ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on workgroups that are strongly hierarchical and derives from an anthropological study of longshoremen in St John's, Newfoundland carried out by participant observation. It demonstrates how 'normal' work roles are adapted to serve the needs of institutionalized pilferage and how this influenced relationships on the dock, particularly within the longshore work gang. The chapter shows how the men saw their actions in terms of a prevailing system of ethics that ran counter to the general population of the town. It concentrates on deviance and its supporting system of morality within a strongly defined hierarchic work group, the traditional longshore work gang. The chapter presents how close and detailed participant observation can prove a powerful research tool, here revealing how such groups are able to 'bend' legitimate work roles to perform their illegitimate ones. It explores how they control their levels of deviance and how they can apply sanctions against those who break their own group norms.
