2011) migrant students in Beijing, the 4+1
youths did not carefully manage their free time or thoughtfully allocated it to achieve
their desired goals. For them, it was importantly simply the state of being free from
institutional time (Willis, 1977, p. 29) and was mainly spent hanging about and
muddling through the day with their buddies. At school, the 4+1 youths had to meet
only minimal requirements, and after-school hours and holidays were even more
carefree and fun-filled. They frequented the commercial entertainment places around
the school district and their neighborhood, using them not just for entertainment
purposes, but also as money-making milieus.
6.3.2.1 Fun-making muddling
As previously discussed, due to their only-child status, the 4+1 youths enjoyed
more creature comfort and had weekly pocket money, despite their disadvantaged
family backgrounds. Their capacity for consumption, and a rapidly proliferating
entertainment industry aimed at young people, enabled them to pursue a relatively
wide range of leisure activities; by contrast, in many poor neighborhoods in Western
society, lower class young people are limited to hanging out on street corners, because
they cannot afford to frequent teenage commercialized entertainment places such as
cinemas, pubs and clubs (Chatterton & Hollands, 2002; Hollands, 2002; MacDonald &
Shildrick, 2007). This is not to say that young people in China can enjoy a classless
leisure time, but rather that the social divisions and inequality found in young peoples
leisure activities are more subtle and disguised. Middle class kids in the studied class
usually went to Karaoke boxes and pop concerts, whereas lower class kids, like the
4+1 youths, could only afford some lower-cost venues like internet bars, cafs and
street barbecue booths, where they could get cheap food and beer. The following are
two places where frequently hung out:
The hut
During my research, I frequently walked out with the 4+1 youths, both at noon and
after school in the afternoon. Many times, when we reached the school gate, they
would quietly discuss where to go; the answer was usually, the hut. After I gained
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their trust, several weeks later, they finally agreed to take me to their secret place.
We crossed the street adjacent to the school and entered a narrow alleyway. After
several turns, I could finally see their base a caf. It was a small house of about 10
square meters, simply furnished with a big sofa, a bar counter and a set of hi-fi stereo. A
young man who had just graduated from the local college was running this place,
together with his girlfriend. They sold popular beverages at a relatively low price and
always played students favorite pop music; as a result, this cozy and secluded hut
had become a resort for students, particularly the problem students of the various
grades. They dropped by at any time lunch time, after school, weekends or even
during lessons they disliked. Some of the patrons played card games, some just idly
spread out on the sofa to shoot the breeze and some couples might kiss in the corner.
Brother and sister (the caf owner and his girlfriend) are so nice to us. We can stay
here whenever we want, Dusk told me, after being warmly greeted by the owners. She
then invited me to a party, to be held the next day (Saturday). On Saturday afternoon,
we gathered at the hut; the group greeted brother and sister and settled themselves
comfortably in their usual places before ordering a drink, which was their way of
paying for the use of the space. We played card games for a while. Later, sister joined
us for a casual chat and we started to play the licentious game 16 and others. All the
youth joined in, playing the games with excitement. Time passed quickly and, as
dinner time approached, they asked me for money to buy beer and food. According to
Onion, this was how they spent their happy hours almost every week, depending on
how much spare money they had; usually, the feast lasted until midnight.
Sometimes, the hut and similar places were used merely to pass the time. Much as
Corrigan (1979) observes of smash street kids, the main activity for the 4+1 youths
in these locales was doing nothing. The only difference may be that, having more
pocket money and more consuming power, the 4+1 youths could gather freely and
comfortably in many commercial locales rather than being restricted to walking about
on the street. Regardless of the venue, however, the nature of their activity was the
same passing the time while hoping that something would happen. Many times,
they hung out at the hut, talking and joking aimlessly, waiting for their big brothers

16

This is a sort of finger-guessing game, in which the winner can call the loser whatever dirty
names they wish, and the loser must repeat them.
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to call and invite them to come to a mob fighting or some other weird event designed
to produce excitement, including vandalism or bullying. For Dusk, another purpose for
these occasions was to hope for something romantic to happen.
The billiard room
Sometimes if the first lesson in the afternoon were PE or some other trivial lesson
given by loose teacher, the 4+1 youths would go to the nearby billiard room, right
after arriving at school in the morning. Usually, each would buy some sort of snack
and a cup of drink for lunch of course, a pack of cigarette to share was a prerequisite,
most often offered by Onion. The billiard room was quite popular among the young
people of Xiamen. Despite the fact that it was illegal for billiard rooms to admit
anyone under the age of 18 and that the Code of Conduct for Secondary School
Students forbade students from frequenting commercial venues of this kind, there were
many establishments near schools, drawing students by discounting their hourly table
rental rate by 50% during the day on weekdays students could even get an
additional 15% discount by presenting their student cards. Therefore, it was easy to see
students, in their school uniforms, scattered about in different corners of the room
every time we stepped into the billiard hall.
As introduced in Chapter 4, aside from places like the hut and the billiard room,
many shops around schools cater to students needs, including stationery shops, small
restaurants and fast food kiosks. But to gain popularity among deviant students and
thus become true hot spots, a shop must also fulfill certain extra requirements:
1) Its food and drink must be delicious and, more importantly, affordable to students;
2) It must be a space in which students are granted a high degree of freedom not
necessarily to commit deviant behavior, but to, at the very least, smoke, drink or take a
nap on a sofa after school or during breaks. It should also serve, on occasion, as a
gathering site and armory for gang members before they go out to fight. Above all, it
must be free of adult supervision and surveillance and the censorship youths typically
endure from parents and at school;
3) Because such places are more tolerant of students misconduct, they are also
more conducive to the formation and sustainment of deviant subcultures; hence, their
existence will raise teachers and parents concerns and induce regular inspections at
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their behest. Once such a place is exposed and the school or parents intervene in its
operations, it will become less attractive to its main customers, the deviant students.
For example, there used to be a shop directly opposite the school gate that, on its
ground floor, sold snacks and beverages, just like other shops. Above the shop,
however, was a secret attic with long sofa and a wired computer, and it soon became a
sanctum for deviant students. During its heyday, almost all the schools deviant
students visited the shop several times a week, and many conflicts between different
gangs either started or were ended in it. Because of this popularity, however, it was
eventually forced to close by the local police. According to Mrs. Strict, the
high-ranking police officer who forced the shop to close was also the father of the top
student in the studied class, Yvonne. Due to the great favor he did the school, his
daughter received preferential treatment in class.
6.3.2.2 Money-making muddling
In addition to the aimless leisure activities mentioned above, the 4+1 youths,
driven by the urge to become rich, were also actively engaged in activities that could
gain them material or monetary benefits. Onion spent several hours every day playing
online games, not just for pleasure, but also for the money only he could make by
earning and then selling virtual tools and weapons to other gamers. Inspired by Onion,
Shanji also joined in the enterprise, going to Onions house almost every night. WS
was less keen about online games, as he had tighter parental supervision and no
computer at home. But he was pleased to have part-time job as warehouse worker
during the summer. As for XXL, he got great excitement out of mob-fighting, through
which he both established a reputation for toughness and earned some money from
whoever who summoned him.
Among the 4+1 youths, it was Dusk who undertook a part-time job on a regular
basis, working in the pub. With more expensive food and drink and strict censorship,
the pub had long been a no-go-area for teenagers. Recently, however, it seemed to
enjoy a sudden surge of popularity among young people, including middle- and
upper-class youths looking for thrills and excitement. To enhance their appeal, pubs
fill two kinds of jobs: being a magic customer or being part of a popularity group.
Magic customers act as shills, scattered about the pub in gender-balanced groups of
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four to eight members pretending to have a wonderful time (dancing, playing games
and so on) so as to entice regular customers to stay longer and spend more money.
Popularity group members use their social networks to attract or invite people to
come and buy drinks, for which they are paid RMB100 each per night. There are
usually two shifts one from 8 PM to 11 PM, and the other from 11 PM to 2 AM.
I accompanied Dusk at the pub on several nights. Along with her colleagues, most
of whom were heavily-made-up girls her age wearing sexy clothing, we were usually
assigned a table and offered free cocktails and a fruit tray. Most of the time, the girls
danced and yelled along with the music, which Dusk called an occupational disease.
Sometimes, a middle-age male would come over for random chat and to buy them
drinks. While I worried about their safety, Dusk assured me that it was actually quite
safe; if the men tried to take things a step further, the girls male colleagues or
supervisors would intervene. Dusk told me that, while the money she made did cover
some of her expenditures on outfits and cigarettes, her main reason for coming to the
pub was to have fun with her friends, especially if her current boyfriend was also
working there. Therefore, this job seemed a perfect fit for Dusk and significantly
shaped her daily routine:
17:40-19:00: go home after school, change and put on makeup;
19:00-20:00: have dinner in a cheap restaurant with her friends;
20:00-22:00: hang out with friends at a caf;
22:30-02:00: go to work.

Reviewing the 4+1 youths leisure activities, it is interesting to note that the
distinction between entertainment and work is blurry. This, on one hand, shows that
they were actively exploring ways to move from being dependant adolescents to
self-sustaining adults; on the other hand, it is also one of the essential characteristics of
the muddling-through lifestyle, which always seeks achievement without much effort.
In addition, it substantiates the argument that the youths had all deeply internalized the
goal of monetary success into their value system.

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6.3.3 Muddling in the gang ()

At Onions instigation, all four boys had joined in a gang in the neighborhood. In the
beginning, it was Onions cock-of-the-walk school reputation that caught the attention
the gang member, Bow. A CPSS dropout who lived in the neighborhood. Bow reached
out to Onion and took him under his wing. Interestingly, this connection was made
through Shanji, which is why, when talking about their relationship, Shanji would
always say, Onion taught me how to smoke and I introduced him into the gang, so you
can say we led each other astray, ha-ha.
Sometimes the boys would be summoned by their gang big brother to take part in a
mob fight, but their attachment to the gang was rather loose, which is why the gang
participation can be seen as only one component of their subculture. Nevertheless, it
still played a key role in their subculture, as the larger proportion of their social network
was derived from the gang.
The boys relationship within the gang was similar to their relationship within the
group, as shown in Figure 6.1, above. Dusk, who was intermittently in relationships
with gang members who were usually relatively high in the gangs hierarchy, was
well-known to the gang; romantic attachments are an important component of girls
involvement in Asian mixed-gender gangs, as is the case in Western gang culture
(Miller, 2001). Girls are rarely considered official gang members, but can form a sort
of sorority with the male members backing. In recent years, conflicts between
different sororities have increasingly lead to severe mob-fighting between rival gang
factions, and in-school bullying of and by female gang-related students has become
more frequent (Luo & Xu, 2011); a similar phenomenon can be seen in Western gangs
with growing female memberships (Campell, 1991; Deuchar, 2009).
XXL drew me a map showing their positions in the gang network, which was
verified by Onion:

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Figure 6.2 Construction of the gang

