Introduction

The Fargo skate-park, located at Dike West on 4th St.

S. in Fargo is a unique environment in the Fargo Moorhead

area. Upon arriving one will find that while the skate-park

is designed for to be used by patrons of all ages, it is

mostly a place where teenagers come to congregate and. The

park’s capacity as an unsupervised social arena allows those

that seek to elude adults and/or contact with formal

authority figures the practical means to do so. In the

modern world of hovering “helicopter” parents, that such an

open, and public space that is so frequently used by

teenagers and young individuals exists without some form of

formal supervision comes as a surprise. The first thing one

notices when walking up to the entrance of the park is the

large white sign posting the rules of conduct. Most are

benign, such as prohibiting use of glass bottles in the park

area, and requiring pet owners to leash & clean up after

their pets, which are typical rules of conduct in most

public places and are for the most part uninteresting-

except for the inclusion of a rather unique statement

printed in smaller lettering across the bottom of the board

that reads “Violators are subject to arrest.” This short

five-word sentence might seem innocuous enough, however, as

social researchers, such language gives the indication that

this is a place that was built and exists under the

presumption that deviant/illegal/delinquent activity is to

be expected from it’s intended patrons. The threat of

outright arrest is not a common thing for one to see posted

on most other city signs, especially for rules of conduct

posted in a city park. This is made even more interesting

when one considers for a moment that some of the posted

rules aren’t even necessarily covered under any applicable

statute or ordinances that would require arrest or

necessitate due interest from law enforcement. A literal

interpretation would mean that not cleaning up after one’s

poodle, or skating after sundown might result in contact

with law enforcement personnel.

Why A Skate-park?

Initially, it was our interest to investigate whether

or not such stigmas associated with the act of skating are

based in any real threat inherent within this specific epoch

of youth subculture within Fargo. Our observations attempted

to identify if those that frequent the park outwardly embody

or display such identifiable characteristics to even make

such a distinction. The skate-park was also interesting to

us because it has the potential to offer unique

opportunities to observe aspects of youth culture and

patterns of social interaction specific to the skate-park

atmosphere where participants and patrons actively watch,

learn, and mimic each other building upon interactions that

form collective identity from which emerges a sense of group

solidarity and community. The skate-park is a purposeful

place for specific activity that can be observed and easily

studied. There is no limitation or hindrance on

accessibility, which makes this an ideal setting for

unobstrusive observations.

Research Objectives

Our research object was to employ an emic approach and

unobtrusive observations to describe the interactions,

activities, and behaviors of individuals observed at the

Fargo Dike West Skate-Park.

Methodology

Our methods involved unobtrusive observations by four

group members that were recorded at various times and

vantages over the course of a 5 day period starting

September 25th, 2009. Approaches that were used attempted to

triangulate data using both qualitative descriptions of

behavior and interactions with observable demographic and

physical characteristics that were compared and contrasted

in an attempt to define discernable groups within the park

and their subsequent group behaviors. We then attempted to

tie our observations to existing theory. Another way we

improved the validity of our study is the fact that one of

the members of our research group has the distinction of

being an insider within the F/M skating subculture, and his

status allows us to assume insider/outsider researcher

roles. Observer triangulation was also utilized, taking

advantage of multiple vantages each day of observation in

order to develop a sound base of observational and

descriptive data from which one might draw substantiated

conclusions.

Ethics

We chose not to include specific descriptive data of

motor vehicles so as to protect the identities of those we

observed from possible consequences of our published

observations. Moreover, we made sure to stay clear of any

interactions with the studied population in order to

maintain proper unobtrusive research role.

Setting/Environment

The Fargo skate-park, located at Dike West on the east

side of 4th St. S. in Fargo is in the downtown area and is

bordered on the north by two basketball courts, to the east

by an earthen dike, and to the south by Prairie-St.John’s

Psychiatric Hospital. The skate-park’s physical layout is

unique because it’s design centers around the facilitation

of various forms of skateboarding, inline skating, or

“freestyle” bicycle moto-cross or “BMX” riding which focuses

on combining acrobatics maneuvers, or “tricks” that are done

using the various concrete structures found within the park.

