Year 12 1C EnglishSub-cultures

Dominant CultureThe dominant culture in a society refers to the

established language, religion, behaviour, values, rituals, and social customs. These traits are often the norm for the society as a whole.

The dominant culture is usually but not always in the majority and achieves its dominance by controlling social institutions such as communication, educational institutions, artistic expression, law, political process, and business.

ValuesValues can be defined as broad preferences concerning

appropriate courses of action or outcomes. As such, values reflect a person’s sense of right and wrong or what “ought” to be.

Values tend to influence attitudes and behaviour. For example, if you value equal rights for all and you go to work for an organization that treats its managers much better than it does its workers, you may form the attitude that the company is an unfair place to work.

MainstreamMainstream is, generally, the common current thought of

the majorityAs such, the mainstream includes all popular culture,

typically disseminated by mass media. The opposite of the mainstream are subcultures, countercultures, cult followings

Popular Culture (pop culture)Popular culture (commonly known as pop culture) is the

totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred within the mainstream of a given culture

Sub-cultureIn sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a

subculture is a group of people with a culture (whether distinct or hidden) which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.

Eg EMO, Goth, surfers, bikies, bodybuilders

CountercultureCounterculture (also written counter-culture) is a

sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behaviour of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day

Examples of sub-cultures

How are these groups defined?Values and attitudesClothing and appearanceAgeGenderMusicHobbies/pastimesHang-outsOther?