SUB CULTURES SAMPLE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
1. What is meant by the term ‘youth sub-culture’? A small group of young people
who share the same norms and values, sometimes conflicting with mainstream
culture.
2. Describe two reasons why some males join sub-cultures.
a) Peer pressure – the desire for inclusion and threat of ostracism may
influence some to join sub-cultures
b) Style – the fashion sense and types of clothes worn may draw some young
people to a sub-culture, e.g. Goths
c) Music – the songs and lyrics of a particular genre of music may influence
some to join the sub-culture, e.g. the rebellious musical style of punk or the
depressive nature of some emo music
d) Sense of belonging – some youths may feel alienated from society and
hence join a sub-culture to gain acceptance
e) Safety valve – functionalists argue that sub-cultures may help youngsters to
manage what is often a difficult transition from childhood into adulthood
f) Rebellion – Marxists may argue that some working-class youths join subcultures to resist and protest against the values of capitalism
g) To show their masculinity, e.g. in gangs
3. Explain why sub-cultures are formed. [8]
a) People may want to rebel against the accepted norms and values of society
b) Youth sub-culture; Lack of economic and social opportunities, status
frustration, growing affluence, extended periods in education
c) Creating the opportunity to succeed when normal routes are not available,
e.g. criminal sub-culture/ working class sub-culture
d) Religious/ethnic minority sub-cultures-based on common values and
beliefs-may be linked to immigration, lack of economic opportunity, failure
to assimilate with the main stream culture/sub-culture
e) Influence of popular culture, including social media
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4. Explain why belonging to a youth sub-culture may have a negative impact on
the individual.
a) Crime – peers within a close-knit gang may be subjected to peer pressure
within a sub-culture to commit crimes e.g. as part of an initiation or to
prove their masculinity;
b) Drug taking – some youth may follow their role models within a subculture
and begin to take, and then possibly, deal drugs e.g. Hippies;
c) Anti-school sub-culture – some young people drift into these subcultures as
a result of status frustration or social exclusion with catastrophic effects on
their educational attainment and ensuing life chances;
d) Deviance – some sub-cultures follow norms and values that are antithetical
to mainstream culture, thus involving them in social deviance e.g. punk
appearance and behaviours like swearing and spitting;
e) Delinquency – joining a local gang may inevitably lead to anti-social
behaviours such as graffiti, vandalism and criminal damage in a certain area
or estate;
f) Tension with parents/authority – young people who join sub-cultures often
clash with parents in terms of their newly found norms and values (of
appearance and behaviour) which can result in family rifts and breakup e.g.
Hippies;
g) Membership of certain sub-cultures may bring with it the automatic threat
of sanctions e.g. feminists like McRobbie argue that girls may join a
‘bedroom subculture’ as a respite and quasi5. Explain why some young people join subcultures.
a) young people are influenced by the culture of society but form subcultures
to reject or rebel against aspects of it e.g. Hippies rejected the sexual norms
of the 1950s and early 60s;
b) young people can feel compelled to join sub-cultures through peer pressure
e.g. joining an anti-school sub-culture or gang;
c) young people can be influenced by media reporting of sub-cultures and this
may encourage them to join a sub-culture as it brings status, kudos and
‘coolness’;
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d) functionalists suggest sub-cultures act as a safety valve as young people
navigate the difficult period of adolescence, so they seek peer support as
they experiment and seek to establish their own identity;
e) sub-cultures offer a sense of autonomy and separateness from
parents/school and this can reinforce a sense of identity during the teen
years;
f) joining a sub-culture can be seen as a functional response by those young
people who have low academic achievement or face unemployment – such
young people’s reaction may be seen as a rational choice given their
background and poor prospects;
g) Marxists would argue youth sub-cultures are a form of rebellion against
capitalist society e.g. Skinheads adopting an exaggerated sense of working
class masculinity;
h) Cohen argued young people joined the skinhead sub-culture to defend
their community from change in terms of immigration and the loss of
manual jobs;
i) McRobbie argued teenage girls created a bedroom culture that offered a
space away from parents and boys in which young girls could gossip about
boys, experiment with make up, alcohol etc.;
j) postmodernists would argue young people join sub-cultures for fun and
thrills e.g. some may enjoy the music or lifestyle attached without
subscribing to any controversial sub-cultural norms and values;
6. To what extent is the existence of sub-culture evidence of non-conformity in
society? [15]
a) Lack of assimilation
a) Teenage Sub-cultures linked to
consumerism
b) Criminal sub-cultures
b) Shared values like need to succeed
(Cohen), respect and status
c) Religious radicalisation
d) Gang culture
c) Membership of a sub-culture may
only be a phase for the individual e.g.
‘sub-cultures are where people have a
different set of norms and values to
e) Rebellion/resistance
f) Anti-authority
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g) Holding on to one’s identity
everyone else and don’t want to fit in
with everyone else because they are
being rebellious.’ accurate and frequent
use of sociological terms and concepts.
Answers will be well.
7 . To what extent do sub-cultures lead to conflict in society?
a) Anti-school sub-cultures
a) Universal values
b) Deviant sub-culture
b) Don’t have power to cause conflict
c) Drug culture
c) Functionalist argument e.g. just a
period of letting off steam/rebellion
d) Culture of poverty
d) Sub-cultures fit within the
mainstream consensus and are little
more than an expression of style and
personal choice
e) Youth sub-cultures e.g. mods and
rockers
f) Benefit culture
g) Working class subculture
h) Ethnic subcultures
i) Religious sub-cultures
j) Gang culture
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