Spectatorship is also reflected in the parks design with the

inclusion of a set of bleachers that could accommodate about

40 people on the north side under a roof connected to the

small building near the northwest entrance to the park.

The Entrance

The designated skating area of the skate-park extends

off to the south and east of the entrance, and the dike for

which the park is named rises up on the east end and

stretches along the Red River to the north and south. The

North-West corner houses a few stair-sets, and extending

along the east and south edges are a number of boxes, each

with their particular variances and difficulties. From there

an incline leads down into the bowl where there is a table-

top box in the center.

North Flats

The north east corner is a mostly flat section with a

couple of short boxes used mostly for “flat land” tricks, or

tricks requiring no incline or vertical ramp to complete,

which can include a variety of “kick-flips”, “ollies”, and

“grinds”.

Pool Section

South of the flats and east of the center table top is

the “pool” area, consisting of a raised spine section in

between two cement structures modeled after the shape of an

empty swimming pool, a commonly used skating area made

popular by early pioneers of the sport. This area is used

mostly by more advanced skaters because it takes a good

amount of practice to be able to gain and keep the momentum

and balance required to get past the lip and achieve

adequate “hang-time” (time spent in mid-air) to pull off a

trick, as well as transition from the air back on to the

inclined surface.

The Spine

The spine section is used to gain momentum and practice

“lip” tricks, or tricks that use the edge of the vertical

surface to balance and attempt variations of grabs and other

tricks. The spine can be used by less advanced skaters to

gain a better understanding of what the pool will feel like

because it is essentially a toned down version that one can

practice riding down without having to come up the other end

right away.

South Flats

Around the south side of the bowl a variety of boxes

designed for skateboarders and bikers alike are included.

They are various lengths and heights for skaters of every

skill level. There are also a couple of table-top boxes

placed around the south-west perimeter that are mostly used

by the bikers at the park.

Rails & Grinds

There are a few grind rails and waxed edges in the park

as well that facilitate tricks involving jumping and sliding

down or across a section that usually consists of a rounded

pipe or a polished or waxed 90 degree concrete surface using

a part of the board, bike or skate that doesn’t have wheels,

and then “landing” the trick back on the wheels and

continuing motion. A number of such “grind-able” rails and

surfaces are found in front of the bleachers.

The Look

While actual layout of the park has a specific

purpose in mind, it might be inferred that there is also a

purpose to be found in the relatively pristine nature of the

park facilities. What we noticed was the fundamental lack of

one major characteristic of community skate-parks in larger

cities, which was the presence of aerosol art or other forms

of artistic/symbolic decorations that most authorities would

designate as “graffiti” or “tagging” that in other parks are

indelible features of the visual landscape and typically

cover the majority of the paintable surfaces in such parks.

We did see a few areas that looked like they had been

covered by the drab concrete gray paint that most

municipalities use to cover any undesired emergent artistic

contributions made to structures or surfaces within the

city. This is possible evidence that the municipality of

Fargo, North Dakota has read something on Kelling & Cole’s

(1996) broken windows theory on crime deterrence, that

basically asserts that to successfully prevent minor crimes

such as vandalism by removing/covering it as soon as

possible, and effectively “fixing” the problem before it

gets any worse. So the lack of lasting visible graffiti in

the park is likely due to the efforts of municipal

authorities to suppress such activities through actively

reacting to it’s presence within the community.

