Theoretical Take on Moral Panic Created through Subcultural Defiance - Essay Example

Theoretical Take on Moral Panic Created Through Subcultural Defiance Introduction Youth psychology and philosophy have contributed to the general appreciation of the role of youth behavior, relevant social processes and the impact that they have to the entire society. In terms of behavior and expression of the youth way of life, there are distinct social identities and patterns followed by the youth to depict their position in the society in a unique way. The respective expressions identify the youth with the psychological attachment of youthful defiance to conventional culture that is dominant in the existing society. Through youth studies, accommodation of the youth based on the acknowledgment of the personality crisis almost always leaves the radical behaviors unquestioned. However, there is a general agreement that defiance characterizes the subculture established and thriving among the youth. Social studies have been conducted to reveal the mechanisms of formation and sustenance of the apparent radical behavior among the youth, usually classified under subculture studies and theories. To this end, the origins, resilience as well as the eventual death of the subcultures are given many perspectives in an attempt to define the social phenomena featured by youth behavior. As an illustration, engendering of a particular style depicting some form of identity with the group is always explained in many theories. Criminal gangs may also be formed for purses of reputation which also boosts gang identity (Silverman, 2002, p10). This element of the studies reveals the role of behavior in creation, recreation and sustenance specific style and identity. Major Theorists’ Take Gender aspects of culture can be used to describe the defiance that a majority of youth subcultures manifest, usually creating discord from the cultural perspectives of the society. Deviation from generally accepted norms is seen as an insult among the conservative followers of a particular culture, which results in resistance of the radicalism introduced by the youth. Young women under the influence of the subculture hype will for instance defy the generally culturally and morally accepted behavior and norms. The diagnosis of the existence and spread of subcultural identities among the youth was initially left to economics of patterns of consumption behaviors among the youth. Postculturalism and theories explain the mechanism of style established from weird youth consumer behavior that thrives with time amounting to a subculture that the followers identify with. To explain the impact of such phenomena as attachment to certain form of music can be attributed to the creation of a culture among the youth. Street gangs are equally formed and sustained through identity seeking agenda usually fueled by some sort of resistance to conventional and dominant culture (Ferrell, 1995, p26). Major contributions have been made by; Robert Park, Paul Cressey and Milton Cordon among others. Some of the theorists explain the phenomena in various perspectives as illustrated below in the case of Cohen, Hebdige and Willis. i). Phil Cohen Youth subcultures are as a result of regroupings to formulate solutions to commonly shared problems by various youthful individuals experiencing some form of cultural pressure. Cohen reckons that subcultures assist the youths to launch a resistance to pressures of undesirable economic, ideological and conventional dominant cultural expectations on the youth. By tracing the establishment of subcultures from East End of London where the youth launched reactions against the working class mentality, the theorist creates a common identity ground for a particular group of young people (Gelder, 1997, p175). A predominant concept of the existence of two conflicting pressure factors is built in the presentation of subculture thoughts as developed by Cohen. As a result of the acknowledgment of the identity crisis that the youth experiencing such social pressure to warrant reaction in form of sub-culture, Cohen reckons that there are two main forces of confusion that fuel the identity seeking spree. On one hand, freedom from parental care is a common front from all the youth and young adults who feel that the parents need to back off from their personal and private life. To this end, subcultures emerge to facilitate the sense of identity with autonomy from parental surveillance. On the other hand, there is need for the subculture to facilitate the contradictory sense of belonging and identity with the same parental association. Apparently, while there is need to express the demands of autonomy, there is an equal magnitude of drive to retain ties with the parental figure due to the importance of the social role played by parents in their life. ii). Dick Hebdige The most outstanding diagnostic feature of the youth subculture is the presence of a unique style usually demonstrated in some form of uniformity expression such as clothing. Hebdige reckons that the establishment of style as represented through art, language, literature as well as dressing works for the manifestation of the specific subculture (Gelder, 1997, p177). Creativity is a strong element in the creation of a specific youth defiance manifestation where the actual identity sought is captured in the apparent artful expression. Aesthetic touch of every aspect that characterizes the subculture usually carries certain defiant message as generally accepted across the group professing the ideology. The theorist argues that there are all manners of expression of signs of forbidden identity in the aesthetic culture that eventually thrives and becomes a subculture. The captivating element of the aesthetic touch of the identity practices moves the youth who take part in the sustenance of the subculture, usually defying certain tenets of the society as known by the elder generations. To this end, the theorist paints the nature of the youth subcultures as symbolic identity outfits that the youth use to manifest their displeasure with certain social and cultural practices that appear to deny them the explorative freedom that so much desire (Hebdige, 1979, p113). The energy full group of youths therefore follows innovative expressions that they identify with as the most fashionable style of the day, depicting the culture with which they are at war with as old-fashioned and outdated. iii). Paul Willis Alternatively, theories of subculture paint the particular expression of defiance to be an important tool to explore and experiment on the gender superiority. The explanation of the apparent attachment of gender superiority is approached from a clear dichotomy of the differences painted by subcultures between normal and deviant attention. As an illustration, there is a superiority war on masculinity among young men in a subculture where the defiant class and the conservative class are differentiated by the terms lads and earoles (Gelder, 1997, p179). On one hand, the theorist proposes that the radicalism professed by the defiant group results in a rebellion represented by the lads, usually casing trouble for the state policy of schooling. On the other hand, there is the subtle approach from the less violent earoles that don’t pose a threat