Subculture Research Paper

Subcultures are around us everywhere. It’s a group within a larger culture, who have something in common. An example of this would be in ‘Body Ritual among the Nacirema’ which is a story filled with weird perspectives and traditions. Including the charm-box of the household shrine and the medicine men that have an imposing temple, or latispo. Culture is such a strong aspect in people as it determines how a person behaves and does things, which is shown in this book. The Nacirema people are not so far off from us modern day Americans.

A subculture is an offshoot of referential cultural but in essence very different from culture. The term subculture is commonly employed to signify shared systems of common values, norms and interests that distinguish certain people and societies from others. Thus, criminal or delinquent subcultures indicate systems of standards, morals and interests that endorse criminal or delinquent behavior. The numerous activities categorized in law as criminal are related to numerous delinquent subcultures. The standards, morals, or interests of these subcultures might back specific criminal acts, a restricted set of such actions (Anderson 1999). Trained criminals for instance are proud of their craft; manage their profession in order to keep them safe and their business proficient and usually stay away from other criminal involvement that might bring them to legal light. However, not all criminal subcultures that well organized. A number of are merely opportunistic, accepting several kinds of criminal behavior as opportunities come up. Hence specialization is rare in delinquent subcultures.

A subculture is defined as a subdivision of a national or the main culture that has a unique and integrated network. The Deaf subculture has its own network, language, which is the official sign language coupled with shared attitudes and beliefs. The Deaf subculture has many subcultures that are divided by various aspects. Some are divided by racial differences while others are divided by the communication method they use. Vision plays a dominant role in the Deaf subculture. They prefer using the American Sign Language (ASL), which has its own syntax and grammar structures. The language relies on visual gestures, but it is not universal and does not have English word order.

Subculture is a branch off of culture that explains a person view. According to Chapter Three, Culture, and the Culture-Learning Process, authors Cushner, McClelland, and Safford (2009), states “Subculture refers to a social group with shared characteristics that distinguished it in some way for the larger group in which it is embedded” (p. 62). A subculture talks about a group of people that have a different view on culture than the one they grew up with. In “My Life in a Bag” activity during class, I had a rosary bead in there to represent my religion. I grew up in a strong Catholic family that always went to church every Sunday. As I grew up, I realized that religion is important to me, but I didn’t think it was necessary for me to go to church every Sunday when I could talk and pray to God in my own home. I also had a bad experience with the church itself and not my religion. My grandpa was very ill and his one last wish was to go back to his church before his time was up. However, he was divorced and his church did not believe in divorce and considered it to be a sin. They would not let my grandpa back in the church and he was devastated. That changed the way I looked at my religion and realized that I could

The United States has many different cultures and smaller subcultures due to being a melting pot of different peoples of various nations, but with a predominant American culture characterized by clothing brands like Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, with a certain type of clothing like cowboy hats, boots, jeans, etc, along with foods like burgers, fries, and hot dogs. Since America has other cultures due to immigration you may find some that Mexican cuisine Is a part of the Texas culture. Within the United States there are smaller subcultures like bodybuilders, bikers, and the BDSM culture. Bodybuilders are defined by weight lifting, while some of the lifters scream to achieve attention. These group of individuals take appreciation in building the human physique, and display of strength, taking pride in being different from conventional society. Bikers also known as the 1% ers, are a subculture with smaller subcultures within it. They are described as hard individuals who go to dangerous venues, and doing leisurely activates on weekends. The different subcultures of bikers are, manufactured riders, sport riders, reginal riders, and activists. BDSM is a taboo subculture

The Sub-cultural Theory is in reference to a smaller group of people within a larger group. The larger group might be the poverty stricken lower class society, and a sub culture to the larger group might be a smaller group such as the gangs (manly delinquent) that plague or cities and streets.

A culture is the way of life of a particular group of people that is learned and shared. On the other hand subculture is described as the non-dominant group within a society, usually smaller groups as it is not the primary culture. A subculture is created based on an idea such as music, age, location, religion or even lifestyle. The subculture theory of delinquency explains the subculture that exists in society, which contains different value systems than the rest of society. The key element in the subculture theory of delinquency is to achieve an understanding of those who are seen as an outcast or delinquent.

