Sociological Theories of Crime & Deviance (6)
Marxist Subcultural theory
Some Marxists have focused on working-class 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 dress-codes 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 middle-class 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 working-class 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 middle-class. Jefferson claimed that the
adoption of this dress code showed working-class contempt for the class
system and poked fun at their supposed middle-class ‘social superiors’.
(ii) Skinheads
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