Sociology and Youth Sub-cultures
The Development of Sub-cultures, with particular reference to youth cultures
A Sub-Culture is a smaller culture held by a group of people within the main culture of a society, in some ways different from the dominant culture of a society, but with many aspects in common.
Subcultures come in a diversity of forms, associated with street gangs, prison inmates, drug addicts, football hooligans, religious cults, hippie communes, and punk rockers. On a larger societal scale, subcultures include working-class and underclass subcultures, racial/ethnic subcultures, immigrant subcultures, regional subcultures, and youth subcultures.
Hippie Subculture
The existence of many subcultures is characteristic of complex societies such as the United States. Conflict theorists argue that subcultures often emerge because the dominant society has unsuccessfully attempted to suppress a practice regarded as improper, such as the use of illegal drugs. The impact of subculture within the United States is evident in the celebration of seasonal traditions. December is dominated by the religious and commercial celebration of Christmas holiday – an event well-entrenched in the dominant culture of American society. However, the Jewish subculture observes Hanukkah, African Americans observe the relatively new holiday of Kwanzaa and some atheists join in rituals celebrating the winter Solstice (K.Peterson, 1992). A subculture develops an ‘argot’ or specialized language, which distinguishes it from the wider society. Argot allows ‘insiders’, the members of the subculture, to understand words with special meanings. It also establishes patterns of communication which cannot be understood by ‘outsiders’. Sociologists associated with the interactionist perspective emphasize that language and symbols offer a powerful way for a subculture to maintain its identity. The particular argot of a given subculture provides a feeling of cohesion to the members and contributes to the development of
A Sub-Culture is a smaller culture held by a group of people within the main culture of a society, in some ways different from the dominant culture of a society, but with many aspects in common.
Subcultures come in a diversity of forms, associated with street gangs, prison inmates, drug addicts, football hooligans, religious cults, hippie communes, and punk rockers. On a larger societal scale, subcultures include working-class and underclass subcultures, racial/ethnic subcultures, immigrant subcultures, regional subcultures, and youth subcultures.
Hippie Subculture
The existence of many subcultures is characteristic of complex societies such as the United States. Conflict theorists argue that subcultures often emerge because the dominant society has unsuccessfully attempted to suppress a practice regarded as improper, such as the use of illegal drugs. The impact of subculture within the United States is evident in the celebration of seasonal traditions. December is dominated by the religious and commercial celebration of Christmas holiday – an event well-entrenched in the dominant culture of American society. However, the Jewish subculture observes Hanukkah, African Americans observe the relatively new holiday of Kwanzaa and some atheists join in rituals celebrating the winter Solstice (K.Peterson, 1992). A subculture develops an ‘argot’ or specialized language, which distinguishes it from the wider society. Argot allows ‘insiders’, the members of the subculture, to understand words with special meanings. It also establishes patterns of communication which cannot be understood by ‘outsiders’. Sociologists associated with the interactionist perspective emphasize that language and symbols offer a powerful way for a subculture to maintain its identity. The particular argot of a given subculture provides a feeling of cohesion to the members and contributes to the development of