The Rules

-Park closes at dark-Glass bottles are prohibited-No littering/dumping-No alcoholic beverages allowed in park-No vehicles allowed off designated roads-Pets must be on leash-Owners must clean up after their pets-No overnight parkingViolators are subject to arrest

Observations

“Skating” as it is understood within the park is a

specified activity that appeals to a crowd that was mostly

male and between 12 and 18 years of age, and predominantly

Caucasian with few exceptions. While the focus of the park

is to facilitate skating and freestyle BMX, such activities

have the capacity to attract a certain amount of spectator

attention from peers of the same age group of which females

are more represented. Those that were mostly spectators and

didn’t have a skateboard or a bike as well as those that

tended to stay within the park’s parking-lot on the

northwest end were what we designated as the “parking-lot”

crowd, and those that are within the park with the apparent

intentions to skate as the “skate-park” crowd, which are

divided into sub-sects among the “skaters”, the “non-skating

skaters” and the “bikers”.

The Feel on Slow Days

The “feel” of the skate-park is subject to change

depending on how busy it is at the given time. On a slow day

the first thing that one notices about the skate-park crowd

is that they help each other out when they are having

trouble with a certain section, or a certain trick, and by

engaging in such activity they help each other learn new

tricks and develop patterns of interaction that give the

park a sense of community and it’s members a source of

mutual social and practical support. A good example of this

was when two males, approximately 14-15 years of age,

arrived on a pair of custom bicycles, one a three-tall bike

(a bike that is essentially three bike frames on top of each

other) and the other a “chopped” low-rider bike meaning the

front forks were stretched way out and the handlebars were

stretched upward, giving the rider an appearance of riding

lower on the frame than other traditional bicycles. These

two meshed perfectly with the atmosphere of the park on a

slow day as they responded to the curiosity expressed by the

4 skaters already in the park by showing them how to ride

their custom machines. One gave the youngest pointers on how

to stay stable on the chopper, while his friend showed the

others how to mount the tall bike, the oldest skater

appeared to learn the quickest and succeeded within his

first few attempts; then only after a short time riding he

felt comfortable enough to roll down the incline and into

the bowl. Between them, the skaters took several attempts to

mount the seat in which the bike fell over before they were

able to successfully scale the bike and climb into the seat.

This observed interaction says something about the attitude

of the kids on the custom cycles, and the says something in

general about the comfort level that is felt within the

park. This is also a good example of the camaraderie that we

observed when one considers the degree of trust that they

are able to extend to their peers to the extent that they

don’t seem to worry about whether or not their bikes will be

returned to them. In this instance, it appeared that these

young people considered the skate-park to be a safe

environment- even though there is typically no formal

authority there to ensure it. The informal adherence to

commonly held norms is a feature that is found among all

subcultures and is evidence of the solidarity that is

perceived among individuals and interactions that were

observable within the various groups found to exist in and

around the skate-park. It is an environment in which youth

may seek, find, and interact with others that they identify

with and whom they feel are more are likely to accept them.

In this way that the skate park encourages and provides a

sense of community among youth that are found there.

The Feel on Busy Days

The Friday afternoon we spent at the skate-park saw it

at it’s most populated during the few days that we made

observations. Upon arriving, we found a large number of

individuals at the park, on the bleachers, and in the

parking lot; we counted approximately thirty to forty

individuals. Their ages ranged seven to twenty years old. A

mix of races and ethnicities were present, however, the most

common was white.

The “feel” of the busy day was unique in that there was

visibly observable clique segregation. Because there were so

many people gathered in different areas of the park we were

able to visibly differentiate the crowds from each other,

especially those skateboarding and those riding BMX bikes. A

relatively large group (8-9) sat on the Northeast corner

where they watched and mimicked each other’s “flat tricks”.

All of them were males, ages spanned from approximately 7 to

about 20 yrs. of age and their close proximity to each other

signaled a sense of familiarity and kinship. Those sitting

and observing talked with each other and made references to

whomever was doing a trick at the time, and were often

observed making comments/criticisms of their form and style.

A small group of BMX bikers were not as active as the

skaters, and were often observed sitting on their bikes,

simply watching and talking with each other rather than

performing tricks. Eventually a pattern did emerge with the

BMX bikers. We observed that they would talk for a

particular length of time, then one would bike down into the

pool, loop around, and then rejoin his friends, then at

other points the others would do the same. It was unclear

whether this pattern was formally or informally

acknowledged, however, due to our position we were unable to

listen to their conversations.