The changing of big brother after Onion quit

Most of the gang members were from lower class families in the neighborhood, as
gang culture holds the most attraction for young people who find themselves
marginalized by educational failure, unemployment and poverty (Deuchar, 2009).
Normally, the gangs in a community will recruit new blood from secondary or even late
elementary schools, the main criteria being toughness and fighting ability. The most
notorious deviant students in each school are ready-made for gang recruitment and are
the easiest to reach, just as were the senior gang members when they were younger.
However, since schoolboys are usually under the keen surveillance of their parents, the
school and the police office to prevent delinquency, most gangs only use them in
fringe enterprises, like mob-fighting. The key to winning a mob fight, according to
the veteran Onion, is having superior numbers contact with deviant students
guarantees the gang access to a huge army. Mob-fighting is considered as an
enterprise because the gang can sometimes earn a commission from a third party for
fighting the other gang; Normally, the client will tell how many people he or she
needs, and the big brother will summon his followers accordingly. The market price is
RMB100 per person, claimed Dusk; the full amount is seldom distributed among
the followers, however. According to Onion, sometimes we would be treated a dinner,
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sometimes go to karaoke, sometimes a pack of cigarette or else. They never

complained, because economic gain was by no means their sole objective in joining the
gang. In fact, the leading followers could also collect tribute, mostly in the form of
money from their followers 17; and each of the 4+1 boys had some lower grade
followers, but they rarely ask them for money. If not for money, then why did they join
the gang?
6.3.3.1 The objective of joining the gang
In a group interview, the 4+1 youths talked about their experience in the gang:
Shanji: We follow someone mainly for protection. You know, new guys in the school
are easily caught in some troubles. So when you really get into some shit, you know
who to turn to.
WS: Yeah, if you get into a big trouble, go to your big brother; if its a small one, go to
your buddies.
Onion: For me, I just want to make more friends. I consider all of them as my buddies
and buddies take care of each other.
XXL: I want to be a big brother with many many followers one day.

Shanjis answer represents the view many students hold, that they need to join some
informal group in order to be protected from possible danger at school and in the
neighborhood. Based on both media reports and their own everyday observations, their
learning and living environments are full of violence. Students can easily be bullied just
for taking an unwelcome peek at someone at school, and many have been robbed by
older students. Therefore, they feel it necessary to seek the protection of the
well-known big brothers at the school, most of whom, ironically, are also bullies or
established their reputation by bullying. Nonetheless, students still think it is better than
seeking support from teachers or the school, because reporting bullies usually induces
more severe retaliation and because most students consider relying on school
authorities to be a sign of impotence.
Defensive considerations motivated the 4+1 youths to join the gang; their
commitment to the big brother and the excitement of gang-related activities are the
17

Conventionally, each big brother decides about how much tribute his followers need to provide
and how often, the amount of money usually defined by the big brothers pecking order in the gang. At
the 4+1 youths level, it was RMB 5-10 weekly; for the upper levels, it could amount to RMB
100 weekly.
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reasons they kept the affiliation. However, it is the social network they established
among the gang members that gave them the greatest sense of fulfillment.
Onion: There used to be a guy who wanted to challenge me. So I just made some calls
to my buddies in the schools around and soon recruited more than 50. We gathered at
the gate of his school and scared the shit out of him. He apologized to me right away
with those truckling smiles.
(Then they were talking about some girl who was influential in the gang)
Dusk: Anyway, Im already familiar with those big people she knows, its no big
deal.
WS: Im no longer worried about Zing (someone on the upper level) now, you know,
Ive made a connection with Gold (someone whose longevity in the gang is greater
than Zing).
Shanji: Yeah, we know those guys and thats enough.

Interestingly, they were fully aware that they were just at the bottom of the gang
hierarchy and could only be called the little muddlers (). Even so, they proudly
claimed to know everyone who was muddling in all the schools in the district, which
consists of more than six schools. Once again, the establishment of a relatively wider
social network among peers was what they sought.
6.3.3.2 The qualification of gang member and big brother
The most valued character trait for a gang member is personal loyalty, usually
termed Yiqi () in Chinese. It basically refers to:
1) Being loyal to your leader (changing leaders is not allowed without justification);
2) Being honest with and obliging to other gang members; and
3) Being tightlipped about their misconducts, even under pressure from parents,
teachers or other authorities.
Not meeting these standards will gradually lead to being ostracized and, in more
serious cases, even beatings at the hands of other gang members. This practice ensures
a high level of trust within the group that can be easily observed during their daily
interactions, as the following example shows:
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One day I went with Onion and Dusk to one of their buddies house near school
during the lunch break. Their friend was not there, but Onion had been given a key to
the house because he came there frequently. It was a small rental unit, simply equipped
with necessary furniture. But what caught my eyes was a fine computer, which was
what Onion and Dusk had come for. As I had learned, from Onion and Dusks
conversation, that they had known the absent boy through their gang members just for
only a short while, I asked, Doesnt he worry about his property? before I realized
that the question was inappropriate. Onion replied immediately, with a facial
expression that indicated how stupid my question was, Of course not! We are
buddies!
In addition to trustworthiness, reciprocity is also an essential element of gang culture.
To maintain a good reputation in a gang, one must always be ready to do or return a
favor for another member. That is why not only the boys, but also Dusk rarely turned
down calls to come mob-fighting. This attitude is not limited to calls for deviant
behaviors; things like offering financial support when needed and sharing cigarettes
make up the majority of reciprocal practice.
As to the characteristics a big brother should have, everyone in the group listed the
same criteria:
1) A high level of personal loyalty; and,
2) Superior skill at handling inter-personal relationships.
These characters require the big brother to commit to taking care of his followers,
especially when they get into trouble. Of course, this agreement is built on the
expectation that the followers will fully trust their big brothers decisions and return the
favor whenever he needs it.
L.L: Whats the obligation to the big brother?
Dusk: If he asks you to fight then you must go.
L.L: No matter what the reason is, who youre fighting or the consequence?
Shanji: (Assertively) Of course. Its always alright to follow your big brother.
L.L: What if something bad does happen?
Shanji: Then he must take the responsibility. Otherwise, who else will fight for him in
future?

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A gang member who manages to meet these expectations and has good social skills
or some charisma can successfully establish his leadership over a good number of
students:
Onion: There are many big brothers who gain their popularity not because they are
good fighters but because they are good with people, willing to help when youre in
trouble.

As the other three boys big brother, Onion was obviously qualified. I noticed the
other boys admiring glances whenever Onion talked about his glorious past. By the
end of my study, Onion chose to quit the gang, and Shanji and WS were transferred to
Ares leadership, but swiftly quit as well. Only XXL maintain his enthusiasm for being
a follower; he switched to be under the leadership of Onions friend, Eason.

6.4 Muddling Identity

From the foregoing description of the multi-facet subculture of the 4+1 youths, we
can see that, during the process of their muddling together, they collectively developed
the same behavioral pattern and symbols, which furthered their sense of group identity
and belongingness. In an individual interview with Dusk, she bluntly claimed that she
and the others were bad kids. When asked the difference between good kids and
bad kids, she answered:
Dusk: Kids like Nina, are good. Eugene also counts. As for kids like us, sitting in the
last row, we are bad.
L.L: Really?
Dusk: Anyway, we are not good students.
L.L: Can you give me some criteria?
Dusk: Well, playing outside, like Onion, Shanji, WS and XXL.
L.L: Talking about playing, Eugene also plays a lot.
Dusk: Not that kind of playing.

Clearly, the groups way of playing outside, different from that of the more
conformist students, was what they called muddling. During the group interview, I
ask the 4+1 youths the connotation of muddling; they defined it as follow:
WS: Smoking, drinking, fighting, picking up hot chicks
Onion: Not only this. In short, do whatever things are not supposed to be done by
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students, things that the school forbids.

Shanji: Well, I dont think so.
WS: Me either. Its just a narrow definition.
Shanji: Yep, let teacher know we are critical of them, thats it. Actually, there are
many meanings for muddling and another one is to know young people in the
society, hang out with them, go fighting. Be a little muddler.
WS: To state it in a positive sense, muddling means you make friends with people in
the society and when youre in trouble, they can help.

From their perspective, there are many characteristics of the muddling subculture,
from which a muddling identity is formed, which are explored, below.

6.4.1 The courage to adopt a resistant posture

As Onion said, to muddle one needs to do things that are forbidden by the school.
Shanji concluded that the main purpose of doing this was to make the teacher aware of
their discontent. Therefore, the watershed between the 4+1 youths and other average
students in the class was the formers courage to explicitly resist authority. Much like
Willis lads, who felt superior to what they called the earoles (Willis, 1977), the
4+1 youths deprecated those students who, despite considering study to be drudgery
and always complaining about their heavy workload, succumbed to their parents and
teachers coercion. By contrast, the 4+1 youths dared to express their dissatisfaction,
are demonstrated below.
6.4.1.1 Resist to the school and class regulation
As introduced in Chapter 4, the school had established strict regulations to control
different areas of student behaviors, such as attendance, dress and in- and out-of-class
behavior, many of which induced the 4+1 youths resistance. For example, in
response to the regulation of hair styles, WS complained, this is unreasonably strict.
Its OUR hair. Why should we be told how to do with our hair?! The other members
expressed the same opinion. As a countermeasure, they all tried to keep some features
from their previous hairstyle Dusk dyed her hair dark brown, from example, while
XXL kept some long hair at the front of his forehead. Due to the truce they made with
their teachers, they were allowed to do so, and the teachers turned a blind eye their
rebellion, long as they kept it in inconspicuous.
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6.4.1.2 Resist to teachers authority

In Chapter 5, I recounted several confrontations between individual 4+1 youths and
their teachers. These not only gave them the chance to develop their adaptation modes,
but also helped them to identify, and identify with, others who dared to challenge
teachers to their face. To the 4+1 youths, the reason for most of their conflicts was not
that they felt they were in the right, but the teachers attitudes and reactions as they
tried to reclaim their authority was putting on airs. Consider Onions description of
his confrontation with Mr. W during the Politics lesson when he tried to use his
power as a teacher to mute me, I didnt give in, I kept on arguing. A similar situation
can be observed in WS dispute with Mrs. Strict and Shanjis suicidal protest against
Mr. Stones lesson (see Chapter 5, pp. 118-124).
6.4.1.3 Resist parental authority
As noted before, WS and XXL would both run away from home when their parents
beat them, something that was seen as a brave attempt to test their parent limits and
negotiate for their own rights. As such, Shanji and Onion always offered them food and
shelter during their runaway periods. For Dusk, resistance to her mother took a longer,
even torturous form:
Dusk: I rarely talk with my mother. She always makes a big fuss about everything
once she starts talking. Thats why Id rather stay outside than go home. Whenever I
made a little mistake at home, shell keep nagging, from the beginning of meal until I
finish, from when I start to brush my teeth until I go to bed.
L.L: But do you think she has a point?
Dusk: Well, partially. But its HER point. She always got these weird ideas. I know
clearly what she means, frankly, she is just afraid that Ill be raped. Stupid woman!

