Youth subculture is seen as an illustration of social change or a barometer of future changes, that is why at the time of social, economic and political changes, youth becomes an object of sociological, cultural and psychological analysis in contemporary society. Understanding youth subculture enables researcher and academics to have an insight of the problem youth are facing in society. Therefore, subculture has relevance in order to understand youth in contemporary British society to understand and reason why a certain event occurs or what is changing in society (Dvarionaite, 2007; Sweetman, 2013).
For example, when unemployment in youth rises, youth subculture helps academics and policy makers to study the structure of youth and what brings about certain changes, to come up with ideas to resolve those changes. subculture may challenge an agreement of the wider society and may be regarded as transgressive or contradictory (Kehily, 2012). Furthermore, it has been argued that subculture offers youth a solution, by helping them to solve a collective they experience.
The concept of subculture is relevant in in understanding the social attitude o of young people. It gives many different ways in which young people can be studied and observed their behaviour in society (Kehily, 2012). Also, it is through subculture that many activities of young people become visible and if it is something that needs attention from the state or if it is something to be dealt with. For example, if there is a drug increase in society, it is through subculture that this problem can be visible to the authorities and resolve it.
In this case subculture become relevant in understanding not only youth, however certain activities that goes on in society that needs attention (Blackman, 2010). According to Kehily, (2012) subculture still has relevance in understanding youth within contemporary society, it also may be a response to changing social and economic relations in society. Sub-cultural activities may be understood as an effort to resolve some of the flaws faced by young people in a particular social circumstances.
Additionally, the way in which subcultures are presented to the media is important to consider when analysing youth in today’s culture. The example of a movie: Green Street hooligans is a film from 2005 by Lexy Alexander taking place in England, among a group of football hooligans titled “you never run, you never leave a friend behind! “. According to Kepkova (2008), the movie was made to prove how not all subcultures are an act of deviance and how it helped to understand the youth in that subculture.
He then claimed that even though the general attitude among the British public towards the hooligans were rather negative, the movie strongly showed the public the good qualities of a subculture which then helped the society to understand youth in that subculture. Critques and discussion For CCCS, subculture was primarily engaged in taking style from mainstream or parent culture and reinterpreting them to signify subculture concerns, that as if they were engaged in semiotic welfare through consumerism. However postsubculture theorists argued that style is unique to each individual and does not necessarily signify anything at all.
According to Debies-Carl, (2013) individual has become difficult to understand because of the multiplicity of meaning, expressed through different style, places of subculture, activity and behaviours engaged in which they are all highly unstable and diverse. In addition, post modernist theorists argued that, youth subculture in the contemporary society can contribute to the understanding of the situation or behaviour of young people who are neither in education, employment or training also with a similar focus on socially excluded young people.
One can argue that, by observing the behaviour of the recent youth subculture, in the contemporary British society, there can be understanding of what bring about that problem in society and find a solution for it (Shildrick and Macdonald 2006; Furlong, 2011). Although most post-subculture theorists argue that, subcultures have turned away from what it used to be to make an understanding of young people. However, other theorists argue that, the subculture has now run its course and it has become superficial and no longer relevant and fails to provide a useful description of young people social experiences.
In addition, some theorists argue that the concept of subculture is still relevant to understand youth practise and their culture which is different from the dominant culture or what is considered to be the norm of society. It helps to know what the youth are experiencing in society and also help make sense of how policy and other things in society affect them. This is mostly done, through youth subculture. (Shildrick and MacDonald, 2006).
Some theorists also suggest that the notion of subculture cannot be applied anymore to describe the culture of today’s youth as the subculture of today is around new consumer choice of lifestyle and individual taste (Dvarionaite, 2007). Conclusion This essay has revisited subculture from the past and how it was relevant in understanding youth then. It then looked at subculture in the contemporary British society and how it is still relevant in understanding youth, by drawing on a few examples to illustrate the answer.
This essay conclude by saying, the conception of subculture may not be applicable anymore to describe the culture of today’s youth, some say, but for subculture been a barometer for future change, a generating force which provides for a sense of belonging and identity, a medium for understanding situations or behaviours of the youth and finding solutions for them, a major constituent in youth legislation or policy, the concept of subculture still have relevance in attempts to understand the youth within contemporary British society.
Although some theorists claim that the concept of subculture has changed from what it used to be in the past. As it has been argued, the way subculture is now in society has shifted from what it used to be, where they were a physical group to represent such subculture. Now you cannot see that group which equal mindset and behaviour like that in society. Nevertheless subculture still has relevance in understanding youth. The concept of Subculture has been an attractive model for explaining and understand youth, individuals and collective behaviours in society.