Adolescent Boys of East London

Book excerpt: Originally published in 1966, this is a sociological study of boys growing up in East London. Previous books from the Institute of Community Studies had looked at the lives of other residents of Bethnal Green – couples with young children, middle-aged ‘Mums’, old people, widows. Now the subject is adolescent boys – a study of them not in isolation nor primarily as a ‘problem’ group but as young people moving between childhood and adulthood in the setting of a particular local community. What is it like to grow up in a district like Bethnal Green? How do the boys adjust to the process? What part is played by school, work, youth club, family? What are the boys’ relationships with their fellows and with girls? Where does delinquency fit in? To help answer such questions, a sample of 246 boys aged 14 to 20 were interviewed. The statistical analysis of this survey has been supplemented by illustrative material from diaries, tape-recorded interviews, and informal observation. The outcome is a vivid account, much of it in the boys’ own words, which was rather different from some popular views of contemporary adolescence at the time. Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.