A Sociological Analysis Of The Survivalist Culture

A Sociological Analysis of Survivalism I. Introduction A. The survivalist culture is an intriguing American subculture whose main focus is to prepare for a tragedy such as the apocalypse or nuclear warfare. The concept of survivalism came about after the devastation from World War II, as well as the Cold war and the conflict between Korea and Vietnam (Crawford, 2017). These events began to spark interest in preparing for many types of disasters (Crawford, 2017). Over the years, the concept of survivalism developed to oppose the increase in society’s complexity (Crawford, 2017). B. The main reason I am interested in this particular subculture is because I think their way of life is highly interesting. A while ago, I did research on†¦show more content†¦(Crawford, 2017). These beliefs differ from the mainstream culture because most individuals are not worried about what will happen if society breaks down. Also, a lot of people in the mainstream society depend on other people and are not concerned with the idea of being self-reliant. B. Values a. â€Å"Values are general, shared conceptions of what is good, right, appropriate, worthwhile, and important with regard to conduct, appearance, and states of being (Ferrante, 2015, p. 49).† The values present in the survivalist subculture include protection from harm, security, and being prepared for the unknown. (Walsh, Vindici, Itz, Collins, n.d.). These values differ from mainstream culture because mainstream culture usually does not concern itself with prepping for the unknown. C. Norms a. â€Å"Norms are written and unwritten rules that specify behaviors appropriate and inappropriate to a particular social situation (Ferrante, 2015, p. 50).† There are two types of norms; folkways and mores. â€Å"Folkways are norms that apply to the mundane aspects or details of daily life (Ferrante, 2015, p. 50).† The folkways included in survivalism involve moving to Idaho, attaining a swimming pool fish farm, and developing a grasp on the language that the survivalists use (Walsh, Vandici, Itz, Collins, n.d.). â€Å"Mores are norms that people define as critical to the well-being of a group. Violation of mores can result in severe forms