Where did SE hinton get the idea of outesiders?

S.E. Hinton got the idea for The Outsiders from her own experiences as a teenager in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She was a member of a group of friends who were outsiders, and she wanted to write a book that would capture their experiences. Hinton also drew inspiration from the social and political climate of the 1960s, which was a time of great upheaval and change.