Therefore, Dusk stayed out late at night, not only because she needed to work to
midnight at her part-time job, but also to avoid her mothers fussiness. Anxious about
her daughters safety, Dusks mother even hired private investigators to determine her
whereabouts and forced the manager of one of the pubs to fire Dusk. This pushed her
and her daughter even farther apart.
To the 4+1 youths, the possessing and demonstrating a spirit of resistance was the
main criterion by which they recognized initially each other and how they determined
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their respective positions in the group. Those considered fainthearted, like XXL,
would frequently be mocked, as in the following incident.
One night, Dusk arranged another party at the hut. When the atmosphere reached
its climax, they started to drink in rounds. It is a ubiquitous custom in China that each
person toasts each of the others one by one; thus, the number of cups he or she drinks
in a round eaquals the number of people present. When XXLs turn came, however, he
hesitated. Because alcohol made him blush after easily, he was worried that his parents
would find out that he had been drinking and ground him. Although the other members
accepted his explanation, and allowed him to skip his turn, he was continuously teased.

6.4.2 Being good at inter-personal relationships ()

Although, as previously discussed, every 4+1 youth had to have the courage to
resist authority, the group members agreed that this resistance should be displayed at
an acceptable level. If a conflict were bad, that is to say if their confrontations with
teachers or parents ended up inducing further oppression, their resistance was
considered a failure. This is another essential characteristic of their muddling
subculture being good at inter-personal relationships, both cross- and
inter-generational. Therefore, one important task for the group was to learn, from each
other, the proper way to get along with people. Those with poor social skills were
forced to change their way, while those who were more mature when dealing with
people, such as Onion and the big brothers he had mentioned, tended to be admired and
were placed higher in the pecking order.
Among the 4+1 youths, WS claimed that his case was the most evident one of this.
WS admitted that he used to be conceited and ill-tempered, and that he had conflicts
with many teachers. In Grade 1, he almost slapped a teachers face during a
confrontation. But, beginning in the second semester of Grade 2, he gradually changed
his behavior by closely observing how Onion interacted with others. Even the teacher
in the above mentioned confrontation started to change her view of him. WS reflected
on his transformation as follows:
WS:Now I understand the principle its alright if you are not learning well, as
long as you know how to get along with people ()To be honest, Onion is so
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much worse than me in terms of his behavior at school, but teachers rarely scold him,
cause he knows how to get along with them. Thats why I changed

WS used to be known as a big liar and was shunned by other youths as a result, but
worked on his issues and eventually gained a reputation as one of the most trustworthy
gang members in CPSS. The need to have good interpersonal skills in order to be
accepted by the rest of the 4+1 youths led XXL to soften his intimidating facial
expression and stop treating others rudely.
It has often been observed that the 4+1 youths are street-smart and relatively more
adept at getting along with people than their normal classmates. Other studies have
reported similar findings (Lee, 2000; Liu, 2007), noting that better social skills are
seen by young people as a positive result of their subculture, which to some extent
provides them with a supportive and caring environment.

6.4.3 Smoking and drinking

Cigarettes and beer were habitually consumed every day by the 4+1 youths;
smoking in particular was a central activity during their gathering. When asked how
they started smoking, all the other three boys pointed directly to Onion, stating that he
was their guide and got them to start smoking almost as soon as they started to hang
out together at the end of Grade 1.
Shanji: One night Onion and his friend asked me to the internet caf to play games
overnight. They were smoking and gave me one, but I didnt know how to and just
did mouth-smoking. (LL: Whats the difference?) When you take a sip, you are
supposed to exhale a straight smoke but mine is an ugly cloud. So his friend sneered
at me. Then Onion taught me to take a sip, keep the smoke in the mouth for a while
before exhale. Then I knew how and start to smoke afterward.
XXL: Yeah, my story is kind of like Shanjis. Onion taught me on the School Sports
Day in Grade 1.
WS: One day I went for lunch with Onion and Shanji. Onion drew out a pack of
cigarettes and gave each of us one. So I took a try, but the smoke I exhale was unlike
theirs. Then Shanji said, Shit, dont waste the cigarette! Dont you know how to
smoke? Take a sip, keep the smoke in your mouth and breathe in some more air. You
know I never tried, so I did as he told me but still was just mouth-smoking. Then
Shanji taught me step by step. When I did exactly what he said, I coughed for at least
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five minutes like I was going to die.

Even though smoking was sometimes afflicting, they still felt the need to master it,
for several reasons:
XXL: Its justwhen someone gives you a cigarette, its not good to refuse.
Shanji: You really cant say no to them. Not knowing how to smoke is losing face.
WS: When I found everyone smoked except me, I wanted to learn to smoke too. And
then at first I coughed badly, so I thought it could be solved by trying more times. You
know, its embarrassing if I keep coughing like that, so I slowly trained myself to
learn how to smoke.
Shanji: Yeah, and its really losing face if you smoke differently from others.

On the surface, their learning how to smoke was a matter of face, but underlying
their eagerness was the sense that doing so would make them a real part of the group.
Among the 4+1 youths, smoking played much the same role as Willis (2006) reports
drug use did among hippies helping them pass through a great symbolic barrier
erected between the behavior of the subculture and that of the normative school
culture and good kids. As for Dusk, she started to smoking later in Grade 2, under the
influence of her colleagues at the roller skating club. This also facilitated her entry
into the 4+1 group. Knowing how to smoke meant one was no longer afraid of
proscribed student behaviors and could be considered a qualified member of the group.
Much value was attached to members knowledge of cigarettes and smoking technique:
Onion: At first I showed them some tricks of smoking, such as how to make the
smoke come out of from your nose, make giant smoke rings, etc., and they all said it
was amazing.
(The others nod to agree).
Shanji: Yeah, I think making smoke rings is so cool.
XXL: Hey Shanji, remember you know how to exhale the smoke out of your nose
because of me!
Shanji: Fuck off!

Once again, Onion led the group, although the others all vied for second place and
were alert to challenges to their position.
Drinking was also seen as a way to distinguish between group members and
outsiders. But as having a high capacity for liquor is a matter of personal constitution
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rather than something that can be achieved through practice, wimpy drinkers, like
Shanji, were not pushed as hard to drink as they had been to smoke. Like smoking,
drinking was a symbolic qualification for membership in the group.

Summary
It is widely accepted that [s]ubcultures are groups of people that have something in
common with each other (i.e. they share a problem, an interest, a practice) which
distinguishes them in a significant way from the members of other social groups
(Thornton, 1996, p. 1). In the school context of CPSS, a group of five problem students
identified others from similar socioeconomic background with whom they shared
certain academic and behavioral problems, and collectively formed a distinctive,
muddling subculture. Having provided, in preceding chapters, a detailed account of
how this subculture germinated, this chapter has focused on different aspects of this
muddling subculture and the identity that pertains to it.
In the literature reviewed previously, the term subculture is used to refer to a single,
specific type of behavior or group, such as skin-heads, night club youths, marijuana
users and so on. However, by taking a close look at the 4+1 youths behaviors and
lifestyle, we find that, in this context, subculture is rather more discursive. They are not
restricted to one specific behavior; rather, a variety of behaviors playing billiards,
hanging out in pubs, playing computer games, having gang affiliations, etc. are all
important, if not exactly equal, elements of their everyday life that combine to
constitute a lifestyle that is unacceptable to the mainstream. This finding echoes the
prevalent criticisms of the previous conception of subculture and its applicability in a
multi-cultural world, as discussed in the literature review (pp.43-44).
Therefore, to avoid the aforementioned flaws, I have persisted in understanding the
4+1 youths subculture with critical reference to traditional criminological and
sociological theories of subculture, by emphasizing the way that it emerged as a
localized class-based [solution] to material inequalities (MacDonald, et al., 2001, p.
11). Investigating the 4+1 youths muddling lifestyle also sheds light on at least two
ways of reconceptualizing subculture:
First, a subculture may consist of different cultural elements such as style, values and
so on. These elements may come from distinct, even mutually exclusive, matrices,
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which means that young peoples subcultures do not necessarily represent a break from
the dominant culture or its parent culture (in this case, lower-class culture in particular).
Rather, young peoples subcultures are bricolages that, on the one hand, display their
ability and creativity and, on the other, remain closely intertwined with family
histories, gender, place, class, region and locality (Nayak, 2003, p. 320).
Second, a subculture should always be seen as a dynamic process through which
young people construct their cultural identity, rather than a static body awaiting
analysis; as its creators grow and change, the subculture grows and changes with them.
Likewise, the membership of given subculture is fluid rather than fixed; young people
can and will enter or leave at their will.
However, the problem that this chapter has not solved is the ubiquitous pessimistic
sentiment overlying young peoples subculture. As Cohen famously expresses, the
latent function of subculture is this: to express and resolve, albeit magically, the
contradictions which remain hidden or unresolved in the parent culture (Cohen,
1972/1987, p. 95); from this perspective, young peoples construction of a subculture is
ultimately a vain effort that goes nowhere. To refute this argument, the following
chapter will discuss the relationship between the 4+1 youths subculture and its parent
culture, in an effort to reveal the inevitable influence of structural factors. Later, special
focus will be placed on the agency that the 4+1 youths demonstrate from their
seemingly self-defeated subculture.

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CHAPTER 7
THE MEANING OF MUDDLING SUBCULTURE
7.1 Introduction
The foregoing chapter illustrated the distinctive lifestyle of the 4+1 youths and
their most salient characteristic, muddling, based on a critical examination, in
Chapter 4 and 5, of the influences on the 4+1 youths behaviors and how their
muddling subculture came to being. However, young peoples subcultures are never a
complete creation of their own; rather, they are situated in specific time and space, and
connected to broader cultural and social structures (Clarke, Hall, Jefferson, & Roberts,
2006; Nayak, 2003; Shildrick & MacDonald, 2006). Brake (1985, p. 3) puts this well,
noting that we are born into social classed, themselves complexly stratified with
distinct ways of life, modified by region and neighborhood. Therefore, young
peoples subcultures undoubtedly share elements of the larger class cultures (or parent
culture), in which they were raised. Therefore, to reach an in-depth understanding of
the 4+1 youths muddling subculture, this chapter will carefully examine its position
in the overall cultural system, particularly its relationship with: a) its parent culture (in
this context, the lower-class culture); and b) the more pervasive dominant culture. This
will be followed by a critical description of young peoples reactions to the dominant
culture and the agency they exert from their social position. In doing so, the research
question, What is the meaning and function of the subculture?, will be answered.

7.2 Subculture Parent Culture Dominant Culture

It is widely accepted in the literature that all subcultures must meet two key criteria.
First, a subculture must exhibit a distinctive shape and structure from which it derives
its identity; this is self-evident, because it is how a subculture is differentiated and
recognized. Second, since the subculture is a sub-set within the larger culture system, it
must also have significant ties to the parent culture. Clarke et al.s argument embodies
this relationship as follow:
Members of a subculture may walk, talk, act, look different from their parents and
from some of their peers: but they belong to the same families, go to the same schools,
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work at much the same jobs, live down the same mean streets as their peers and
parents. In certain crucial respects, they share the same position (vis--vis the
dominant culture), the same fundamental and determining life-experiences, as the
parent culture from which they derive (Clarke, et al., 2006, p. 8).