Among all the crowds, there was a small group of pre-

teen boys, approximately age 12 who were on skateboards.

They had no set location and skated across the entire park.

They wore skinny jeans, one of them wearing a beanie with a

stripped, long-sleeve shirt, the other two in t-shirts. What

was most intriguing was that one of them had a video camera

and followed the other two, recording them. After performing

a trick, one would hand off the camera to another and be

filmed. This went on for some time until they stood around,

talked for a length of time, and eventually left the park on

their boards.

Lastly, we observed the number of individuals with no

apparent affiliation to other individuals. We counted three

of them. They did not have a designated place in the park,

but rather, they were concentrated on skating. One of them

was male, white, in his twenties with a beard, cargo shorts

and a black t-shirt. We have no estimate of how long he left

about ten minutes after our arrival. Another individual who

was male, in his late teens sported a shaved head, multiple

facial & body piercings, black pants and a white t-shirt.

The third individual had longer hair, a beanie, an orange t-

shirt and baggy cargo pants. All of these individuals did

not belong to any crowd, did not talk with anyone, and left

alone.

Overall, on a busy day, a wide variety of people

populated the park. Some come in groups, others arrive

alone. There is definite visibility of segregation and

different purposes of being at the skate-park. What may look

like chaos can be deconstructed into categorized groups and

individuals who all share the same space for different

reasons.

Community & Social Function

Common to the average day spent at the Dike-West is a

visible sense of community among it’s patrons. This is

evident in that the skaters and bikers who are attracted to

the park seem to understand their environment to be valuable

for it’s ability to function as a safe place to practice

their skills, but it is also apparent that the social

functions are just attractive as anything else to be done

there. The social scene is such that it is not uncommon to

see more people sitting around talking than actually skating

or biking around the park. The females that we observed

within the park seem to be most attracted to the social

aspect of the environment than the actual act of skating.

While it is common to see females at the skate-park, it was

uncommon to see them skating. They spend a lot of time

sitting around talking and visibly flirting with a number of

males. They also spent a lot of time in the parking lot, an

area that is a part of the social environment that will be

explicated later in this paper.

Non-Skating Skaters

The term “non-skating” skaters may be confusing at

first glance but a look into the sub culture shows you that

there are skaters that are there to skate and there are

skaters that are there to look like they skate, that’s where

these non-skating skaters come in. The group of non-skating

skaters we observed were all in very flashy name brand skate

apparel, top of the line gear, and pristine scratch-less

skateboards. A true committed skateboarder would have a

skateboard that looked like it was pulled out of a dumpster

after about a week’s worth of use. Skateboarding is not a

sport that is meant to keep your hardware in pristine

condition. Boards get scratched, dented, and broken

regularly for a committed skateboarder and many of those

skaters will go through a few boards a year. Non-skating

skaters may have one board that will last them the length of

their skating “career” or however long the decide to hang

out at the skate park.

A good example of a non-skating skater that we observed

was in a DC shoes printed t-shirt, plaid shorts, and bright

blue skate shoes of some kind. All of these things are

prominent in the skate culture, but as we viewed him skating

he would skate around half of the park then kick up his

board and chat with a few people as he used his board as a

leaning post. He never once dropped into the bowl nor did

his board ever leave the ground other than when he picked it

up to stand. At any given time during our observations there

were always significant proportions of non-skating skaters

milling about, many just like the individual in our example

who would use their skateboards a prop, one that to serves

to identify them as a “skater” and symbolically ties them to

the sport and provides them the means to socialize with

peers that are likely to have similar interests.

