Parkers participant observation describes The Boys everyday lives but what else does it do? Critically consider the impact of the study and its relevance to theory, methodology, and policy.

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Parker's participant observation describes 'The Boys' everyday lives but what else does it do? Critically consider the impact of the study and it's relevance to theory, methodology, and policy.

In this essay I will be looking at the observational study carried out by Howard Parker, 'A View from the Boys' (1947). In this study Parker covertly participated to find out about the lives of a gang of adolescent boys from Liverpool.

The study was looking into the sub-culture aspect of crime and deviance with a strong hold of Functionalism. Both the Functionalist and the sub-culture theories stress the learning of norms and values are crucial to the relation to crime committed. The sub-culture in Parker's study focused on the behaviour and beliefs of the boys that he studied that differentiated them from the public generally. The sub-culture in a 'View from the Boys' came about due to the boys being in a gang and separating themselves from the rest of the public and engaging themselves in criminal behaviour.

It is possible to see that it would have been difficult for Parker to have gained access to the group. This is a difficult aspect of participant observation as the