to state schooling policy. On measure of masculinity expressions championed by the lads, there is increased need for application of subcultural origins of relevant behavior among the young men presented by a particular cohort. Taking note of the same wars among girls and young women caught up in the subculture expression, there is some level of femininity that is manifested in various ways particularly in identity seeking fashion. It does not matter to the subculture professing group on whether there will be reaction from the society which may begin from conflicts with the parents on dressing and other accessories that defy norms. It therefore appears that despite the relatively less explorative nature of girls when compare with boys on subculture aspects, there is deep femininity war that thrives among them. In general, however, there is enough vigor among the young women to amount to subculture thriving and surviving for a considerable duration of time. Origin, Establishment and Sustenance of Subcultures Phil Cohen’s position on the origin and establishment of subculture among the youth, particularly the young working classes is perhaps one of the most celebrated perspectives that subcultural conflicts have today. Earlier studies failed to explain the attachment of youth subcultures with style, which is clearly centrally placed in his postulation. Imaginary transformations of the youth society augur well with the apparent need to link style with the continued innovativeness among the youth as observed by many other theorists. This position coincides well with the explanation sought in this discourse on why young women find themselves embedded on a cultural confrontation through their desired lifestyle dictated by their expressions of autonomy. In a different perspective, it would be naïve to assume that the social changes going through the young women’s expression does not represent some form of communication, whether rebellious or not. A closer look at the origin of the theorists’ explanation of subcultures demonstrates attachment of lifestyles to the dominant expression of a disturbing environment that the youth would rise against in a rather peaceful manner (Muggleton, 2000, p53). It is important to realize that the youth undergo various challenges in the establishment of their identity, which attracts authority when a common channel is applied in a joint rebellion. When compared to the psychological and physiological developments experienced in teenage and adolescent stage of their development, the youth find many obstacles against their complete autonomy which leads to confusion and mixed feelings about confrontation of the stumbling blocks. A little more advancement into the mid-life is usually faced with serious identity crisis that always results in exploration for the correct positioning. In the case of a subculture, the youth find a peaceful way to express their displeasure to the unpleasant systems. There are several variants of youth subcultures in every community. The spirited willingness to continue defiance of social norms is not expressly measurable since subcultures emerge and subside in different versions. To sustain each of the variants depends largely on the nature of the common challenge that the particular youth group is experiencing. It is perhaps more important to understand the setting in which the particular youth are in to project the trajectories of extent to which sustenance effort can reach. Besides, there is need to learn the actual challenges affecting the particular group to estimate the reaction to be forged (Keyes, 2002, p304). Rebellion through art, music and gang life among many other fashionable lifestyles offer solace to the autonomy and identity seeking group of young people. Realization by a few young people that they can associate and feel some sense of identity leads to subscription in form of professing to the respective styles. In view of this discourse, it is apparent that young women will be caught in the middle of these developments and respond to the stylish model of behavior which is almost certainly at cross roads with the traditionally accepted norms. Style in Subcultures As briefly mentioned above, style in a youth subculture may take several forms such as music, dressing, gang forming, slang and dialects among many more. Following the media is also a style among many subcultures, where the stylistic expression is favored in place of political rebellion (Muggleton, 2000, p53). One common thing as most theorists reckon is the use of artistic coining of style expressed through various ways to capture the rebellion. While the dominant culture may be varied among the various youth backgrounds, the problems that they face are by far similar due to the human social attributes (Zdun, 2007, p5). Studies of the style expression reveal that the artistic innovativeness infused in the reaction is equipped to deal with different social challenges that the youth encounter such as racial, economic, class as well as gender factors. Conclusion In ordinary social and cultural settings, there is a spirited fight to conserve the traditionally agreed social order that often rejects new and rapid changes as championed by subcultures. It therefore follows that the section of the society that belongs to more advanced cohorts finds fault and discourages youth subcultures. In view of the extent that the youth is willing to go to defend their common plight, several contestations arise. There is a general feeling that the social order is at risk due to the liberal approach that subcultures manifest, showing no willingness to be parallel with prevailing social order. Youth gangs for instance pose a serious challenge to the social order where delinquent behavior appears to be condoned by the youths professing the ideology of the gang, raising concerns from the rest of the community (Jenks, 2005, p6). In a similar way, girls within the defiant subculture expressing rebellion to tradition and norms are seen to be fighting social order and norms. This environment creates some tension between the two groups on the receiving ends, causing a feeling of moral panic. This implies that as long as there is a subculture in existence, the youth will continue championing for their autonomy which at loggerheads with the social norms. References Ferrell, J, (1995) Culture, Crime and Cultural Criminology, Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular culture, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 25-42 Gelder, K. (1997) The subculture reader. Abingdon, OX: Routledge Publishers Hebdige, D. (1979) Subculture, the meaning of style. London, UK: Methuen & Co. Ltd Jenks, C. (2005) Subculture: the fragmentation of the social. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc. Keyes, C. (2002) Rap Music and Street Consciousness, Canadian Journal of Communication, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 304 Muggleton, D. (2000) Inside subculture: the postmodern meaning of style. New York, NY: Berg Publishers Silverman, D. (2002) Street Crime and Street Culture, [Online] Available from [accessed 5 November 2011] Zdun, S. (2007) Dynamic Strategies to Legitimize Defiant Behavior of Street Culture Youth, Internet Journal of Criminology, [Online] Available from [accessed 5 November 2011] Read More