Committed Skaters

The committed skaters are totally different from the

park’s non-skating skaters in the sense that they are at the

skate park for the sole reason of skating. A good example

of this was one young male we saw, (19-20) years old, didn’t

converse with the other skaters when he was skating. But on

the day we viewed him there he was definitely the most

involved and committed skater. He had a beanie type

stocking cap on over his shoulder length hair with a bright

yellow shirt and plaid shorts. This type of clothing is

very common in the skating culture and was definitely not

out of place. When he finished his skate session and left

the park he switched out of his blue shoes he was wearing

and kicked on a pair of more casual skate shoes. It seemed

as though he was so committed to the sport that he had a

certain pair of shoes that he wore every time he went to the

skate park.

Skate-Park Girls

Among the different cliques at the skate-park therein

lies some mixture of individuals who go from one crowd to

another. Most noticeably were two girls who tended to weave

in and out of the crowds. Their descriptions are as follows:

both were Caucasian, high school aged (approximately 15 to

17 years old), and both were had dark brown hair. Both wore

very tight Skinny styled jeans (where the cuffs at the

bottom of the pants are tight around the ankles). Perhaps it

was due to the cooler weather or perhaps it is their normal

apparel, but they both wore hooded sweatshirts that did not

have any kind of logo or affiliation to them as far as one

could tell from a distance.

Just at a glance, one could easily tell that these two

girls were close friends. The proximity between their bodies

was minimal and they often talked to each other while

looking each other in the eyes. They literally ran around

together from the bleachers to the parking lot. At one

point, they sat down on the asphalt of the lot facing each

other and talked. This kind of behavior was interesting to

observe so candidly and they appeared to be very boisterous

and attention seeking. It was evident that these two young

girls were not there to skate, but clearly had affiliations

with individuals hailing from the parks various social

groups. At one point, they were lying on one of the boxes.

Clearly, they knew they were a hazard to those who were

using that part of the skate-park. However, (possibly

because of) this endangerment attracted attention and in

just a matter of minutes, a crowd of skaters gathered had

around them. Their body language indicated that they had a

very close relationship since they were both lying on their

stomachs, facing each other, talking very closely. This

seemingly hazardous behavior was apparently acceptable since

there were no visible signs of skaters being upset about the

girls being in the way.

What we noticed in the park was that most of the

individuals around the park, even if they weren’t skating or

riding at least had some item, or prop used for that

purpose. The lack of these items, or props, is what one of

the major factors in what segregates people into their

different groups. The two raucous girls had no such props,

but interestingly enough, their clothing (which was

specified earlier) matched the general style of clothing a

lot of others were wearing: the skinny jeans, punk haircuts

(sometimes cut relatively short, spiked, and dyed different

colors, other times, longer, straight hair with bangs as was

the case with the two attention seeking girls), and

skateboard specific shoes (such as classic Vans, or DC

Shoes). What was so interesting and evident to us was the

distinction we found between looking like a skater and

actually being a skater.

The Competition element

The competition that was viewed at the park on the days

we were observed were mostly informal games, most frequent

of which was “horse”, a competition/game/activity whereby

one individual attempts a trick or completes a trick from a

specific area and the next competitor must copy the same

action. Failure to do so results in the accumulation of

“letters”, which eventually spell out words such as “horse”,

“pig”, or “skate” at which point one is eliminated, or

effectively “loses” the game, even though such distinctions

don’t seem to matter much to those that engage in such

interactions. This seems to be a great way for new and old

skaters alike to learn new tricks because someone may bring

out a new trick others haven’t tried and in this setting,

are required to try in order to stay in the competition.

The day we viewed this friendly competition there were four

or five skaters participating in the event. There was a lot

of encouragement and advice being offered between the

skaters of all skill levels.

