Policing the edge: risk and social control in skydiving
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Date
2006
Authors
Laurendeau, Jason
Van Brunschot, Erin G.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Abstract
In this article, we draw on participant observation and interview data to explore risk and social control in skydiving. We explore Lyng’s (1990) concept of edgework, and argue that too little attention has been paid to the ways edgeworkers may be enabled or constrained by various actors both outside and inside the edgework setting. We
suggest that, while skydiving evokes notions of freedom and creativity, participants, and to a lesser extent outsiders, constrain individual freedoms in skydiving through various formal and informal attempts at policing. In particular, experienced skydivers monitor how other jumpers go about negotiating the edge, often subtly and sometimes
conspicuously encouraging them to perform edgework in an acceptable manner. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for the conceptualization of the edgework model.
Description
Accepted author manuscript.
Keywords
Edgework , Social control , Skydiving--Risk
Citation
Laurendeau, J. and E. Gibbs Van Brunschot. (2006). Policing the edge: Risk and social control in skydiving. Deviant Behavior, 27(2), 173-201. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639620500468535