Subculture
Definition
A group within a larger society that shares a distinctive set of values, norms, symbols, and practices. In criminology, the term usually refers to groups whose shared norms endorse or facilitate behaviour that the wider legal system defines as criminal or deviant.
- Field
- Criminology, sociology
- Definition core
- Group with distinct values, norms, symbols, practices
- Criminological focus
- Norms endorsing behaviour the wider legal system criminalises
- Related theory
- Subcultural theories of crime
Common questions
Is any subculture automatically criminal?+
No. Most subcultures, such as those built around music, fashion, or hobbies, involve no criminal behaviour at all. Criminological interest is specifically in the smaller set of subcultures whose internal norms conflict with, or actively endorse breaking, mainstream legal norms.
How do subcultural theories explain why members commit crime?+
They argue that when a group is denied legitimate means to achieve status or goals valued by wider society, it can develop its own value system that rewards behaviour the dominant culture treats as deviant. Conforming to the subculture's norms then produces conduct that is criminal by the outside legal standard.
Related terms
- Code of the Street
- Elijah Anderson's term for an informal set of rules governing public behaviour in disadvantaged urban areas. The code centres on the display...
- Differential Opportunity
- Cloward and Ohlin's extension of Merton's strain theory: the type of criminal adaptation that people choose depends not only on blocked legitimate...
- Honour Culture
- A cultural context in which personal reputation for toughness or willingness to defend oneself against insults is essential to social standing. Researchers...
- Reaction Formation
- A concept Cohen borrowed from psychology to describe the process by which delinquent subcultures do not merely abandon middle-class values but actively...
- Status Frustration
- Cohen's term for the psychological tension experienced by working-class boys who are measured against middle-class standards in school and find themselves repeatedly...