Observable Patterns of Activity

While it is clear that skating is the central focus and

purpose of the park in the minds of the majority of

individuals who go there, the social aspect of the park has

a subtle, but observable influence on the activities of

those that brought skateboards or bikes (presumably to ride

or skate), but spend the most time on the periphery talking

to each other and watching. A peculiar trend we noticed was

that when small groups of people first entered the park, a

number of those that had been sitting around had the

tendency to get up and do a few passes through the park and

maybe attempting to do a few minor tricks for the duration

of the next few minutes. This was interesting to watch

because it was an observable phenomena- one that had a

visible effect on the behavior of those in the park. If

activity had been dying down in the park the arrival of new

skaters seems to get everyone ready to go again. The park

had noticeably more people skating and biking through it

right after new groups arrived then at any other points in

our observations. While this was a somewhat general

phenomenon, the more committed skaters and BMX bikers in the

park appeared to need no such encouragement. Committed

skaters rarely stop skating for the duration of their time

spent at the park. When they did it was usually brief. This

led us to believe that it is possible that many of the

social non-skating skaters feel the need to validate their

presence at the park whenever new skaters arrive.

The Parking-Lot Crowd

The parking lot is attractive to the skate-park crowd

presumably because the activities that take place there

speak to the rebellious attitude that formed the basis for

many of the early skating/biking pioneer’s appeal. What can

be concluded from the fact that the city designated, built

and paid for this space specifically for the use of

skateboarders and bmx bikers and thereby legitimize such

activities. However, an alternative explanation for the

supposed extension of legitimacy is that while extended as

it may be, it is legitimacy that is limited to the

geographic area of the park. In this light the skate-park’s

legitimacy could be seen to be as a sort of informal

segregation of a stigmatized group and their activities to a

single area. While subtle, it seems apparent to us that the

authorities in the Fargo/Moorhead community have essentially

taken the rebelliousness out of skateboarding. Because of

this, the skaters/bikers who frequent at the park, whether

they are aware of it or not, cannot be rebellious simply

through the act of skating. We contend that the use and

social meanings ascribed to the activities within the

parking lot have become a necessary venue for the expression

and extension of teenage rebellion that had at one time been

inherent within the act of skating and freestyle biking

itself.

Observable forms of youth rebellion came in the shape

of underage smoking, possible illicit drug use, and

behaviors that could be considered as “disturbing the

peace”, such as yelling, cussing, and playing loud music

from their car stereo systems. These were the central

observations noted of the parking lot crowd that we

correlated to rebellious activity. The parking-lot provides

a multitude of ways for adolescents and young adults to

conveniently and publicly exhibit all forms of youthful

unruliness and social displays meant to (consciously, or

not) communicate some message or shared meaning intended to

bolster one’s own social standing within the group and

garner approval from one’s peer networks.

So who makes up the Parking Lot Crowd? A few of the

members of this crowd were skaters who were old enough to

drive a car (which says that they had economic means and

resources to acquire/own a car. Their cars do not show the

same degree of adherence to the skate-punk aesthetic as is

typically seen with their attire.

One particular individual (male, high-school aged, dark

hair) pulled into the parking lot in a, four-door black

sedan (which we coined the “community car” since it was

there every day during the majority of our observations) was

greeted by a number other individuals. We observed them

exchanging hugs and ritualistic greetings that included

specific handshakes such as the “clinch” and the ever

popular “knuckle bump”. Some of the skaters who pulled up in

cars lingered in the parking lot, but most eventually went

into the park and skated after a few minutes. It was in and

around this “community car” where most observable deviant

behaviors were observed. The owner appeared to allow his car

to be used as a rally point for groups to congregate where

they would often engage in frequent displays of what we

assumed to be underage smoking. While he skated, he would

leave his car wide-open for use by other people affiliated

of both the skating and non-skating varieties. For instance

another individual went into the passenger side of an SUV

while a young girl earlier seen in the bleachers sat in the

driver seat. She dressed in skinny jeans, had dark hair down

to her shoulders, and was high-school aged (approximately 16

to 17). Interestingly enough, instead of blasting punk-rock,

rap music was being played (a song by rapper Eminem was

recognizable). What went on in the car is unknown and many

conclusions could be drawn, however, there is no

substantiated evidence of any wrongdoings. What can be drawn

from this is that they often use cars as semi-private

spaces. Using their vehicles for such a purpose likely

arouses suspicion from adults and other authority figures in

other more supervised environments but here it is just

another part of the subtle and complex social landscape to

be found here.