The cultural/subcultural theory centers around how the subcultures try and separate themselves into their own groups, but even though they are not that different from the larger culture, they still have their own differences and unique social norms and do not conflict with the culture they derive from. This theory was formed by Ferracuti and Wolfgang when they analyzed the violence caused mainly by young, city gangsters in poorer areas. Every environment is different, and many theorists have claimed that every environment has their own unique set of norms, structure and values that differ from the larger society’s. The theory also states that in gangs, the youths often use violence as their solution to gain both fear and respect from other gang members and people in their community. From these unconventional norms, it influences other younger people to turn to these norms as well and some of them end up joining gangs in the

According to Siegel (2013) Albert Cohen developed the theory of delinquent subcultures in his classic 1995 book, Delinquent Boys. Cohen believes that the delinquent behavior of lower class youth actually goes against the norms and values of middle-class U. S. culture. These youths experience what he calls status frustration due to social conditions that enable them to achieve success legitimately. As a result of this social conflict the youths join gangs and become involved in behavior that is “nonutilitarian, malicious, and negativistic. This gang subculture possesses a value system directly opposed to that of the larger society. Their norms of society are completely opposite. Their conduct is right by the standards of their subculture

When discussing subcultures it’s important to establish what a subculture is to be able to correctly identify a specific subculture and differentiate it from a main culture. An example of a main culture or parent culture could be the most prominent culture of Great Britain, which would be its development from an island to a civilized prospering democratic country. The main culture that is associated with Britain that separates it from other cultures is that it is seen as a liberal democracy. The main religion associated with British culture would be Christianity, and most people would generalise British culture to be drinking tea, eating scones and having a particular “posh” accent. These small characteristics are what cultures are made of

Discreditable behavior is part of one’s personal identity, which is kept completely separate from their social identity (p. 41). A person’s discreditable behaviors are typically kept private from society due to the fear of being labeled deviant and stigmatized (p. 45). In some cases, subcultures are formed so people can share their common interest in a deviant behavior without fearing judgment. People who are involved in the BDSM subculture share a general rule regarding the concealment of the extra-curricular activities that are expressed within the group. Nobody is supposed to talk about BDSM outside of the subgroup (p. 45). The general population would not accept the idea of BDSM if it was publicly displayed and these individuals would be condemned. People who are discredited have already been caught and labeled as such. The discredited person’s main problem is fitting in with other members of society who do not share the label. HIV sufferers try to live normal lives and avoid judgment by hiding their illness from a society (p. 46).

The term youth subcultures was first made and studied at the University Of Chicago in America (Blackman, 2003) . The school was of the sociological discipline and looked at subcultures as 'deviant ' groups, much of the research was conducted on gangs. The theorists were in disagreement with the picture the mass media had been painting about youth. This picture was of a homogeneous group in which class was not a factor and all youth adhered to one unified culture (Dvarionaite, 2015). Early American theorist of the Chicago school believed class was a leading factor as to why there was social disorganisation. Albert K. Cohen went on further to explain how class created divisions in society. Cohen described subcultures as emerging when, ' a number of actors with similar problems of social adjustment interact with one another and innovate new frames of reference. ' (Gelder and Thornton, pp 13, 1997). Cohen proved this through he 's work with young male delinquent

Some members of delinquent gangs may be the sole carriers of a particular subculture in a particular location, and some are shared. For example conflict subcultures are shared by rival fighting gangs among whom individual and group status involves values related to defense of turf and reputation and norms loyal of these values. Some subcultures oriented to theft and other forms of property crime which they are connected with a particular group. Some property crime involves more organizing and planning in order to succeed. Other crimes such as mugging may involve only one person who shares the same subculture as the larger group. In an article by Terry William’s it states that delinquent subcultures contain elements of both youth and adult cultures. It also stated that to speak of youth culture is to symbolize a subculture of the larger adult-dominated and institutionally defined culture (1989). Many of criminal subculture shares a symbolic relationship with their customs, manly the people

Gang Culture has increasingly become a subculture for many teenage youths. Mainly minority teens, these social outcast are often have no real economic stability and no parental supervision or guidance. As a result, teenagers often rebel and seek comfort in gangs. These gangs provide what is lacking in their lives, a sense of belonging. Minorities are often stereotyped and criticized, especially minorities born into poverty. They are condemned simply because they are not of the same race or of the same class as the majority (often middle class whites). Before these minorities can even prove themselves equal, society already pushes them towards the subculture that has risen out of oppression and rebellion. Gang culture reinforces, and in

The term “subculture” refers to a group of people who have similarities between them, and these similarities distinguish them significantly from other social groups. The similarities do not mean religious or political affiliation. These groups have different beliefs than the main culture and are youth oriented. These subcultures have their own styles of music, ideology,