Sociology - Social Groups and Subculture Analysis Activity Package

Bikers, Hippies, Nerds, oh my!

How are the Amish different from gangsters? How are they similar? What values do they reject and what values do they share? Sociology must grapple with what binds groups together and sets them apart, and your now students can too.

This package is a collection of activities involving the study of human social groups and subcultures, designed to get students to discuss, analyze and think critically about how people interact collectively within society. You can use all of them for a full week of plans, or pick-and-choose to utilize whatever works best with the way you are presenting the material.

Activities include student-centered exercises, such as:
1) the Analysis Chart where students must generate their own examples of social groups, then break down aspects of those group’s subcultural structures;
2) the subcultural diagram where students must analyze the relationship between various subcultures and the mainstream society, generating ideas about shared values and disputed values;
3) the Pairs in Conflict worksheets where students must compare the relative power of competing groups and imagine how social change over time alters those dynamics;
4) the Conflict Chart where students must identify the sources of conflict between groups in tension and discuss the methods of social control that dominant groups use to maintain their status over subordinate groups.

The List of Miscellaneous Social Groups and Subcultures has many examples that will help students understand how to approach the activities and provide material for their use on the worksheets. All of these activities also make great launch-pads for broader whole-class discussions while going over students’ responses as closure.
Also includes helpful Teacher's Guide Sheet.