The cultural diffussion of punk rock in the United States

Abstract

Abstract A sample survey of the audience awaiting admission to the first U.S. performance of the British punk rock group, The Sex Pistols, was conducted in Atlanta, Georgia. A self‐administrable questionnaire was employed, designed to generate comparisions between the audience sample and the NORC subsample of similar age range Southeasterners. The audience sample was revealed to be significantly: higher in socioeconomic status; more politically liberal; less traditional in orientations toward religion, sex, and the work ethic; less content with work and with life situation; and, less supportive of violence in dealing with criminals, more favorable toward gun control, and less likely to own a gun. A within‐audience sample dichotomy between “punkers” (punk rock fans) and “others” was created and comparisons regarding the same dimensions were rendered. “Punkers” were found to be significantly less likely than “others” to indicate that hard work is the most important factor in “getting ahead.” However, “punke...