Case study 2: Graffiti Subcultures

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This piece is taken from an ethnographic study of graffiti writers, located within a review of subcultural studies and with a focus on issues of identity. The extract comes from the book's conclusion. It is of relevance to a number of chapters in our textbook but would be an interesting supplement, for example, to chapters 4 on social divisions and 16 on research methods.

Questions

1. Summarise the argument in this conclusion in no more than 250 words.
2. The author states that 'approaching graffiti from this personal angle helped me paint a human face back into the subcultural picture'. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a personal approach to social phenomena?
3. The extract states that 'Like the army, the Boy Scouts or the sportsworld, this subculture could be viewed as a modern-day 'rite of passage'. What do you understand by this? Give some examples from your own experience.
4. How far do you agree that being human 'means to be creative in the sense of remaking the world for ourselves as we make and find our own place and identity'?
5. The writer is critical of postmodernism's tendency to strip people of their agency. How far would you agree with this critique? Are there any strengths in a postmodern approach to contemporary sociological issues?
6. The writer concludes that it would be important to explore the private sphere of the home to explain fully the phenomenon of the graffiti subculture. What aspects of family life might a sociologist examine in this regard?
7. How important is the class dimension in explaining criminal subcultural activity such as graffiti writing?
8. How far do you agree that 'ethnography may reach the parts other methods cannot'?

   Source: Macdonald, N. (2001) The Graffiti Subculture: youth, masculinity and identity, Basingstoke and New York, Palgrave, pages 229-233.