Socioeconomic Variations, Values, and Social Participation Among High School Students.

Two contrasting points of view are presented in the sociology of adolescence literature regarding a youth subculture. One view is that the youth subculture is a reflection of the larger society. A second view is that the youth subculture is distinct from the adult society and has separate norms which emphasize fun, popularity, and conformity. The position taken in this paper is that a youth subculture does exist, but it has several different dimensions and is not characterized by conformity in values and behavior. Socio-economic variations, values, social participation, and sexual differences were studied among high school students which support this position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]