Although constructed types are sometimes more precise and explicit than existential types, in many typological classifications the identifying features of specific types are unclear, with the result that researchers haveĭifficulty in assigning persons to them. For example, Edwin Lemert drew attention to offenders he labeled as na ïve check forgers, but the persons so labeled did not use that label nor did those with whom they associated. By contrast, constructed types are delineated by sociological theorists. Such existential types refer to categories of people or of behavior that arise as persons go about trying to simplify and make sense of people and events they encounter in everyday social interactions. Closer to criminology, police officers sometimes speak of "car clouters" (persons who steal packages and other items from cars) or "hubcap thieves." Similarly, prison inmates sometimes single out fellow convicts as "right guys," "outlaws," "wolves," or other types. For example, high school students often label their classmates as "hoods," "jocks," "Goths," or "brains." These slang terms identify certain students as delinquents, as overly interested in school athletic programs, as disaffected persons who dress in black and affect various deviant styles, or as particularly interested in good grades. Sorting people into types according to distinguishing traits or forms of behavior that are presumed to characterize them is a common social process.
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