Sub-cultures and Protest Groups

Sub-cultures

Sub-cultures exist within a larger society and have their own distinct norms and values that deviate from the rest of society.
Members may display different value systems, non-conformist behavior, and different styles of dress and appearance.
Sub-cultures don't conform to many norms and values of the broader society but conform to those of their specific sub-culture.
Often associated with teenagers (youth sub-cultures), forming as a way of expressing individuality and identity during the transition from childhood to adulthood.
Informal social control is used to regulate behavior within the sub-culture (e.g., ostracism).
The existence of sub-cultures suggests that not everyone in a society holds the same values and norms in all circumstances.

There will be dominant norms and values to which members of sub-cultures still conform.
Example: Youth sub-culture members might rebel against fashion norms but still speak the same language and follow the main value system of a country.

A protest group is a type of sub-culture consisting of people who want to bring about a change in society.
In many countries, protest groups campaign for change on issues such as:
- Voting rights
- Poverty
- Human and civil rights
- Environmental issues (climate emergency, biodiversity loss)
- Animal rights
- Wars and the arms trade
- Policing
Some protest groups organize transnationally when issues are not confined to one country.

School Strike for Climate: Associated with Greta Thunberg, involving students in about 150 countries protesting for action to prevent climate change.
Black Lives Matter: Originated in the USA and spread globally, leading to protests and demonstrations in many countries, particularly in 2021.

Adolescence is a difficult period for many young people, who need to develop a sense of autonomy and independence from their parents.
Functionalist perspective: Sub-cultures offer an outlet for people (especially teenagers) to express their emotions and frustrations.
Youth sub-cultures are functional for both individuals and society as a whole.
Strong peer groups of young people may have norms and values different to some extent from those of the rest of society.
Young people can experiment with their identities and styles, and even participate in reckless behavior, without any serious consequences before they settle down to have families of their own.
The term youth sub-culture is mainly associated with groups of young people who adopt a style and culture that is partly at odds with the main culture of a society.

Members of a deviant sub-culture reject or rebel against cultural aspects of society.

Joining a youth sub-culture can be functional for young people whose route to success seems to be blocked (e.g., not doing well at school or cannot find a job).
The sub-culture gives them a group in which they can win status and respect, providing an alternative opportunity structure.
Members may start with the same values as everyone else but develop their own values and norms because they cannot achieve their goals by socially acceptable means.
Most people belong to youth sub-cultures for a limited period only, leaving due to employment, marriage, and adult responsibilities, and readopting mainstream norms and values.

Neo-Marxists who studied youth sub-cultures from the 1960s and 1970s felt they were ways for working-class youths to resist the social control of society based on their social class position.
Example: In the 1960s, working-class youths had few opportunities to progress in education and may have become mods, who dressed in designer suits as a way of showing that they were just as good as their middle-class peers.
This approach differs from the functionalist one because it is focused on young people's place in the economic system and class structure, not the transition from childhood to adulthood.
Neo-Marxists see youth sub-cultures as revealing the deep conflicts within society.

Although youth sub-cultures attract a lot of media and sociological attention, most young people never belong to any of these sub-cultures.
Some writers suggest that youth sub-cultures are now little more than fashion, created by the mass media and marketing, and their values have little depth.
Sub-cultures may have begun as real rebellions (as suggested by Marxists) but, over time, they are incorporated into the system.
Example: Early punks rejected fashion by making their own clothing from ripped old clothes, safety pins, and even bin liners, but soon mass-manufactured punk clothing could be bought in fashion shops.

The highly visible sub-cultures identified in the UK in the 1960s and 70s were usually associated more with males than females.
Some feminists suggested that it may have been because girls' behavior was seen as less deviant or threatening and so got less media attention, or because the male sociologists studying these sub-cultures did not see the girls' sub-cultures as relevant or interesting.
Parents also tended to keep greater control over girls than boys.
Angela McRobbie suggested that there were female sub-cultures but that girls got together in their homes (bedroom sub-culture), not on the streets, and so were less visible.
Youth sub-cultures today are much more mixed in relation to gender, possibly because girls now have greater freedom and because of changing gender roles in society.

The internet and social media platforms have made it much easier for geographically distant people to share their enthusiasms via online communities, forums, and chat rooms.
Online sub-cultures have grown stronger, allowing people to connect and share distinct norms and values, often related to a particular interest or issue.

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