Lecture 7 : Drugs, Culture & Normalisation

Question 1

What does Subcultural Theory focus on?

Answer 1

Understanding a group that is different from the mainstream with its own cultural solutions.

Question 2

How is subculture used in understanding?

Answer 2

‘learned problem solutions’

Question 3

What type of theory is subculture considered to be?

Answer 3

An intermediate theory – not macro, not micro, but between grand narrative and everyday life.

Question 4

Who are the key figures associated with The Chicago School?

Answer 4

Robert Park and Ernest Burgess (1913 onwards).

Question 5

What was the wider context considered by The Chicago School in their studies?

Answer 5

Prohibition

Question 6

What aspects of people’s lives were The Chicago School interested in?

Answer 6

People’s lived experiences, cultural differences, and the subjective meaning of action.

Question 7

What does Strain Theory (Merton) emphasize as a factor in deviance?

Answer 7

Social class, and that any movement away from the set pattern could be labeled as deviant.

Question 8

How was the consumption of illicit substances interpreted by The Chicago School?

Answer 8

expression of the person’s social position in society

Question 9

According to Functionalist sociologists like Cohen, Cloward, and Ohlin, how are young people who refuse to adapt to mainstream norms categorized?

Answer 9

As deviant outsiders.

Question 10

How was the concept of ‘subculture’ used by Functionalist sociologists?

Answer 10

describe ‘bad’ or dysfunctional parts of society including drug use

Question 11

How were drugs perceived in the context of society?

Answer 11

As a threat to the equilibrium of society.

Question 12

What did British Subcultural Theory aim to disentangle?

Answer 12

‘Subculture’ from ‘delinquency’.

Question 13

According to Phil Cohen (1972), what do working-class young people attempt through their subcultural practices?

Answer 13

To resolve ideological contradictions hidden or unresolved in the parent culture

Question 14

To which social class do youth subcultures belong, and from what are they derived?

Answer 14

Working class; derived from the experience of subordination.

Question 15

What is the significance of style in subcultures?

Answer 15

Styles are imbued with hidden meanings within subcultures.

Question 16

What role does resistance play in subcultures?

Answer 16

Subcultures are a form of resistance against dominant forces and offer autonomy for subordinated individuals.

Question 17

What are bricolage and homology in the context of subcultures?

Answer 17

Everyday objects are appropriated for alternative purposes, and there is a consistency to the material practices of subcultural groups.

Question 18

What is Paul Willis’s criticism of subcultural theory?

Answer 18

Questions what subculture is ‘sub’ to and argues there’s a lack of evidence that subcultural norms directly oppose mainstream culture.

Question 19

What is Shane Blackman’s criticism of the concept of subcultural theory?

Answer 19

It risks homogenizing young people.

Question 20

What is Sarah Thornton’s criticism regarding the influence of social class in subcultural theory?

Answer 20

There’s an over-emphasis on social class in determining people’s actions and interactions.

Question 21

What are Neo-Tribes proposed as an alternative to?

Answer 21

Subcultures.

Question 22

What do Post-Subcultural Theories emphasize instead of social class?

Answer 22

Social relations and interactions.

Question 23

What characterizes the fluidity of Neo-Tribes?

Answer 23

Young people tend to move between social groups rather than rigidly belonging to one group or subculture.

Question 24

What does multiplicity mean in the context of Neo-Tribes?

Answer 24

Young people can belong to more than one group and have more than one set of identity characteristics.

Question 25

What aspects are emphasized in Neo-Tribes?

Answer 25

Consumption, choice, lifestyle, and individualism.

Question 26

What do Neo-Tribes offer to young people?

Answer 26

A temporary escape from everyday life and stresses.

Question 27

What are the goals of Neo-Tribes?

Answer 27

Hedonism, pleasure, and passion, rather than responsibility.

Question 28

How are legitimate and illegitimate behaviors defined according to Cultural Criminology?

Answer 28

By powerful social norms.

Question 29

What are the key features of sub-cultural capital according to Thornton?

Answer 29

In-group hierarchies (those who are ‘cool’ and those who aren’t)
Authenticity
Distance from mainstream culture

Question 30

What is the job of a criminologist in Cultural Criminology?

Answer 30

To understand the diverse meanings different people hold about crime and deviance (including drug use).

Question 31

What is the general trend in the use of at least one substance over the five years?

Answer 31

There is an increase in the percentage of people using at least one substance over the five years.

Question 32

What is the general trend in the lifetime prevalence of illicit drug taking over the five years?

Answer 32

There is an increase in the percentage of people who have taken at least one illicit drug over their lifetime.

Question 33

How has drug use changed according to Drug Normalisation Theory?

Answer 33

Drug use is no longer an activity carried out by ‘deviant’ or subcultural groups but has become familiar across youth culture more widely.

Question 34

What has changed about the availability of drugs for young people?

Answer 34

Drugs are more widely available for young people.

Question 35

How does drug use fit into young people’s lives according to Drug Normalisation Theory?

Answer 35

It fits into young people’s leisure activities and sits alongside other non-substance-related hobbies and activities.

Question 36

How has the social acceptability of recreational drug use changed among young people?

Answer 36

It has become more socially acceptable by young people’s standards.

Question 37

Which theories does Drug Normalisation align with more closely?

Answer 37

Post-subcultural theories rather than subcultural theories.

Question 38

What do Measham and Shiner (2009) argue about dismissing social structure?

Answer 38

Dismissing social structure is incorrect; structures may look different but are still there and influence young people.

Question 39

What do Measham and Shiner (2009) say about the emphasis in the theory?

Answer 39

Too much emphasis is placed on rationality and choice.

Question 40

How was the theory used by prohibitionists, according to Measham and Shiner (2009)?

Answer 40

To argue for a more punitive approach to policing drug use, which hadn’t been the authors’ intention.