SUBCULTURES
HI . I WANT TO USE THIS SITE IN ORDER TO HELP ME WRITE A THESIS PAPER < PLEASE LET ME TO DO SO < THANKS IN ADVANCE his paper primarily examines the meaning of subculture and counterculture as sociologists have used the terms since the mid-twentieth century. This exploration of the terms leads to some of the problems the field of sociology has experienced in clearly defining the meaning of subculture, in clearly setting the parameters between the terms subculture and counterculture, and in avoiding hidden assumptions about these two classifications. The paper uses a study of sociology textbooks to establish a clearer meaning for the two terms, and also shows the contradictions, conflicts, and quandaries that various examples of subcultures and countercultures create. The paper attempts to resolve some of those conflicts by adding an additional criterion for evaluating subcultures and countercultures. Finally, the concept of subculture is further broken down into subcategories so that "youth subcultures" can be examined from two basic viewpoints, that of the traditional and the postmodern views.
Keywords Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS); Counterculture; Ethnic Groups; Neotribe; Postmodernism; Post-Subcultures; Psytrance; Subculture
Subcultures
Overview
Defining Subculture
For more than half a century in sociology, sociologists have been using the terms subculture and counterculture, but during that time some sociologists have pointed out various problems arising from the use of these two terms. First of all, the concept of a subculture must be framed quite broadly so as to include the various ways sociologists have intended the term in their writings. As Honea (2004) observes, "subculture is a term used loosely in social science. At the broadest level, the prefix 'sub' simply implies that these groups are smaller and distinct from the larger culture in some way" (p. 3). This loose usage of the term subculture has subsequently caused
Keywords Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS); Counterculture; Ethnic Groups; Neotribe; Postmodernism; Post-Subcultures; Psytrance; Subculture
Subcultures
Overview
Defining Subculture
For more than half a century in sociology, sociologists have been using the terms subculture and counterculture, but during that time some sociologists have pointed out various problems arising from the use of these two terms. First of all, the concept of a subculture must be framed quite broadly so as to include the various ways sociologists have intended the term in their writings. As Honea (2004) observes, "subculture is a term used loosely in social science. At the broadest level, the prefix 'sub' simply implies that these groups are smaller and distinct from the larger culture in some way" (p. 3). This loose usage of the term subculture has subsequently caused