Status Deprivation
Cohen argued that status was a valued social commodity that everyone in society was socialised to want. However, for some people, status was effectively denied because they could not achieve it through socially-approved means (through such cultural values as educational achievement, high-status work and so forth).
The main group identified by Cohen who suffered the most from status deprivation was young, working-class, males. To satisfy the socially-created desire for status, he argued, this group were most likely to develop alternative, subcultural, means.
In basic terms, therefore, these subcultural groups arose among young males as a reaction against their being denied status within the education system.
For Cohen, therefore, these types of subcultural groups satisfied two main needs:
a. The personal needs of their members because they represent an alternative social setting for status achievement.
b. Social or collective needs because they provide a means for both coping with and getting back at society (as represented by those in authority).