Description:
The present paper deals with the question to which extent pupils of a residential home for maladjusted and socially burdened children talk about deviant topics and to which extent they reinforce each other socially. For this objective we equipped the classroom with fixed cameras and an audio system and registered the social processes in the classroom in the presence and absence of teachers. Deviant conversation topics were transcribed and step by step a category system for the analysis of deviant talk was developed. The results of this exploratory study suggest that deviant talk in the class studied takes place especially during the absence of class teachers and during the lessons of part-time teachers and replacement teachers. Social reinforcement of deviant talk takes place especially when the topic is introduced by high-status youths. For practitioners in settings with a high concentration of deviant peers, it is crucial to avoid situations with little supervision and to respond through presence toward deviant talk contributions.