Millers (1958) study further elucidates the bond and articulation between young
people and their parent culture in the context of lower class community. He argues
that young peoples delinquency is consistent with the focal concerns of lower class
culture, which, according to Miller, comprise six dimensions: toughness; trouble;
smartness; excitement; fate; and autonomy. Some of these focal concerns can be seen
among the 4+1 youths cultural elements, but their demonstration is more embedded
in the historical era of Chinas reformation and mediated by the specific local context. It
is noteworthy that, since the social stratification of contemporary Chinese society is not
yet fixed and still open to change (Li & Bian, 2008), the term lower class is not used
here as an analytical construct, but as a descriptive term that captures its members
position at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum (MacLeod, 2009).

7.2.1 Pragmatic view on education

In the previous chapter, I illustrated one of the fundamental elements of the 4+1
youths subculture, muddling through school life, which was characterized by an
indifference and loose behaviors towards academic performance, a blank refusal to do
any more than the absolute minimum necessary to graduate. From the interviews, it
can be seen that the 4+1 youths had fairly low expectations for their future careers.
Many thought only about taking on manual labor, like their parents before them, or
joining the family business. As such, they tended to adopt a rather negative attitude
towards education:
WS: Education is useless. Just like you, you dont even know whether you will get a
job or not after graduation. Why should I bother about my academic performance?
As long as I can make money, who cares?
Onion: I dont need to study in order to get what I want.

WSs disdain derives from a disappointed belief, based on his observations of

people in his immediate area and information widely delivered by the mass media,
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that education is not a stepping stone to a successful future career. Teachers

sometimes use news reports of widespread unemployment among university graduates
to underscore the importance of study, but the reverse can easily be argued, particularly
by those students whose academic performance are already very low, and used to
justify academic disaffection. Even some parents question the role of education as a in
their childrens future; for example, XXLs father commented that:
His mother and I only went to primary school so we really cant give him any help on
study. I just hope him can finally graduate and to the optimal get a vocational school
certificate.

Shanjis father expressed similar expectations for his son. In this context, the modesty
of the 4+1 youths aspirations and their muddling lifestyle at school can be seen as
an extension of the parent culture a lower-class culture. To the 4+1 youth, who
lived in a low socioeconomic status neighborhood, where most people were
construction workers, shopkeepers, drivers, small restaurant owners or the like, the
world of middle-class work was entirely alien. The problem was complicated by the
fact that, as none of them had siblings, their families all gave their demands first
priority. Thus, it appeared to them that, even though their parents were undereducated,
they could earn enough to support a family and still provide pocket money every week.
The realities of social stratification and inequality rarely bothered them. The only thing
they might have noticed was the difference between rich and poor, which further fed
their desire for wealth. Therefore, unlike Williss (1977) lads, who saw and resented the
reproductive nature of social classes, the 4+1 youths thought optimistically about
their future and freely choose to join their parents on the shop floor, a choice made
happily and apparently free from coercion. Unlike middle class kids, like Mrs. Stricts
daughter, who participated in cram schools, competition-preparation classes and
oversea field trips to improve their academic future, the 4+1 youths dreamt about
severing the education chain and earning a living in the labor market.
But this raises an interesting question what is the relationship of parent culture to
the dominant or mainstream culture? At first glance, the value system shared by the
4+1 youths and their parents stands in sharp contrast to the widespread social mania
for higher education and qualifications. In todays China, as in many other societies,
most parents believe that, in an increasingly competitive society, education is the only
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way in which their children (most of whom are only-children) can have the best
opportunities and get high paying jobs. They will spare no effort to support or push
their children to attend prestigious universities and earn higher degrees. So, too, are
students made believe that their future depends on their working hard until they
complete their final trial the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE).
Nowadays, this journey may be extended to include Kaoyan (the pursuit of a
master education). However, an in-depth examination of this enthusiasm for education
reveals its underlying utilitarianism, which is rooted in the Confucian culture (Hayhoe,
1992). For most parents, the purpose of education is for their children to get a good job
and, consequently, have a better, easier life than they themselves have had.
This pragmatic view has now merged with and been reinforced by an emerging
social ethos that favors rapid success and instant gratification, which has been
germinating in China since the country embarked on its agenda of political and
economic reform. What was once peripheral has now become a mainstream value, as
revealed in Davis and Wangs study of the post-socialist China (Davis & Wang, 2009);
with a new social order and emerging institutional dynamics of social stratification,
China has shifted from a status-based society towards one based on wealth. Many
people now believe that success is measured by ones fortune, no matter how it is
gotten, and does not necessarily rely on having a good education, especially given the
high rates of unemployment among college graduates, including those with
postgraduate degrees (Liu, 2008). Education no longer enjoys the same mystique it
once did.
Worse still, societys institution gap has driven people to rely on their guanxi to
help their children get good jobs (Bian, 2002). It is widely believed in Chinese society
that even if one is well-educated, success ultimately depends on having a strong social
network. This paradoxical combination of high expectations about education and
disappointment about the employment situation hovers in every parents and students
mind. In addition, lower class parents have to negotiate their own value system within
the mainstream culture, which always contains conflicting values. This value system is
often a form of pragmatic acceptance (Parkin, 1971), as shown by Dusks mothers
comments:

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Of course I hope my daughter can enter high school and then university. As you can
see, she is quite smart. If she puts her heart into her studies, she can still make it. But
you know, this kid is just[sigh]Now we only hope that she can at least get a
diploma so that she can go to vocational school and later find a job.

Families like those of the 4+1 youth seem willing to support their children and
urge them to pursue the highest level of education possible if they are performing well
academically; however, if their kids are not made for study, many will just let them
drift. Influenced by this parental attitude, the 4+1 youths focal concern became
their subculture; they viewed education in an extremely pragmatic way, downplaying
its value. As Hammersley and Woods (1984) note, some pupils responses to school
may be a response to mediated forms of his or her own latent cultures.

7.2.2 Tolerance for deviant behavior

7.2.2.1 Smoking and drinking
From the group interviews, I found that, although none of the 4+1 youths started
smoking until secondary school, all had been familiar with the smoking and drinking
lifestyle since childhood, as most of their male family members and the people around
them were all heavy smokers or drinkers:
XXL: We all grew up in smoke.
WS: Yeah, I was like living in the chimney cause my father smokes every day.
XXL: Me too! My father gave me a cigarette when I was in kindergarten.
Shanji: I was befuddled with wine when I was a kid. You know I live in the wet
market and there are lots of neighbors. When I was in primary Grade 1, I was on my
own all day long, went to school by myself, came back home alone. There was a
butcher around the street: when he drank white wine, he would treat me to drink some.
My grandma told me there were many times I staggered home.

In a behavioral sense, this is consistent with the finding that adolescents whose
parents or peers indulge in heavier alcohol and cigarette use tend to be more susceptible
to taking up smoking and drinking themselves (De Vries et al., 2003; Engels et al.,
1999; Jessor, 1992). But from their conversation, we can also see that the adults around
them not only exposed them to access cigarettes and alcohol, but also urged them to use
them at an early age. On the one hand, Chinese culture has always had a liberal attitude
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towards alcohol and cigarettes; very often, they play an important role as a form of
social glue or an ice-breaker during social activities and business. As such,
abstinence is not necessarily a positively valued lifestyle component. Many parents,
regardless of their social class, will sometimes allow their children to try some alcohol
in order to increase their capacity for liquor in the future. A similar cultural form can be
observed in Denmark, where non-drinking youths are referred to as not-yet drinkers
by their peers, and face some pressure to drink (Jrvinen & Gundelach, 2007). On the
other hand, many middle class parents will forbid their children, especially girls, to
smoke and insist they drink only a little when under their surveillance; by comparison,
the restrictions on lower-class youths, especially boys, are rather weak. Having grown
up in an environment where smoking and drinking bore neither stigma nor strict
limitation, it was for the 4+1 youths to assimilate their parents lifestyle.
WS: When I was in primary Grade 1 and saw my father smoking, I didnt know what
it was and would like to have a try. So he gave me one. I thought his pose was so
charming!
Onion: Some guys in my neighborhood smoked every day. They were so nice to me,
and played with me all the time.

Consequently, when the 4+1 youths, equipped with a lower-class lifestyle

inherited from their parents, entered a school dedicated to instilling middle class values,
conflict was almost inevitable. They struggled for what they saw as rights by resisting
the values and regulations set forth by the school. Therefore, following Millers (1958)
statement, their drinking, smoking and other deviant behaviors at school were a
demonstration of focal concerns intended to gain them the freedom to do things at
their will. This gave them a sense of being adult, like their parents, which exceeded the
enjoyment of conducting those deviant acts.
7.2.2.2 Fighting
As discussed in the previous chapter, gang affiliation and mob fighting are important
components of the 4+1 youths subculture. Not only are they the main ways in which
the youth build their social network, they are also a demonstration of another focal
concerns masculinity, or what Miller calls toughness. Physical prowess, in
terms of strength and endurance, and bravery in the face of physical threat are also
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highly valued by the 4+1 youths parents, many of whom used corporal punishment
to establish their authority. The parents even showed a degree of connivance with their
childrens violent behavior, believing it better that their sons or daughters beat others
than be bullied themselves. As Onion recalled, he once beat someone so badly that the
victim was hospitalized and he was later caught by the police. His father paid more than
500 in compensation to get him out of trouble but, instead of scolding Onion and
telling him to stop the violence, merely asked him not to fight as hard in future.
Although there is no direct data that any of the 4+1 youths parents had, during
their adolescence, adopted lifestyles similar to their childrens, according to one
deviant student, gang members parents or siblings often have some connection to
adult gang members in the community. For example, the 4+1 youths often spoke
admiringly about one of their buddies, whose family was influential in the gang; a
respected big brothers, he came from a family in which the eldest brother was
imprisoned for severe wounding and his younger brother was remanded to the
work-study school. These findings are, in a sense, consistent with a wealth of literature
in criminology, which holds that criminal parents, deviant siblings and similar parental
and familial characteristics have substantive effects on the development of juvenile
delinquency (Agnew, 1985; Akers, 1998; Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990; Hirschi, 1969).
However, these studies fail to capture the cultural and historical situation in Chinese
society since the 1980s. The countrys drastic political and economic transformation
has overwhelmed its cultural and ethical systems and embedded many grey areas into
the society. This is especially true in outlying areas of the city, atomized villages and
lower-class urban communities, where gang development is rampant and toughness
is a prevalent focal concern (Gao, 2010; Huang, 2005; Huang, 2008; Ma & Li, 2002).

