Subcultures are cultural group within the larger society whose norms and values are different from those of the mainstream and they are kept by the group within the wider society. A subculture that is deviant is a subculture that has norms and values that differ significantly from the mainstream in a society. When a community’s structure or a neighborhood’s structure favors criminality or misconduct, a criminal subculture is most likely to develop. Similarly, when a community’s structure or neighborhood’s structure favors corruption, a corruption subculture is likely to develop.
One example of a deviant subculture is cyberbullying. The advancement of computer technology has provided endless access to information, communication, and entertainment. The youth and children are among the first to comprehend, appreciate and embrace the wide variety of the internet. There are two ways in which we can define cyberbullying. One of the ways is: Bullying others inside, within the Internet or cyberspace itself. This is a more unescapable and less unspoken in terms of the real-world consequences. The second way is: The use of the computer technology as an instrument or tool to bully others in the real world. This includes, e-mailing or text messaging threats, distributing unattractive video footages or images, and communicating harmful information by use of technology. Cyberbullying can also be described as harassing, embarrassing, or threatening another person using technology. This kind of bullying mostly occurs among young people, but when an adult is involved, it may be termed as cyber-harassment. This is a crime that has legal consequences that could lead to extensive time is jails or prisons.
The media portrays this subculture in many different ways. Cyberbullying is widely studied and researched. Despite the fact that there has been a great amount of research done concerning the cyber bullying subculture, research examining how cyberbullying is portrayed by mainstream media is all over the place. A comprehension of this subcultural is important since the news media is an important source of public opinions about a huge range of subjects in the society. The goal of the contemporary research is to give a qualitative and quantitative understanding of the ways in which newspaper articles as well as journalists on tv discuss the phenomenon of cyber-bullying. Cyberbullying is portrayed as a social problem and not a technological problem in the mainstream media. The growth in the awareness of cyberbullying has resulted to a predictable desire among the media, policymakers and activists. There is always a natural feeling and a do something response in reaction to the cyberbullying tragedy. This response is very comprehensible and understandable, it rarely produces efficient and effective legislation, and has the unsuccessful consequence of jurisdictive duplication since it is often formed in an atmosphere that is highly politically charged, it can create some unintended and unfortunate consequences.
A case study is done about a young boy caked Henry, a new student at that particular school. Henry had arrived at school from out of state. One day, he was surfing a social media site and he came across a page of his school that had pictures of some students, including his picture that was labeled “The Fat Nerd.” He was upset, and immediately, he posted a reply to express his concern. Once the conversation began to escalate, students began making loud comments in the hall and as well as on the playground. A concerned tutor overheard what was going on and spoke to Henry on what was going on. Henry described the social media page and what he experienced to the teacher. The matter was then presented to the school administration and the school immediately took the matter up. The students involved in the cyberbullying activity were identified by the help of parents and the page was pulled down. The results of this were made by the administration and parents were also asked to attend in order to be educated on matters concerning cyberbullying and how to stop and prevent it. Though the meetings and the lessons were successful, Henry would still suffer the aftermaths of the cyberbullying. It caused him a lot of embarrassment. It would take Henry a long time to regain his confidence. This case study therefore is an active representation of the cyberbullying subculture that is rampant in schools and educational institutions and in the society at large.
Our society’s structure favors cyberbullying in a way, and as a result, a cyberbullying culture has developed. A culture where cyberbullying is only condemned in a political environment and is condemned whenever it is made public by the media. The society sometimes may try to protect victims of cyberbullying but, policies to tackle cyberbullying can frequently come in conflict with other human rights. An example is the right to free expression. This is where people can freely speak, write and other forms of communication. Freedom of speech is important when it comes to cyberbullying, but it still comes with certain stipulations. It is key to the effectiveness of democracy and to the human moral autonomy.
A deviant behavior contradicts the dominant norms of the society. There are several different theories that explain the portrayal of deviance. Some of the theories that explain deviance is the structural strain theory that traces the origins of deviance to the tensions caused by the gap between cultural goals and the means available for people to achieve the goals, Labelling theory, Social control theory that suggests that deviance arises when the attachment of a person or a group to social bonds is weakened. The theory of different associations that focuses on the progressions by which people come to commit criminal acts. The theory of differential association is the most applicable in this case. This theory is a learning theory that emphases on the processes by which people end up committing deviant acts. According to this theory that was, created by Edwin H. Sutherland, criminal behavior is learned through relations and interactions with other people. Through this communication and interaction, people learn the attitudes, values, techniques, and motives for criminal behavior. This theory emphasizes the association people have with their nobles and others in their surroundings. Those who interact/associate with delinquents eventually learn to value deviance and the more the interaction duration, and frequency, the more likely it is for them to become deviant.
Cyber bullying is a deviant substructure that is growing in the modern society since technology is also growing, and many people are becoming interested in social media sites. This crime has adverse effects on affected individuals and may cause depression to the victims or even suicide. There are several examples that have been discussed in other journals whereby victims of cyber harassment and cyber bullying end up committing suicide due to embarrassment and the long-lasting effects of these actions. Laws have been enforced to help deal with the deviance, though it has not been so successful since the policies that are made in order to tackle cyberbullying frequently come in conflict with other human rights, for example the right to free expression and the freedom of speech which is key to the effectiveness of democracy and to the human moral autonomy.