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Sociology Factsheet
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Number 32
Youth Subcultures
This Factsheet will be useful for the topics of youth and crime and deviance on the Sociology specifications.
This Factsheet will explore the reasons behind the development and existence of youth cultures in previous years and the current
variations in contemporary youth subcultures. It will allow you to develop your own argument on how and why the range of youth
subcultures of today have developed.
In other cultures, the transition from
childhood to adulthood is more
clearly marked with no period of
‘youth.’ In some cultures,
individuals may undergo a ‘rite of
passage’ (a social event or
ceremony) to indicate their new
status.
Youth can be difficult to define but the Concise Oxford
Dictionary defines it as:
”the state of being young, the period between childhood and
adult age” It is therefore seen as a period of transition between
childhood and adulthood. In contemporary Britain, youth is
recognised as an important stage of development in which
individuals begin to leave the dependent and powerless world
of the child and enter the world of the adult. However, it could
be questioned that not all children stop being children at the
same time. Frith describes youth as “not simply an age group,
but the social organisation of an age group” Sociologists of
youth, according to Frith, describe youth culture as “the way of
life shared by young people”.
Youth as a social construction
Sociologists argue that the experience and definition of youth is
socially constructed. Therefore, society constructs the way we
understand and experience youth.
Subculture, as defined in the Concise Oxford Dictionary, is a
‘cultural group within a larger culture often having beliefs or
interests at variance with those of the larger culture’. This would
imply that a subculture is a subdivision of a national culture.
Empirical observation carried out by sociologists find that youth
subcultures have a distinct individual style. They have certain
ways of dressing (i.e. shoes, clothing and hairstyles), speaking
(i.e. slang), listening to music and gathering in similar places.
Philip Aries in Centuries of Childhood (1962) argues that ‘youth’ is
a relatively modern concept. He argues that it was only from the mid
17tth century that ‘young people’ started to be seen as both
dependent on adults and as having special characteristics of their
own (e.g. innocence)
These shared activities reflect shared values. Frith states that
“culture is all learned behavior which has been socially acquired”
Key changes during youth
Children had a very different experience of youth in the past.
The concept of the teenager did not emerge until post war Britain
and Victorian children would often be working at the age of 5 in
coal mines, sweeping chimney etc.
We can see evidence of how youth is socially constructed:
•
Through history
•
May leave education and enter employment
•
May become independent of the family
•
Increased status in society
Today, British society places a high value on childhood and
protects children through various laws.
•
May become involved in adult activities, such as drinking,
driving a car
•
Cross culturally
Depending upon the culture we belong to childhood is also
experienced in different ways. Many societies have ‘coming of
age’ (rites of passage) ceremonies for their young; in some the
child becomes an adult overnight. In contrast the transition from
child to adult contemporary western society is more prolonged.
However, it is difficult to identify when youth begins and ends.
In Britain, we can get married at 16 with parental consent, we can
drive a car at 17 but drink alcohol and vote at 18.
Some researchers suggest that children in Britain are growing up
more quickly in terms of their attitudes and expectations e.g. attitudes
to fashion. Equally, young people may continue to be partially
dependent on their parents into their twenties. It is not precise
when youth begins and ends and therefore the stage of youth
seems to be getting longer.
Our 16th, 18th and 21st birthdays are all significant in allowing
various adult responsibilities and rights.
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Sociology Factsheet
32. Youth Subcultures
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History of Youth Subcultures
Prior to World War II, young people in Western culture had little
freedom or influence. The concept of the teenager emerged in post
war Britain and has its origins in America. Some reasons for the
emergence of the teenager are:
• The post war baby boom – after the war soldiers returned home
and started families
•
•
However, this fails to explain the behaviour of all teenagers. Why,
for example, do some conform whilst others rebel?
As a result of these changes there many different youth subcultures
have developed
Exam Hint: it is a good idea to show an understanding of the
history of youth cultures with an explanation of why they have
developed
Affluence and women in work – the general standards of living
were rising including pay. More women also began to work and
giving many families a dual income. Consequently, young people
were not expected to give all of their working wages to their
parents and had disposable income for the first time. This meant
they could spend money on having fun and being young before
they had to take on greater responsibilities.
The 90’s and the subcultures of today cannot be described as the
same as the 60’s or 70’s or even the 80’s.
The Increase of Youth Subcultures
However, Abel-Smith and Townsend in ‘The Poor and the
Poorest’ (1965) suggest that the idea of a general affluence
amongst all sections of society in Britain was largely a myth.
A number of factors account for the increase in the number of
subcultures in society today
Rise of consumer culture – Throughout the 1950s, the growing
numbers of young people began to influence music, television
and cinema, spurring the explosion of rock and roll in the late
1950s and a full blown youth culture in the mid 1960s, partly in
the form of subculltures such as mods, rockers and hippies. As
teenagers created their own identity and their expendable income
increased, marketing companies focused their efforts on them.
