4. A brief literature of a course related topic addressed within two separate books on your reading list

 Subculture
 

I am going to talk about subculture; it is one of the main topics we covered in Sociology. The reason I chose this topic is because of the love I have of culture and my interested in learning or getting to know other cultures apart from my own. Learning different cultures gives us the answers to why people behave the way they do. In my own understanding people's behaviour can reveal a lot about the time period and the culture a person lives in.

"A subculture is a cultural subgroup. They are considered 'opposite from the mainstream culture because of their unique trends. Subcultures are judged by what they look like, what they wear, where they live, their ethnic background and religion. Subcultures have distinctive styles of dress, activity and music. They form when the main stream culture fails to meet the needs of a particular group of people." Macionis, J. and Plummer, K. (2007).

According to Jenk, C.(2004, p) for a subcuture to truly be a subculture the members of the group must have four things which are Commitment, Identity, Distinctiveness and Autonomy." i think what he meant by the above four is
 
 

commitment; The subcultures members must be committed to a degree that influences the pattern of everyday life for the participant involved, accounting for free time, friendship patterns, shopping routines, going-out habits, collections of commodities, and even internet use.

Identity; Members must share a sense of affiliation with group insiders, giving feelings of distinction from outsiders and creating a different perspective from those outside the group
 Distinctiveness;  A set of shared tastes, ideals and values which is distinctive from those of other groups and reasonably consistent within the group.

Autonomy; Independent and self-governing. The act of not relying on mainstream culture to produce what is needed for the group to function and prosper.



Reference

Jenk, C. (2004) Subculture: The Fragmentation of the social culture, Great Britian: Gateshead Press

Marcionis, J. J. and Plumner, K. (2005) Sociology: A Global Introduction, Spain: Pearson Education Ltd.

Williams, P,J. (2011) Subculture Theory, Traditions and Concepts, UK: Polity Press.