Year: 2006
Type: article
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 Lyng , S. 1990 . “ Edgework—a Social Psychological Analysis of Voluntary Risk-Taking. ” American Journal of Sociology 95 ( 4 ): 851 – 86 . [CSA] [CROSSREF] [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) 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.
Source: Deviant Behavior
Authors: Jason Laurendeau, E. G. Van Brunschot
Institution: University of Calgary
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2085084564