Anton Cicourel's study of juvenile delinquency involved a four-year observation of proceedings in juvenile courts in America. One of Cicourel's aims was to understand the "interpretive procedures" used by court officials in their routine interactions (that is, how they made sense of the behaviour around them).

"Positivist methodology [e.g. focusing on the "official reality" and procedures in the courtroom] would find it impossible to uncover the everyday routines of the police, courts and probation officials because their 'taken for granted' assumptions about the nature and character of deviant activity are part of everyday activity. Often the style of dress and tone of voice employed by the deviant is used by the control agents as evidence of a defiance of authority".