7.3 Capitalization of Subculture

In the foregoing part, I examined the relationship between the 4+1 youths and their
parent culture, as well as the wider dominant culture. According to Brake (1985), such
subcultures arise as attempts to resolve collectively experienced problems resulting
from contradictions in the social structure, and that they generate a form of collective
identity from which an individual identity can be achieved outside that ascribed by
class, education and occupation (p. ix). However, because of the inevitable connection
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between young people and their lower-class origins, young peoples subcultures are
always viewed as magical, temporary solutions that in no sense can bring about
practical and material change to social realities (Brake, 1985; Cohen, 1997; Hall &
Jefferson, 1976/2006; Hebdige, 1979). Although Willis argues that working class youth
can respond to socioeconomic pressures at the cultural level by contestation, resistance
and compromise (Willis, 1983), he also admits that their cultural production is
ultimately reproductive, as can be seen in his widely acclaimed research on the
Hammertown lads (Willis, 1977).
To rebut to this overrepresented pessimistic view of youth subculture, many
researchers have attempted to show how young peoples agency is demonstrated
through their subculture and group. Among this emerging literature, one significant
body interprets youth subculture as a form of capital; another examines the social
capital youth have within their families, school and other community organizations.
These two lines of theory shed light on our understanding of the 4+1 youths and their
subculture.

7.3.1 Subcultural capital

The term of subcultural capital is developed from Pierre Bourdieus construction of
cultural capital, which he defines as a form of capital existing in three states: the
embodied state (i.e. intelligence, proficiency, skills, etc.); the objectified state (in the
form of cultural artifacts); and, the institutionalized state (i.e. academic credentials or
qualifications). To Bourdieu, cultural capital is mainly accumulated through ones
socialization in family and later education, and is thus closely related to ones social
class (Bourdieu, 1986). Therefore, this concept is not initially used to account for
certain social groups agency, but to explain educational and social inequalities.
However, thanks to Sarah Thornton (1995)s ground-breaking work on British youths
club culture, the notion of subcultural capital has shown its advantages for
interpreting youth subcultures. According to Thornton, subcultural capital is the
linchpin of an alternative hierarchy in which the axes of age, gender, sexuality and race
are all employed in order to keep the determination of class, income and occupation at
bay (1995, p. 12 ). In recent years, many researchers have critically reviewed and
extended the application of this notion to different youth subcultures in different
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contexts (Haines, Poland, & Johnson, 2009; Jensen, 2006; Jrvinen & Gundelach, 2007;
Leonard, 2008). In their studies, Jensen concludes, subcultural capital comprises
artifacts and knowledge which, within a specific subculture, are recognized as tasteful,
hip and sophisticated. It works in much the same distinctive way as cultural capital,
allowing the holder to see him or herself as distinguished, and to be seen to be so by
relevant subcultural others (Jensen, 2006). Based on this statement, there are many
aspects of the 4+1 youths subculture that could be seen as demonstrations of
contextualized subcultural capital, as discussed below.
7.3.1.1 Negotiation power at school
Chapter 5 and 6 illustrated how the 4+1 youths managed to reach a truce with
teachers and school administrators. This was not achieved through individual struggle
(which could easily be put down by teachers), but through collective efforts. Initially,
guerrilla tactics were used to keep teachers constantly on their toes and tie up their
energies (Green, 1980). When the disruptive potential of their subcultural group was
recognized, they started to gain negotiation power during their interactions with
teachers. It became evident during my classroom observations that the pace of a lesson
was very often decided, to some extent, by the 4+1 youths. If they wanted to give the
teacher a hard time, they would sporadically misbehave to distract the lesson. By the
same token, if they wanted the lesson to proceed smoothly in order to meet some of
their needs (e.g., early dismissal or solving a problem they happen to be interested in),
they could even help the teacher to maintain discipline.
In the second semester of my stay at the school, Mr. Pan introduced a new
arrangement for the 4+1 youths. In every Maths lesson, they were relocated together
at the back corner of the class, where Mr. Pan would give them special tutorship while
other students did their exercises; since I was the teachers assistant, this job naturally
fell to me. Much as in my Chinese tutoring sessions, they were allowed to chitchat if
they had finished the prescribed exercise. This approach helped the youths make up
their missed lesions, but more importantly, it minimized their disruptive behavior.
From this, we can see that the 4+1 youths disruptive power was fully recognized by
the teacher and that it forced the school to allocate extra manpower or resource to
contain them. A similar phenomenon is also pointed out by Hammersley and Woods
(1984), who note that many of the resources at the school they studied were channeled
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into dealing with deviant students, who are seen as the most immediate threat to the
institution and must be neutralized if it is to survive.
It is interesting to note that conformist students have comparatively little ability to
create a subculture and negotiate with teachers. This tallies with Hammersley and
Turners finding that conformity to official goals might sometimes be the product of
failure to succeed in other subcultures and condemnation of the swot and the
teachers pet are not always restricted to pupils, they are sometimes also voiced by
teachers. (Hammersley & Turner, 1984, p. 165)
7.3.1.2 Negotiate for social space
From the previous chapter we can see that, when the 4+1 youths were muddling
through the day, they went to many commercial entertainment places that were
officially forbidden to adolescents. While this illustrates the willingness of commercial
enterprises to assimilate young people as consumers and even exploit them in
implicitly erotic ways, it also shows the 4+1 youths capability to claim spaces, to
territorialize and to include some and exclude others in particular areas. This is
reminiscent of research on teenagers in Ireland, which claims that subcultural capital
enables children and young people to assert their distinctive character. It enables
children and young people to create social spaces not contaminated by existing adult
values and cultural norms (Leonard, 2008). In the context of my study, the subjectivity
through which the 4+1 youths reinterpreted their social world can be construed as
follows:
First, the courage and ability to explore and establish different territories gave them a
sense of superiority over their conformist counterparts, who were always confined to
the legitimate places prescribed by adults. As mentioned in last chapter, places like
the hut are exclusively used by deviant students, in part because conformist students
are afraid of the stigma attached to them, but also because they lack of the knowledge,
etiquette and language needed to gain access. In this sense, deviant students manifest
their power through their subculture to attach boundaries to space and to command
access to or exclusion from territories (Marsh, Rosser & Harr, 2005).
Second, the groups presence in these arenas diffused the boundary between
adolescence and adulthood. As adolescents, their behaviors were under tight
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surveillance at all times by all institutions -- family, school, and society writ large. One
way to escape this unpleasant situation was to buy a certain amount of freedom in
spaces typically reserved for adults. From the 4+1 youths out-of-school activities we
can see that they not only took part in adult entertainment, but also competed with them
in the labor market. In doing so, they broke down conventional borders (drawn by
adults) based on age and student status. This can be read as a type of collective
symbolic struggle that endowed them with real autonomy from the structures in which
they were rooted (Bourdieu, 1989).

7.3.2 Social capital

It is widely accepted that Pierre Bourdieu, James Coleman, and Robert Putnam are
the three theoretical fathers of the concept of social capital. Generally speaking, social
capital consists of resources embedded in social relations and social structure, which
can be mobilized when an actor wishes to increase the likelihood of success in a
purposive action (Lin, 2001, p. 24). But there are different focuses in the above
scholars theorizations. Bourdieu (1977; 1984) defines the concept as cultural and
social assets that give the actor better access to resources, and sees social capital as a
source of inequality. Coleman (1987; 1988; 1990) emphasizes the importance of social
capital in the creation of human capital. Different from Bourdieu and Colemans
individualistic perspective, Putnam (1995) locates his examination of social capital at
the community level. He regards social capital exclusively as a key characteristic of
community that assists in the acquisition of a democratic society (Morrow, 1999;
Schaefer-McDaniel, 2004).
Many youth researchers have used these constructs as a lens through which to
examine young peoples behaviors and situations. A large amount of attention has been
placed on the forms and levels of social capital inside and outside the family that
influence childrens academic attainment, including family structure and function
(Parcel & Managhan, 1994; Teachman, Paasch & Carver, 1996), parents investment in
their children and community (Furstenberg and Hughes, 1995), relational networks and
functional outcomes among teachers, students, and parents in the school (Goddard,
2003; Parcel & Dufur, 2001) and ethnic recourses in immigrant groups (Zhou, 1994).
However, in addition to overemphasizing academic achievement as the single
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outcome variable of social capital in youth (Bassani, 2007), these studies typically
exclude young peoples perceptions and voices from the data collected, focusing
instead on input from parents and/or teachers (Morrow, 1999); young people are not
seen as actors in the classic construction of social capital. As Leonard (2008) wisely
points out, youngsters own ability to develop stocks of social capital is underplayed
and their sources of social capital remain invisible. Morrow (1999) enables the debate
to move forward, arguing that using adult indicators to examine young peoples social
capital is insufficient and fallacious, advocating that we should explore how children
themselves actively generate, draw on or negotiate their own social capital.
In response, the concept of well-being has been adopted to depict young peoples
social capital in most of the literature (Morrow, 1999, 2001; Schaefer-McDaniel Nicole,
2004). It covers not only youths academic achievements, but also their behaviors and
health. The focus stretches to mezzo groups other than the family; consequently, social
capital among youth-based groups is also acknowledged (Bassani, 2007; Weller, 2006).
Bassani (2007) develops a model to explain the interaction and effect of social
capital in two groups. The family is considered the primary group and any social group
other than the family is a secondary group. He hypothesizes that, when bridging
happens between the two groups that youth belong to, differences in the levels of social
capital within the two groups can result in three different effects on young peoples
well-being: the booster effect; the double jeopardy effect; and the compensating effect
(see Table 7.1).
Table 7.1 The interaction of social capital in two groups and its affect on well-being
Primary or Secondary Group
Social Capital
Secondary

High

Low

Group

High

Boosting Effect

Compensating Effect

Social Capital

Low

Compensating Effect

Double Jeopardy Effect

*Source: Bassani, C. (2007). Five dimensions of social capital theory as they pertain to youth studies.
Journal of Youth Studies, 10(1): 30

Thus, a disadvantaged youth could compensate for low levels of social capital at
home by involvement in a secondary group with a high level of social capital; or, his
situation could be worsened if the social capital of the secondary group were also low.
Drawing on Bassanis model, Deuchar argues, in his case study of young gang
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members in a deprived urban community in Glasgow, that gang culture provide an

alternative compensating effect to by establishing bonding social capital that was
missing in family lives or out of reach because of feelings of social exclusion (Deuchar,
2009: 102). Similarly, the 4+1 youths subcultural group can be viewed positively.
7.3.2.1 Bonding social capital
As introduced in last chapter, their gang affiliation enabled the 4+1 youths to
establish an extensive social network, consisting of most of the deviant students from
several schools in the school district. Among gang members there is a high level of trust
and reciprocity, sustained by a series of rules and requirements. This is believed to be
highly conducive to the development of bonding social capital (Leonard, 2004; Putnam,
2000). To the 4+1 youths, the positive aspect of the bonding social capital manifests
itself mainly in the form of a think tank; the knowledge and wisdom they need to deal
with school and teachers comes from their fellows in the gang, as the following
example shows.
At the end of the second semester of Grade 2, the students were informed that Mrs.
Nice would not be their class teacher for the coming semester; she would be replaced
by Mr. Pan, an experienced teacher famed for his iron-handed way of managing the
classes. At the same time, their grade teacher would also be replaced by a stricter one.
Therefore, at the end of the summer vacation, during the 4+1 youths lunch gathering,
they started to discuss their new battle strategy:
Shanji: I heard that Pan is very tough. He used to fight with Qiang (a graduate and
gang member). Really is a freak!
WS: Teachers are not supposed to hit students. If he beats me, Ill make him regret it.
Dusk: Mrs. Lo (the new grade teacher) is also very strict. She is a crazy woman. Im
not going to come to school for the first two weeks. Lets show them our power.

