With these in mind, several studies have recently described the rugby fraternity as a deviant subculture. Extensive participant observation was conducted in a cross-cultural study of the rugby teams in the United Kingdom and North America. One emergent similarity was the highly circumscribed nature of the members' behavior. What at first appeared to be spontaneous deviance on closer inspection revealed itself to be highly ritualized and internally policed. The formal and informal control mechanisms of the rugby subculture will be discussed, focusing on modes of behavior that lend themselves to group acceptance or ostracism. (Publisher abstract)