The Allure of the Unsupervised Setting

The specific appeal of the skate-park as a setting for

the act of skating and biking is obvious since it is a place

built for the sole purpose of skating. We consider the use

of the skate-park as a social setting to be equally (if not

more) important than the actual act of skateboarding, at

least for our interests; from our observations it seems

reasonable to conclude that the lack of adult supervision is

likely it’s most powerful social draw. The rebellious

aesthetic was one that that existed within all observed

groups at the skate-park. The predominance of such attire

(in many minds) is inextricably linked with youth who are

often getting into trouble or believed to have a propensity

for delinquency (which we would consider to be the

definition of rebellious, more or less).

This type of adolescent likely comes to see the skate

park as a social space, and largely as a place in which they

are less likely to get into trouble or be punished by

formally recognized authority for breaking the rules or

violating the law. This was evidenced by the fact that many

of the behaviors that were commonly observed among the

adolescents at the skate-park were such that would

ordinarily get them into trouble in setting that was more

supervised and/or scrutinized. This was especially so in the

case of underage smoking, and the apparent consumption of

other (possibly illicit) substances.

It seems unlikely that these activities would be

prevalent in the open in an area under vigilant adult

supervision. This indicates to us that many of the

individuals who engage in this sort of behavior would most

likely just seek another place to go if the park didn’t

exist or didn’t safely facilitate such activities. Insofar

as many of the behaviors common in the skate-park social

scene are only possible in the absence of supervision, it

appears to us as a reasonable conclusion that the overall

lack of adult supervision is one of the park’s greatest

appeals to adolescents.

Discussion & Limitations

While we feel that we were able to offer a valid

description of our observations at the Dike-West Skate-Park,

first and foremost we would like to be clear in our

recognition that the findings in this report are based on a

mere five days of observation. Also, most observations were

not during the park’s most busy periods. This was likely as

a result of the rapidly cooling Fall weather. Observations

were also limited to the late afternoon and early evening;

it is certainly possible that the skate park is a very

different place during the day. Ideally we would have had a

longer observation period with more varied times. The

unobtrusive observation format we used for this report was

restrictive in the sense that not only were we unable to

overhear many of the conversations that we saw occurring- we

also were unable to discuss what we saw with members of the

skate-park scene to hear their interpretations of what was

happening in and around the park and their perceptions of

our own observations. While this was somewhat remedied by

researcher Justin Nistler’s role as an insider and member of

the skate-park’s subculture- we still faced limitations on

what and how much we can infer from what we observed with an

adequate degree of validity. This report is also specific to

the groups of people we observed skate-park during the times

we were able to observe, what we have found is not

necessarily applicable to other locations or times. We would

also like to note that our relative inexperience in the

realm of sociological and unobtrusive observation led us to

fumble somewhat regarding our measures and observational

standards, which will hopefully be ameliorated in subsequent

research attempts.

Suggestions for Future Studies

Further investigation of this setting should be

directed to include a deeper & more thorough observation

regarding both the activities of the skate-park girls and

those of the parking-lot crowd. These groups are both

removed from skating and as a result there is probably more

to observe regarding their presence and intentions at the

park than we were able to observe in the course of these

observations.

CONCLUSION

Our observations of the Dike-West Skate-Park in Fargo, ND

definitely proved to be an interesting social situation

where we were able to unobtrusively observe the activities

of the various social groups that frequent the facility. As

an unsupervised environment, it lends itself as a popular

place for teens to congregate and interact in a rare place

that isn’t under the watchful eye of formal or informal

forms of authority. The tension that exists between the

symbolic legitimacy that the act of a city building such a

facility bestows upon the activities that had been

previously considered illegitimate by authorities, and the

visible expressions of rebellion seen among the park’s

adolescent patrons was interesting to behold. One only hopes

that our observations and subsequent descriptions of what we

saw provide one the degree of insight that we were able to

gain about this place and time.