From their conversation, it can be seen that senior gang members information about
their new teachers was used to work out a strategy for dealing with them. Details of
other gang members past conflicts with school and teachers were often quoted and
influenced the youths decide what to do if they received a demerit warning, or
whether they might be sent to a work-study school because of their attitude.
When the 4+1 youths got together, they would recount their most recent
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encounters with teachers, successful or not, and would be listened to attentively.

Sometimes, the listeners would join in with vituperative attacks against a certain
teacher; other times they would comment on the speakers unwise deeds or assuage
their anger or anxiety. This bonding social capital served as a psychological support for
the members that could eventually contribute to their well-being.
It is essential to remember that there is also a downside to bonding social capital. As
clearly pointed out by Portes and Landolt (1996), for a ghetto teenager, membership
and pressure in a gang may hold him down rather than raise him up, because it may
involve them in more deviant behaviors and consequently reinforce the stigma they feel.
Echoing Leonard and Onyx, Deuchar and Holligan (2010) also argue that gang
membership may, for some young people, result in a sense of confinement and social
distance from other communities. But it is equally acknowledged that inner-city youth
gangs are sometimes also social networks that provide access to resources and enforce
conformity. Gang membership may be the only way for some youths to obtain
self-respect and material goods.
7.3.2.2 Bridging social capital
Based on my observations of the differences between the 4+1 youths and
conformist students, the former were more adept at dealing with interpersonal
relationship with adults. This was a product of their muddling subculture, which
entailed a wider scope of activities and more interaction with other social groups in
various areas. Although this undeniably increased the risks in their life for example,
Dusks job at the pub could have led her into the sex industry it could also expose
them to adults who could be beneficial to their development. These connections are
positive bridging social capital with the potential to make linkages to external assets
(Putnam, 2000). Practice teachers with whom they had kept in contact, the young
couple at the caf, researchers like me, even senior students who used to be gang
members all of these could be components of a reference set from which they could
envision the possibilities in their life and make sensible decisions. Sometimes, they
could even access job opportunities through these social networks, as illustrated by the
case of Dusks friend.
Red was a friend Dusk made at the pub; she, Dusk and some other friends frequently
169

hung out together at a caf. As Red got familiar with the caf owner, she became
interested in making coffee and was offered a chance to learn to make different kinds of
coffee while working as a waitress at the caf. She dropped out of school to work at the
caf, working much harder than she had ever done on anything else. After three
months, she finally decided to return to school and continue her studies, but still
regarded her time at the caf as a precious experience.
Based on my interactions with the 4+1 youths and their extended social networks,
Reds story is not a singular case. Many of them can identify some resource they have
accessed due to their gang membership, including skills, knowledge and material
goods. Jensen (2006) illustrates a more positive scene in Denmark, where employing
formerly troubled or deviant youths as social workers has become a trend.

Summary
In this chapter, I situated my discussion of the 4+1 youths muddling subculture
into the social structure and looked closely at its relationship to both its parent culture
and the dominant culture. On this basis, the possible autonomy and agency of the
youths and their subculture was then discussed, echoing Willis argument that there is
no clear separation between agency and structure, and that these cannot be understood
in isolation from one another (Willis, 1990).
From a careful examination of the meaning of the 4+1 youths subculture, I argue
that, although their subculture may seem to be self-defeating, in that it seems destined
to reproduce their lower class status, it nonetheless contains many positive examples
of subcultural and social capital. The subculture not only offers an alternative way to
safeguard their joy and healthy development in this case their psychological
well-being and interpersonal skills it also enables them to gain more space and
resources in their subordinate situation.

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CHAPTER 8
CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
8.1 Introduction
In this chapter, I firstly review and summarize the major findings which were
unfolded in the previous chapters. In line with the conceptual framework, this review
involves three main themes, namely, the structural factors that contribute to students
deviant behaviors, with special focus on the school organization; the 4+1 youths
process of becoming deviant and their adaption mode to school; the formation,
organization and meaning of the 4+1 youths muddling subculture as a way to cope
with the disadvantaged situation. Following the conclusive remark, a discussion on the
theoretical and practical contribution of the study as well as its limitation will be given.

8.2 Review of Major Findings

To reiterate, the general research question of this study is to investigate the formation
of a group of deviant students subculture and the role played by this subculture in their
lives. After an eight-month period merging into the studied school, following and
interviewing my participants the 4+1 youths, the collected data and subsequent
analysis suggest that the school plays an important role in problematizing some
students with various risk factors. Accordingly, the Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 consisted
largely of a descriptive analysis of the structure of social relations in CPSS. Much of the
analysis has been concerned with the unintended consequences on organization and
management within the school, and their deleterious effect on the education process.
During the process of interacting with the school system, these students gradually
develop their adaptation mode in the school and further form their subculture. The
Chapters 6 and 7 gave a comprehensive account of this subculture and reveal that it not
only reflects the influence of mainstream culture and parent culture on the 4+1 youths
but also demonstrates their agency in terms of subcultural capital and social capital.

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8.2.1 School as petri dish a place where different risk factors ferment
A great volume of sociological work has outlined the social pathology of young
peoples deviant behavior. Many structural factors are proved to be highly relevant such
as: a) the disorganized condition of the society, namely, the broken down of social value
and cohesion in the communities, most of which are characterized by a deteriorating
physical layout, low socio-economic status of its members, high rate of population
turnover and so on; b) the failure of family to render enough support to its child. This
includes the deprived economic status of the parents, single-headed household, low
level of parent education, faulty upbringing and so on; c) negative peer influence. As
the deficiency of the society and family significantly weaken their capacity to enhance
social bond and thus social control, young people are easily pushed to associate with
undesirable peers, which eventually make them involved in various misconducts (Yung,
1998). Apart from the foregoing widely-accepted and long-perceived factors, the
relationship between poor academic performance and youth deviance is well
documented (Brown, et al., 2008). As the research unfolds each of my participants life
story, all the above factors do exert their impacts on the 4+1 youths lives. For
example, Shanjis childhood of being ignored by his parents; WS and XXLs
experience of running away after a severe conflict with their fathers; Onion, Shanji and
WSs poor living environment in a deprived community and so on. However, this
research does not intend to sort out these variables and test their saliency and different
weight in the 4+1 youths behavior as the existing research has adequately achieved.
Rather, the purpose is to return them into the real context of my participants day-to-day
life and reveal the process of how different risk factors make effect; and the school is
undoubtedly the most important and pertinent domain to examine this process for it is
where all the factors mix together and interact. Echoing many researchers findings that
school plays a critical role in differentiating and polarizing students subculture into
pro-school one and anti-school one according to their social class(Abraham, 1989;
Hargreaves, 1977; Hammersley & Woods, 1984; Hargreaves, 1999; Lacey, 1966;
Woods, 1979), the results of my research disclose a worrying situation that instead of
helping students with various structural disadvantages to break away from their
existing drawbacks, the school somehow catalyzes the problem and to some extend
contributes to students misconduct. This is caused by some aspects of the school
system and its internal organization, which will be discussed hereafter.
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8.2.1.1 Examination-oriented disposition

As explained in detail in the Chapter 4, the school aligns its overall operations
including teaching and learning, educational administration and personnel management
mainly with students academic performance. This is not an individual decision by a
single school. Rather, the string is pulled by the education system itself that
predominantly uses public examinations as the major mechanism to evaluate school
and teacher, screen and select students for higher level of education (Law, 2006). The
local education authority appraises schools performance based mainly on the result of
a complicated equation to calculate students average scores in each academic-oriented
subject of each school. Furthermore, students academic performance is the key
yardstick used by school to gauge subject teachers efficacy. Even the society as a
whole recognizes schools prestige through students score and ranking in the public
examination. The preoccupation and high expectation on examination is deleterious to
the

whole

teaching

and

learning

process:

the

curriculum

is

extremely

academic-oriented. Subjects that are not included in the public examination tend to be
undervalued and attached less attention; requirement of extra-curricular activities that
can cultivate students different interests and multiple-intelligence are reduced to the
minimum requirement in the syllabus; to top it all, students are often overloaded in
terms of heavy homework and frequent tests in all the academic-oriented subjects. All
of these not only stiffen students school life but also impose great pressure on them.
When frustration becomes the overarching experience of schooling, students gradually
lose interest for academic pursuit and they start to establish an alienating relationship
with the school system including its values and regulations.
8.2.1.2 Pragmatistic and bureaucratic management
In accordance with the overemphasis on examination outcome, the school
management on both teacher and student are also tuned to this ends. Teachers are
pushed by the school appraisal system to improve their students academic performance
and insure all the students attend the public examination. This is in fact what their
professional reputation and opportunities for promotion depend on. Coupled with a
bureaucratic manner of management, this pressure is so overwhelming that the original
pedagogical purpose behind the mechanism of examination and appraisal is largely
replaced by a pragmaticism of getting the job done. Thus, the requirement of home
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visit turns into a practice of story-making and paper work; the bi-annual examination of
student homework become a drudgery to be dealt with; and rate of students attendance
to the public examination hinder teachers from imposing due discipline on some
deviant students. Moreover, this pragmaticism is passed on to students. On the one
hand it deteriorates the teacher-student relationship when teachers have to urge students
to meet the requirements prescribed by the school and, on the other hand, some students
even learn and practice this pragmaticism in return. They know how to make use of the
loophole of the system such as good students secret deviance, the 4+1 youths truce
with teacher, etc.
To sum up, the first finding discloses several structural problems at both the societal
and institutional level that contribute to the formation of the 4+1 youths deviant
behavior and their subculture. When a group of young people with similar
socioeconomic disadvantages encounter same failure and frustration at school, it is by
no means difficult for them to affiliate with each other for an alternative solution of the
shared problem, and a deviant subculture emerges as a natural byproduct of the process.

