Deviance, Resistance, and Play: A Study in the Communicative Organization of Trouble in Class

ABSTRACT

This article provides a brief examination of contemporary sociological conceptions of “deviance” and “resistance” in the study of youth culture, and an exploration of the applicability of a notion of “play” or “playfulness” to the understanding of disruptive behavior in a classroom setting. Following the work of James Heap, we examine a transcription of a particular lesson sequence, paying special attention to what we term the “asides” developed by certain class members. We contend that these asides remain linked to the Elicitation-Response-Feedback structure of the official lesson, and that they bear a provocative descriptive affinity to some of the structural characteristics of “play.” We use this descriptive affinity to raise the question of the significance of interpreting these behaviors as “playful” rather than “deviant.”