Subcultures, Deviant

Subcultures come in an incredible diversity of forms, associated with street gangs, organized crime families, prison inmates, drug addicts, football hooligans, surfers, religious cults, hippie communes, and punk rockers. On a grander societal scale, subcultures include working‐class and underclass subcultures, racial/ethnic subcultures, immigrant subcultures, regional subcultures, and youth subcultures. Although not all subcultures are deviant, the term subculture is often used to refer to the values and attitudes of deviant groups, and especially deviant groups of juveniles. Therefore, the study of deviant subcultures has traditionally been associated with the sociology of deviance and crime, criminology, and youth social work. But the study of deviant subcultures has expanded well beyond its traditional disciplinary boundaries.