Download Sociological Theories of Crime & Deviance (6) and more Study notes Sociological Theories in PDF only on Docsity! Sociological Theories of Crime & Deviance (6) Marxist Subcultural theory Some Marxists have focused on workingclass spectacular youth subcultures such as teddy boys (1950s), mods and rockers (1960s), skinheads (1970s), punks (late 1970s) and ravers (1980s/1990s) because these have been defined as deviant by society. They are described as ‘spectacular’ because they were highly visible in terms of their hairstyles and dresscodes and because their actions often ‘shocked’ mainstream society. Marxists have suggested that these youth cultures can be seen as a form of ideological resistance to the dominant adult value system which is shaped by middleclass and capitalist values. The Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) was made up of a number of Marxist writers who produced a type of Marxism known as resistance theory. This argued that youth subcultural styles should be read as a challenge to class inequality and economic changes in society. Marxists using a method called semiotics (the study of signs –things that mean something deeper than they appear to on the surface) to explore how deviant youth subcultures use symbolism to resist an oppressive capitalist system. A number of studies of these youth subcultures were carried out by CCCS sociologists including: (i) Teddy boys Tony Jefferson (1976) researched 1950s Teddy Boys. Teddy boys wore Edwardian style jackets, suede shoes and bootlace ties. He concluded that the bootlace ties were taken from characters in Western films who had to live off their wits the sort of characters workingclass lads aspired to be. The jackets that Teddy boys wore were a subversion of the Edwardian Dandy style which had become popular with the upper middleclass. Jefferson claimed that the adoption of this dress code showed workingclass contempt for the class system and poked fun at their supposed middleclass ‘social superiors’. (ii) Skinheads 1 Phil Cohen (1972) studied early 1970s skinheads. He proposed that the skinhead style was a reaction to the decline of working class communities. He argued that skinheads were trying to recreate working class culture by dressing in granddad shirts, work boots and braces, and by acting in a way that exaggerated masculinity and aggression. Many skinheads took out their aggression on immigrants and Cohen concludes that their racist behaviour was a reaction to how they saw immigration breaking up their exclusively white workingclass neighbourhoods. Cohen argued that skinheads through their dress and behaviour were demonstrating their symbolic resistance to social change and were attempting to magically recreate their workingclass origins. (iii) Punk rockers Dick Hebdige (1979) studied punk rockers, an extreme or spectacular youth subculture which was briefly popular between 19761978. Hebdige looked for the meanings behind the clothes that punks wore. He suggested that Punk was a form of resistance to the dominant cultural values of British society in the late 1970s but that the symbolism and style of punk, was not new. Rather, it involved what he called bricolage, (a concept that describes the way in which cultures reuse ordinary objects or commodities to create new meanings), e.g. punks stuck safety pins in their noses, and used bin liners as a form of clothing. They often combined these with objects from different contexts such as sexual bondage gear and swastikas so creating a new subcultural style. Hebdige argues that punks set out to deliberately shock the establishment and society. However, Hebdige notes that capitalist society quickly adapts to such challenges to its cultural dominance. He notes that punks and other youth subcultures are fairly shortlived because of incorporation capitalism quickly commercializes aspects of youth cultural style, i.e. puts them on sale, and strips them of their ideological significance so that they become just another consumer item. Criticisms of Marxist Subcultural theory 2