A. The Size of the Society
Charles Kraft in Anthropology for Christian Witness says: “larger
societies will also develop more subgroupings. These subgroupings
are usually referred to as subcultures.”
B. The Rate of Change in the Society
In societies with a slow pace of social change the transition to
adulthood goes smoothly and youth are similar to their parents.
There is a unity and a solidarity between the coming generation
and the generation of parents. In societies undergoing rapid social
change, a smooth transition to adulthood is no longer possible and
there is a strong dissimilarity with parent generations. Here an
individual cannot rely on their parents identity patterns as they no
longer fit into the social context. Because youth realise that they
cannot learn from past experiences, they search for new identities
that are relevant. In fact, the greater the change in a society the
more intense and stronger the subcultures as people identify more
with their subculture in order to find identity and security.
The tastes of young people began to drive fashion, music, films
and literature. Companies adapted to this by devising marketing
strategies, creating magazines such as NME and eventually their
own TV channel, MTV. Soon a mass of fashion stores, coffee
houses, discos, music and other commodities rose, all targeting
the affluent teenager. Through advertising, they promised a new,
exciting world for young people – that could be experienced
through the consumption of their products and services. The
growth of capitalist culture and leisure industries has meant
that all young people have access to the cultural resources
they need to engage in ‘symbolic creativity’ in their leisure time.
Therefore, the media and consumer industries played a large
part in creating an identity for teenagers.
•
Independence – young people also started to get married later,
move out of their family home before they married, and due to
the introduction of contraception, have pre-marital sex.
•
Range of styles available - Willis argues that the age of
spectacular subcultures are gone for good. This is because there
are so many style and taste cultures which offer young people
different ways of expressing their identity. He claims that there
is too much diversity for any single youth subculture to
dominate society.
•
Extension of Education - The creation of youth cultures was
accelerated by the introduction of public money for schools. In
1875, the Supreme Court made a decision that public money
could be used to fund school education. This meant that
adolescents and children were gathering together daily, creasting
their own identities and culture
C. The Globalisation of the Society
The rate at which cultural objects and ideas are transmitted in large
parts of the world today is a significant factor in the number of
youth subculture groups that are identified. Where a society is
connected through communication technology, they experience
simultaneous pressures to unity and fragmentation.
D. The Position of Youth in the Society
People who are marginalised or deprived make their sense of loss
known as they resist the dominant culture. Where youth are
connected to the centre of the dominant culture they do not need to
rebel or form counter-cultural groups.
E. The Generational Size in the Society
The size of a generation impacts on youth subcultures because the
overall age structure within a society influences the social,
economical and political make up of age groups. When the number
of youth entering the market place drops, then youth as a portion of
the total labour force also falls. This decline in youth as a market
force, both as consumers and producers will significantly alter the
social and political visibility of youth.
The extension of education to 14/16 years led to young people
seeing themselves as ‘different’ i.e. going through a ‘special phase’
in their development. This led to the development of specific types
of youth culture that reflected the ‘special importance’ that society
gives to this period in their life.
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Style, enjoyment, excitement, escape from boredom at work or play,
being attractive to ones self have now become central life concerns.
The Features of Youth Subcultures
Looking at various writings on youth culture the following features
are noted (some of which may well overlap): style; language, music,
class, rebellion, gender, art, rebellion, relationship to the dominant
culture, degree of openness to outsiders, urban/rural living, etc.
The following insights were gained from class interaction on youth
subculture groups:
In today’s society there does not seem to one dominant youth
subculture. There seem to be a range of subcultures including,
emos, chavs and goths.
Emo
The term emo originated in the 1980s to describe a
genre of music stemming from the hardcore punk
music scene in Washington D.C. The term has
become broader with time, and now is loosely
understood to mean ‘rock music with emotionallybased lyrics or effect’. Emo is now often used to
refer to a person’s fashion, personality or both, as
well as a musical category. Emo clothing is
characterised by tight jeans on males and females,
long fringes often brushed to one side of their face, dyed black,
straightened hair. Tight t-shirts which often bear the name of rock
bands (or other designer shirts), studded belts and black shoes.
A. Class and Youth Subcultures
It was found that within different socio-economic groups subculture
groups take on different characteristics and are based on different
factors. Within the working class communities youth tend to have
more interaction with parents and therefore don’t seem to rebel as
much against their parents as youth in middle to upper classes.
Youth subcultures in working class communities will show a greater
amount of gang activity, with subculture groups being defined
around gangs in some areas. In middle class areas youth seem to
form their subcultures around interests, such as sports.
B. Music and Youth Subcultures
Most subculture groups could be identified with a specific music
genre and in some instances music was the defining characteristic
around which the group was formed (such as Ravers, Metalheads,
Homeboys, Ethno-hippies, Goths, Technos, Rastas and Punks). In
other subcultures music is a key feature, but another factor would
be the key characteristic, such as with Bladers, Bikers, Skaters,
Surfers, etc.