8.2.2 Status passage students adaptation modes and the process of labeling
After providing a background against which the 4+1 youths emerges with their
attitude, value and behavioral pattern, the study then takes a closer look at their status
passage of becoming deviant students. The status passage as argued here is a process
that comprises two major steps: the development of their own coping strategies and the
reaction of others that works as mediation. It is noteworthy that these two steps always
intertwine with each other and influence one another during the whole process. It is just
for claritys sake that they are discussed separately. Two interactionist theories, the
Strain Theory and the Labeling Theory, are borrowed to elucidate this process.
8.2.2.1 Adaptation modes
When students bearing different composition of the structural imprints come
together at the school, their interaction with teachers and the school system are varied.
Not all of these imprints are derived from social class, for instance, parenting style. Yet
most of them are significantly influenced by the socio-economic status of their families.
Some of these imprints are consistent with the values promoted by the school, hence
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conducive to students school life, whereas some of others may hinder their adaptation
to the school. Students themselves are always aware of the impact of their social
background on their schooling experience. Instead, they perceive it as a strain between
the measuring rod of school and the means to achieve. Through critically adopting
Woods model of student adaptation, this research identifies some general patterns of
students adaptation mode in the studied class, namely, high-achieving students
colonization, intermediate students opportunism and the 4+1 youths dormant
deviance which is an unstable status between retreatism and rebellion depending on
the situation. It is argued that students adaptation mode is not a fixed status; rather, it is
always subject to some change according to the immediate interaction with teachers
and the school. In the case of the 4+1 youths, each individual has his/her own
trajectory. For example, Dusk starts from the mode of compliance at the very
beginning and swiftly changed to opportunism, after hanging out with some peers,
she finally turns into a retreatist by frequently playing truant from the school; as for
WS and similarly Shanji, they were opportunists at first, but after some conflicts with
teachers, their adaptation mode became a complicated mixture of mostly retreatism
and sporadic rebellion. But eventually, their adaptation modes were converged to a
specific one called truce-making, which means that they tried to make a deal with
teacher on some issues so that teachers can carry out their teaching activities without
too much interruption and the 4+1 youths in return can have an easier time at school.
In fact, the truce-making mode was reached when all five participants started to act as
a group. Therefore, it is an important period in between individual struggling and
collective coping, namely, 'muddling' subculture. To reiterate the process, the 4+1
youths first individually encountered difficulties at school, developed their own ways
of interacting with teachers and the school. Later, they found the others who have the
same problem and allied with each other to resist until the teachers realized their
disruptive power and made truce with them. In this sense, truce-making practice is an
initial stage of 'muddling' subculture, but it then always exists as one of the key features
of it.
8.2.2.2 Labeling
During the aforementioned development of the 4+1 youths unique adaptation
mode, the societal reaction, particularly from teachers and school administrators,
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towards their behavior always plays a critical role. Although due to the time limit of the
fieldwork, there is no substantial evidence to support the claim that they start to adopt
the deviant role right after some open and severe conflict with school, according to the
4+1 youths retrospective accounts and cross-checked with teachers comments, it is
safe to say that the switch from the pattern of opportunism to retreatism or rebellion
usually happens after such conflicts. When students are caught by teachers for some
misconduct with serious violation of school rules and they are publically condemned,
they are easily tagged as ex-convict. The most relevant case is WSs confrontation
with Mrs. Funk (Chapter 5, p. 119). Although there are ways to remove such a tag by
trying to behave well or doing some good deeds in future, it is more difficult for
underachievers in a school system where academic performance is almost the only
thing that matters. They are likely to be spotted involved in other misconducts until they
are eventually labeled as deviant by teachers and peers. However, even at this stage,
there are still chances for them to strive back to the right track, especially if there is a
patient teacher, some supportive friends, or attentive parents. Unfortunately, in the case
of the 4+1 youths, what they come across are more risk factors such as the luring of
other entertainments, recruitment of gang and biased teacher. Thus, they carry on this
label and even internalize it as part of their identity. To recall Dusks notion which
captures well this situation, Kid like us, sitting in the back row and hang out together
are bad students. This usually will move forward to a status which is documented by
some researcher as self-fulfilling prophecy (Cullen & Sreberny, 1976; Harris et al.,
1992; Merton, 1968; Rist, 1970/2000), namely, they will conduct more deviant
behaviors on purpose in order to fulfill the label tagged. Similar behavior can also be
observed in other 4+1 youth, perhaps Shanjis case being the most salient one when he
tried to provoke the chemistry teacher during the class right after he announced the
punishment for misconduct.
The phenomenon of a labeling process identified in the research also verifies the
constructive nature of deviant behavior as discussed in Chapter 2. Any social group can
define certain member as deviant based on the values and rules they perceive as normal.
So in the school context, whether a student is or not deviant depends not on the quality
of his or her act, but mainly on what the schools regulation is and how it is
implemented. To state it simply, a student whose behavior causes trouble to the school
and teacher is considered as deviant. This research reveals the process by which they
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are defined or labeled as deviant students.

8.2.3 Muddling subculture

Apart from some structural and institutional problems that exert influence on
individual students school life, another key finding is how the 4+1 youths get
together and use their subculture they create as the coping strategy to the problem they
face. The 4+1 youths subculture is called muddling subculture after a phrase they
frequently use to capture what they consider as the main feature of their own lifestyle.
The muddling subculture comprises three major elements:
Muddling through the schooling refers to their attitude and behavioral pattern in the
school. After the truce-making effort, they are given more autonomy in the school in
many aspects such as attendance, homework, classroom discipline and other school
activities, etc. With a modest level of aspiration regarding education and future career,
what they do in the school is mostly to pass time and get the certificate of secondary
education. Everyone longs for graduation so that they can get enrolled in some
vocational program and subsequently access the labor market. This is closely related to
their goal of making money which is profoundly influenced by the social ethos in
contemporary China.
Muddling through the days depicts their lifestyle outside the school. Different from
their classmates who are busy working on homework and attending cram school, the
4+1 youths can enjoy a carefree time out of school. They usually hang out in places
such as billiard room, the caf, night pub and so on. By following the 4+1 youths
during their leisure time, I discovered the aggressive assimilation of commercial
entertainment enterprise, and the special meaning and function assigned to these
entertainments. Firstly, different from adults mode of spend money to have fun, the
4+1 youths tend to make money while having fun. For example, Onions addiction
to online game is not only because of the excitement of the game, but also because of
the profit he can make through selling virtual gadgets in the game. Similarly, it is really
hard to tell whether going to pub is Dusks entertainment or her part-time job. These
cases exemplify the central status of money pursuit in the 4+1 youths lives. Second,
by going to places restricted to adults by law, the 4+1 youths successfully break the
frontiers drawn based on age. To some extent, muddling through the days is a
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demonstration of their maturity and independence.

Muddling in the gang is essential to their subculture. In recent years, some local
adult gangs have started recruiting deviant students for their underground organizations.
They take advantage of the boys eagerness to demonstrate masculinity in some illegal
enterprise such as mob-fighting and intimidating practice hired by some client.
Muddling in the gang is undoubtedly a negative aspect of their subculture. However,
unlike existing research that usually highlights a devastating impact of gang affiliation
on young peoples life, this research has revealed some seemingly positive effects.
Through joining the gang and interacting with other student members, the 4+1 youths
has improved their social skills such as how to get along with people, how to establish
social network and so on.
Underlying this muddling subculture, there are some tacit norms guiding their
behaviors. A muddling identity abides by the following unwritten rules:
Dare to resist. The 4+1 youths appreciate very much the guts to resist to authorities
such as school administrators, teachers, parents or even gang members in the higher
rank. As a matter of fact, the possession and demonstration of the spirit of resistance is
a fundamental criterion with which the 4+1 youths identify each other at the initial
stage and decide the pecking order among members. For example, Onion is considered
as the big brother among them for his courage to oppose and negotiate with authorities
in many occasions. On the contrary, XXL is often teased by the others for his reluctance
to break loose from his parents control. However, only resistance with certain required
characteristics is accepted as authentic such as those that achieve some desirable ends
or, at least, cause little harm to the actor. Otherwise, it will be regarded as a vain attempt
and the actor will be teased by the others. This resistance that can well be called as the
dialectic or pragmatic resistance relies significantly on good social skills.
Good social skills. A good inter-personal relationship is considered a must
requirement to muddling through within the school and without. Good social skills are
crucial to them for several reasons to avoid trouble, to get along well with others and
to make truce with authorities. Through observing others act and result, the 4+1
youths learn from each other to improve their social skills which, to some extent, play a
positive role to facilitate their coping strategies.
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Smoking and drinking. These two status-offense misconducts are widely perceived
to be attributed to peer pressure in many studies (Chung & Steinberg, 2006; Dodge,
Dishion, & Lansford, 2006; Tam, Heng, & Bullock, 2007; Stewart, 2008). True as it is
also in the 4+1 youths case, the findings of this research also revealed their symbolic
meaning for them to manifest an explicit resistance against this and other restrictions
on teenagers and offer a sense of in-ness to the group. More interestingly, the findings
showed that the 4+1 youths are not as vulnerable as we might think to the temptation
of smoking and drinking, or even using drugs. They are fully aware of the harm of
alcohol and nicotine; they have weighed the pros and cons before taking up any such
habits. In order to gain the membership to a group that can offer them a sense of
belonging and meaning, the 4+1 youths consciously decide to compromise their
health as long as it will not cause irreversible harm.

8.2.4 The big questions in the muddling subculture

In closing the chapter, this research will elaborate on an important question in
sociological inquiry, namely, the relationship between social structure and individuals
agency (Ritzer, 2008). To locate the discussion in the conceptual framework of this
research, two key problems are identified: 1) the influence of the parent culture and
dominant culture on the subculture; and 2) the meaning of 4+1 youths muddling
subculture.
The fact that youth subculture always bears imprints from the parent culture it
derives from is widely supported by the extant literature on subculture. It is evident that
these imprints usually are reflections of social structure such as class, race and gender,
etc. (Cohen, 1972/1987; Clarke, et al., 2006; Hebdige, 1979; Miller, 1958; Matza, 1961;
Mungham & Pearson, 1976). In the same light, the 4+1 youths muddling lifestyle is
deeply rooted in the lower-class culture of their parents in the forms of several focal
concerns (Miller, 1958): downplaying the value of education; the obsession of
monetary success; a high tolerance of drinking, smoking, and violence. And all of these
focal concerns can be traced back to the mainstream Chinese culture and
contemporary social ethos such as the pragmatic view on education; a liberal attitude
towards drinking and smoking and so on.
However, no matter how profound and encompassing the influence of the class
179

culture and dominant culture is, the agency of individuals cannot be ignored. And very
often, this is demonstrated through the subculture they form. Although it is argued that
youth subculture is merely magical solution to the problem they encounter (Brake,
1985; Cohen, 1997; Hebdige, 1979; Hall & Jefferson, 2006) and always results in
self-defeating situation and social reproduction (Willis, 1977), I contend that young
peoples subculture, despite its limitations, always has constructive and positive aspects.
In the case of the 4+1 youths, their agency can be understood in two aspectssubcultural capital and social capital. Firstly through establishing the muddling
subculture that makes them distinct from other students, the 4+1 youths possess more
power to negotiate with the school and teachers on issues such as workload and
discipline; and with adults for more social space. In addition, the subculture also acts as
a safeguard for their psychological wellbeing against overwhelming frustration and
strain from the social reality. Second, after a re-conceptualization of social capital
(Holland, Reynolds, & Weller, 2007; Leonard, 2004; 2005; 2008; Morrow, 1999;
Schaefer & Nicole, 2004), the 4+1 youths social capital can be recognized in terms of
the extensive social network they build among students and adults; and the material
resources and worldly knowledge they gain from this social network.

