Conclusion: Fiddling—A Subculture of Business

Abstract

Fiddling is not morally and normatively supported by a contra-culture; one in qualitative opposition to the main themes of society. As I showed in Chapter 3, fiddling is contextually dependent upon the legitimate structure of ‘service’. Further (hinted at in Chapter 4), stealing and dealing are only sensibly distinguished as inventory issues, and (explored in detail in Ditton, 1976a) the full range of ‘part-time’ crimes at Wellbread’s are most realistically considered as an (albeit invisible) part of wages. Fiddling is, then, on these terms, normatively contingent upon a subculture; one developed as a reaction to wider societal values. In this broader sense, fiddling is a subculture of legitimate commerce itself.