1b) Sub-cultural groups offer a safe haven from the dangers of being an individual

A subcultural group is a group of people who share similar aspects if their identity and life, within the western culture. For example Goth’s would wear mainly black clothing with certain types of accessories with things such as skulls on. This creates a big signifier as people internally and externally in the group would recognise what type of sub-culture they belong to.

People may join certain sub-cultural groups as they feel a sense of security and similarity for themselves and between other group members. For example if a person was a member of a fandom they may choose to create an online profile on sites such as instagram, where they only post things about the fandom rather than themselves. The person may not even use their real name as they don’t feel safe being an individual within society, so they use a persona as this helps to build their self-esteem. By creating this online profile they are able to gain positive comments on the things they are posting as everyone following will most likely be part of the fandom therefor will not judge. The communication is vital between fandoms as it is what holds it together, communication nearly always happen virtually. So if a person is unable to socialise first hand they will feel safe communicating in the fandom as they are able to talk to others without seeing reactions. Also, being part of a fandom means you gain power. For example if enough people in a certain fandom such as the directioners didn’t want Harry to date someone they would almost certainly be able to pull the relationship apart. This helps to give a person a sense of security as they may feel powerless as an individual but when they are in a group it is almost as if the group is backing them up and supporting their points of view.

If a person joins a subcultural group it may be because they have found security in which they cannot find by being an individual. Gration, Reilly and Titford would say this is because the person is becoming part of a group as the have needs for social support and the needs to make social contact. Being part of a group helps to give someone a positive outlook about having someone to support and stick up for them. It helps for individuals to see that there are people who see the individual as an important part of their social group and they feel like they need to help them through tough times. These groups will have a bigger secondary group including a couple of little primary groups within the bigger chosen group. An individual may feel like they are in a safe haven within a group due to the fact they have been granted exclusivity to a group, which other people have not been allowed access to.