Abstract
This paper looks at how family members and close associates accommodate persons who have not, and may never, be defined as mentally ill. Drawing upon a collection of student reports about troublemakers, I analyze the vernacular terms used by members of organizations to define the ambiguous moral status of the troublemakers, and describe the methods which members used to limit and manage the troublemakers' interactional possibilities. I conclude by discussing how such practices result in the social construction of behaviors and impresions normally attributed to individual responsibility.

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