8.3 Theoretical Contribution

As one of the few ethnographic studies on young people, especially deviant students
in China, the major theoretical contribution of this research lies in its effort to
contextualize a wealth of Western theories into the post-revolutionary China.
First, this research reveals the role that school plays in the process of students
becoming deviant and the subsequent formation of their subculture. Although this has
been well documented in the Western literature (e.g. Hammersley & Woods, 1984;
McLaren, 2007; MacLeod, 2009; Lacey, 1966; Reynolds, 1976; Woods, 1979), similar
studies on Chinese schools remain conspicuously scarce. Therefore, this study
contributes to the understanding of the phenomena to fill the void.
Second, this research has tried to integrally apply well-established theories in the
sociology of deviance to explain the real situation of a group of young people in China.
Grounded on the 4+1 youths immediate life, this research critically reviews and
selects the most relevant theories to make sense of their deviant behavior. To do so, it
180

has avoided the stereotyped interpretation of youth problem into victim-blaming,

context-striping variables such as broken homes, faulty upbringing or individual
psychopathology.
Third, as a crucial group in the society, young peoples culture/subculture also takes
up an important share in the overall societal culture and, and more importantly, for the
future of the society builds on. Therefore, ignoring or denying their culture/subculture
will finally result in the falling apart of the whole society. By critically adopting
subculture as an analytical tool, it offers an integral and dialectical interpretation of the
4+1 youths subculture, from the influence of structural factors to young peoples
agency.

8.4 From Implication to Practice

Doubtlessly, to make absolute generalization from this research about deviant
student in general would be pretentious. However, the 4+1 youths in Central Park
Secondary School is not, I believe, a very exceptional case; and it is safe to say that,
deviant students exist almost in every class at every school. Therefore, I hope that some
of the implication drawn from this research will be relevant to other schools with
common problem. Although this research does not directly offer solutions for youth
problem, it has taken a crucial first step to give a comprehensive understanding of a
group of deviant students life. It is only with rich and authentic knowledge about
young people that pertinent intervention becomes visible. According to the findings of
this research, there are at least three domains we can work on to make a change:
Managerial domain. The current teacher and school evaluation system should
preferably be replaced by a more integral one. With less pressure on academic
performance measured predominantly numerically. Teachers may attach more attention
to students with difficulty.
Pedagogical domain. Programs that principally aim at assisting students who are
underachievers and/or having behavioral problem need to be developed, for instance,
tutoring lessons delivered in a small-class setting with appropriate and continuous
incentive mechanism.
Societal domain. In accordance with young peoples desire for supportive peers and
181

inter-generational relationship, the government could establish some alternative social

service institutes to offer young people assistance and guidance in a way that are more
acceptable. For example, in some projects, researchers have trained young people who
used to be delinquent into social workers. They make a great success in turning young
people who are in trouble back to the right track (Longhurst & McCord, 2007).

8.5 Limitations
At last, it is necessary to discuss the limitations of this study and give suggestion for
further investigation:
Firstly, as this is a doctorate thesis, it is unavoidably confined by the given time and
resource. Compared to the decade-long course of young peoples growth, an
eight-month fieldwork is far from adequate. During my research, I was fully aware that
at least two types of data will never be sufficient enough. The first one is on the whole
process of the 4+1 youths transformation from conformist students to deviant
students. Although rich retrospective data collected from the field with an all-round
triangulation were used in the present thesis, they are still subject to known weaknesses
of an ex post factor investigation on this part. The other one is the time span coverage of
muddling subculture. This research emphasizes some positive aspects of this
subculture. This argument is made relying on the data at hand and related studies done
by others. The consequences of the muddling subculture can only be fully understood
by a follow-up research into the 4+1 youths adulthood. Unfortunately, such a
longitudinal study can by no means be done in a four-year doctorate study. Taken these
two deficiencies into consideration, more studies with ethnographic and longitudinal
design could be recommended.
Second, while the qualitative nature of this research is advantageous in providing a
rich source of data, its small sample size and gender imbalance among the chosen
cases should be noted. Although it can be argued that the selection of participants
mainly depends on their natural friendship and network, and some measures were also
undertaken in order to assure the representativeness of the cases as discussed in the
section of methodology, there is still a need to cover more participants with equal sex
ratio in future research. Furthermore, since gang involvement and violence among
girls are significantly on the rise in China, yet our knowledge about the girls in gangs
182

is extremely limited, it will be valuable for research to exclusively look at girls

participation in deviant behavior in the context of China. This can be a direction for
me to work towards.
Last, after having gathered more information and gain a better understanding of
troubled young people, the research could move on to a next level, namely, exploring
pertinent solutions to help and assist these people. As a matter of fact, this appears to
the researcher of this study the next area of inquiry worthy of further research pursuit.
In this respect, action research in both the school and community contexts is believed to
better serves the purpose.

183

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202

Appendices

Student Consent Form

July 28, 2008
Dear Student,
I am Liu Lin, a PhD candidate at the University of Hong Kong. I will conduct a research
project on the sociology of education and would like to invite you to participate. The purpose
of the study is to understand the culture created by students, through which they resist to the
mainstream culture and value, as well as the meaning of it.
I will conduct the classroom observation and may join in your activities after school if
you opt to participate. During the observation, I will also interview you for 1-3 times, each
interview may last about half hour, depending on the situation of the day and will be
audio-taped (MP3). The audio-taped interview will be transcribed and kept confidential in my
storage hardware ONLY. Once the study is completed, the audio tapes (MP3 files) will be
purged. All information obtained will be used for research purposes only. Under no
circumstances will I share your interview data with your parents or teachers. You can ask for
any comments to be deleted from the recordings. All data will be stored using codes other
than names in order to minimize any privacy risk, which means you will not be identified by
name in any report of the completed study. Participation is entirely voluntary. This means that
you can choose to stop at any time without negative consequences.
The findings will have great relevance to gain a better understanding of contemporary
young people, and provide the teachers and parents more information on how to facilitate
your growth. I will be very willing to share with you the result of the study and give some
advice on your learning skill and life. If you understand the contents described above and
agree to participate in this research, please complete the reply slip on your parents consent
form to indicate whether you do decide to participate in this research. If you have any
questions about the research, please feel free to contact me (Liu Lin, phone no.: 2072044,
E-mail: lucialau@hkusua.hku.hk). If you want to know more about the rights as a research
participant, please contact the Human Research Ethics Committee for Non-Clinical Faculties,
the University of Hong Kong (852-2241 5267).

Yours sincerely,

Liu Lin
Faculty of Education
The University of Hong Kong

203

1-3

(2072044 / lucialau@hksua.hku.hk)
(852-2241 5267)

204

Parent/Guardian Consent Form

July 28, 2008
Dear Parents/Guardians,
I am Liu Lin, a PhD candidate of the Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong. I
am going to conduct a research project on the sociology of education. I would like to invite
your child
to participate. The purpose of the study is to understand the culture
created by students, through which they resist to the mainstream culture and value, as well as
the meaning of it.
The student grade 2 in the secondary school will be the participants of the research.
Participants will be interviewed by the researcher for 1-3 times, each interview may last for
half hour or so, depending on the situation of the day and will be audio-taped (MP3). The
audio-taped interview will be transcribed and kept confidential in the researchers storage
hardware ONLY. Once the study is completed, the audio tapes (MP3 files) will be purged. All
information obtained will be used for research purposes only. Participant will not be identified
by name in any report of the completed study. Participation is entirely voluntary. This means
that your child can choose to stop at any time without negative consequences.
The findings will have great relevance to gain a better understanding of contemporary
young people, and provide the teachers and parents more information on how to facilitate
their growth. The researcher will be very willing to share with participants the result of the
study and give some advice on their learning skill and life. Please complete the reply slip
below to indicate whether you would allow your child to participate in this research soon. If
you have any questions about the research, please feel free to contact me (Liu Lin, phone no.:
2072044, E-mail: lucialau@hkusua.hku.hk). If you want to know more about the rights as a
research participant, please contact the Human Research Ethics Committee for Non-Clinical
Faculties, the University of Hong Kong (852-2241 5267).
Your help is very much appreciated.
Yours sincerely,
Liu Lin
Faculty of Education
The University of
Hong Kong

Reply Slip (For Student)

Student Name:
I ** will / will not

Class:

Class No.:

participate in the research. (** Please delete if inappropriate.)

Signature:
Date:

Reply Slip (For Parent/Guardian)

I ** will / will not

give permission for my child to participate in the research.

(** Please delete if inappropriate.)

Parent Name:
Parent Signature:
Date:
205

1-3

//

(
2072044 / lucialau@hksua.hku.hk)
(852-2241 5267)

_____________________ ____________

__________

* / (*)
_________________

_________________

* / (*)
_________________
_________________

206

_________________

Teacher Consent Form

July 28, 2008
Dear Teacher,
I am Liu Lin, a PhD candidate of the Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong. I
am going to conduct a research project on the sociology of education. I would like to invite
your child
to participate. The purpose of the study is to understand the culture
created by students, through which they resist to the mainstream culture and value, as well as
the meaning of it.
The student grade 2 in the secondary school will be the participants of the research. The
researcher will conduct the classroom observation and students who opt to participate will be
interviewed by the researcher for 1-3 times, each interview may last for half hour or so,
depending on the situation of the day. The name of the participants, the class and the school
will be pseudonymous and the interviews will be audio-taped. The audio-taped interview will
be transcribed and kept confidential in my storage hardware ONLY. Once the study is
completed, the audio tapes (MP3 files) will be purged. Participation is entirely voluntary and
all information obtained will be used for research purposes only.
The findings will have great relevance to gain a better understanding of contemporary
young people, and provide the teachers and parents more information on how to facilitate
their growth. The researcher will be very willing to share with participants the result of the
study and give some advice on their learning skill and life. Please complete the reply slip
below to indicate whether you would allow your students to participate in this research soon.
If you have any questions about the research, please feel free to contact me (Liu Lin, phone
no.: 2072044, E-mail: lucialau@hkusua.hku.hk). If you want to know more about the rights as
a research participant, please contact the Human Research Ethics Committee for Non-Clinical
Faculties, the University of Hong Kong (852-2241 5267).
Your help is very much appreciated.

Yours sincerely,
Liu Lin
Faculty of Education
The University of
Hong Kong

Reply Slip

Student Name:
I

Class:

** will / will not give permission

Class No.:

for my student to participate in the research.

(** Please delete if inappropriate.)

Teacher Name:
Teacher Signature:
Date:
207

1-3

//

(
2072044 / lucialau@hksua.hku.hk)
(852-2241 5267)

__________________

____________

_________

__

* / (*)
_________________
_________________

208

_________________