Chav
This refers to a subculture which originated
from within the working class culture of
England. Chav fashion is derived from
American hip hop (African American) and
Guido (Italian-American) fashions and
stereotypes such as gold jewellery and
designer clothing combined with elements of
working class British street fashion. The
defining features of the chav clothing is the
Burberry pattern (notably a nowdiscontinued baseball cap) and from a variety
of other casual and sportswear brands. Tracksuits, hoodies and
baseball caps are particularly associated with this stereotype. Lauren
Cooper who is played by Catherine Tate in the Catherine Tate show,
is a stereotype of a chav female. They aspire to the latest mobile
phone and other accessories. They tend to have a dislike of goths
and emos as well as other ‘alternative’ subcultures.
C. Family and Youth Subcultures
In working class families, we noted that families tend to have closer
interaction and youth do not seem so intent on being different to
their parents, whereas in other communities youth may deliberately
choose a certain subculture group to reinforce their independence
and even opposition to their parents. In upper-class communities
(or among youth from upper-class homes) youth are given a lot
more disposable income with which to engage in sports, computers,
entertainment, etc. So they are able to engage in a greater diversity
of pursuits - so there are possibly more subculture groups in middle
to upper-class communities.
D. Fashion and Youth Subcultures
Goth
The Goth subculture began in the UK during
the 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an
offshoot of the post-punk genre. Gothic
music encompasses a number of different
styles. Common to all is a tendency towards
a lugubrious mystical sound and outlook.
Styles of dress within the subculture range
from death rock, punk, medieval, some
Victorian style clothing or a combination of
the above, most often with black attire, make up and hair, including
black eyeliner, black fingernails.
Fashion plays a role in all subculture groups and some are more
strongly defined by their fashion, while others take the clothing
that relates to the music or sport to define the subculture group.
Working class youth tend to place greater emphasis on fashion as
it is the one way in which they can show off what they own, whereas
middle class youth have other things to show off, such as homes,
smart cars, fancy sound systems, etc.
Exam Hint: show that you understand how and why youth
subcultures develop and why they are so different.
The Variety of Youth Subcultures
Exam Hint: Use everyday examples to show that you
understand how different youth subcultures have developed
As a result of these factors a number of youth subcultures are
evident today
Youth subcultures in today’s society
Today’s youth subcultures point to an interweaving of style with
gender, class and age which follows a more contemporary outlook
as opposed to some of the classic theories. Under post-modern
conditions, identities appear to be in a constant state of change:
individuals move freely from one sub-cultural group and enthusiasm
to another; they mix and match what were formerly distinct categories
like the 60s bikers.
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Sociology Factsheet
32. Youth Subcultures
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Theories of Youth Subculture
Early studies in youth culture were mainly produced by functionalist sociologists. Functionalists have a
positive view of the structures and systems in society and believe that youth culture has a positive role
to play. Functionalist sociologists Eisentadt believed that youth culture had two key functions:
1. To manage the transition from childhood to adulthood
This transition can be a difficult time and young people can provide a support network to help each other.
Being part of a peer group can help young people become independent from the family and develop a
separate identity. Talcott Parsons saw youth subcultures usually having important positive functions in
easing the transition from childhood to full adult life in marriage and occupational status. It would appear
that the majority of people leave these youth subcultures at some latter point, often at the point of
marriage, therefore Parsons theory could be justified.
2. To help manage the social pressures young people face
This is particularly related to education. Youth culture provides a relaxed world away from the meritocratic education system where
hard work is expected and competition is encouraged. Youth culture does not judge its members on the basis of their qualifications or
ability to do well in school.
Evaluation of Functionalists
•
•
•
Young people are not a homogenous group but have very different identities. It can be argued that there is
no one youth culture in society, but many youth subcultures
Youth is often associated with social disorder, so do functionalists overestimate how positive a role youth
culture has?
Functionalists only look at the functions of youth culture and do not offer any explanation of the meanings
behind it
Marxist theory
These account for some diversity in youth cultures because they focus on class rather than youth as a whole.
Stuart Hall and Tony Jefferson (1993) describe youth subcultures as symbolic or ritualistic attempts to resist the
power of the bourgeoisie by consciously adopting behaviour that appears threatening to society.
Interactionist Theory
Stan Cohen argues youth subcultures are not coherent social groupings that arise spontaneously as a reaction to social forces, but that
the mass media imposes an ideological framework for young people to identify with.
Exam Hint: You can use one theory (e.g. Functionalist) and then use the other theories to evaluate it. This will give you AO1 marks
for the explanation and AO2 marks for the evaluation.
Acknowledgements: This Sociology Factsheet was researched and written by Rosie Owens.
Curriculum Press. Bank House, 105 King Street, Wellington, TF1 1NU. Sociology Factsheets may be copied free of charge by teaching staff or students, provided
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