Heroes Camp Subculture - Essay Example

 Table of Contents Introduction 3 The Heroes Camp 4 Research Worksheet 5 Annotated Bibliography 8 Introduction The change has been occurring in almost all the aspects of life. It is almost undeniable today that the life style of the humans is exposed to various upcoming trends. It is these trends that take considerable influence in deciding the culture of a place. And it is quite clear from the discussions of the earlier chapters, how important is the culture in shaping the process and the procedure of a place. Also, it can be said without much hesitation that culture is a broad term and therefore, the influence is more of the sub – cultures. Sub – cultures are the part and parcel of one’s life (Gelder & Thornton, “The Sub – Culture Reader”). Heroes Camp has been such a subculture that has considerable influence upon the lives of the deprived children of the South Bend region of Indiana. The management and the officials of the Heroes Camp have been crucial for the purpose of enlightenment of the mind, body and soul of those children and transform their lives for the greater good of the God and society. The Heroes Camp Heroes Camp has been an influential sub - culture for the ‘at – risk’ youth of the region of South Bend of Indiana. The most important aspect of this sub – culture has been that it has been helping the members to get involved in to the long term relationship of love and mutual respect. The present facility of the Heroes Camp has an area of more than 20,000 square feet of area that includes food bank, at least three basket ball courts, kitchen, offices and the laundry area. The further description of the Heroes Camp suggests it to be a, “an organization that trains youth with activities that offer hope, life skills and loving relationships. This outreach has an extraordinary component that specializes in servicing the overlooked and disadvantaged youth who are challenged by life's circumstances. Heroes Camp purposes to provide a solid foundation for the progressive development of spirit, soul and body with an end goal of wholistic growth so that youth have the opportunity to build stable productive lives and become leaders” (Heroes Camp, “History”). The other achievement of the Heroes Camp has been the sense of belief that it can brighten the future of the members and also help them to achieve their destinies. The most important factor for the success and the prosperity of the sub – culture (Heroes Camp) has been the highly experienced and influential management. The ministry is headed by Pat Magley and B J Magley, the co – founders and the directors. The organization was founded by them in 1989 and Pat has been working full – time for the ministry since 1990 as he left his job with Berkheimer. His wife, B J Magley joined Pat Magley in the year of 1992 as she resigned from her position of United Way. The daughter of the Magley couple, Kelly Perri and her husband, Patrick Joseph Perri had been under the charge of the administration. Kelly Perri assisted the research of the sub – culture as she provided valuable time for the ethnographic interview amidst her busy role of being the Director of Fund Development and Expansion. Pastor Tyron Harris has been another key pillar for the sub – culture of the Heroes Camp to flourish. Tyron Harris had been associated with the camp since the year of 1989. He has been most crucial to initiate the strategy of luring the deprived kids through the game of basket ball. Associate Pastor Shawn Henderson was the other person, along with Kelly Perri, who had provided time for the interview. Like Tyron Harris, Henderson was also ordained in the year of 2007. Associate Pastor Shawn Henderson had been a champion of the game of basket ball during his college days and also has been a teacher in his early career. Henderson was involved with the profession of teaching even at the camp (Heroes Camp, “About Us”). Research Worksheet The sub – cultures have age old relationship with Christianity. In many countries, it has been observed that the sub – cultures play an impressive role for the development of the mankind and character building of the society through the ways of God i.e. through Christianity (Bakvis, “Catholic power in the Netherlands”). Even in this case of Heroes Camp, it is observed that the ministry tries to help the deprived children of the area through the path directed by Christianity and assist them in attaining the next higher level of life. The interview that was conducted with two of the leading officials of the Heroes Camp had thorough research in the backdrop. At the outset, the importance of the sub – cultures was studied in due length. It was observed that the analysis of sub – culture is quite important as it helps one to understand the trends of the human behavior that is different from majority of the populace (Prus, “Symbolic interaction and ethnographic research: intersubjectivity and the study of human lived experience”). The book ‘Ethnographic Research: A Reader’ by Taylor focuses on the requirement of ethnographic research and interview for the case of understanding the sub – culture. The qualitative research methods are the best options in understanding of the social sciences like that of sub – cultures. It is only with the ethnographic researches, a social scientist can aim to achieve the same status like that of physical science. (Taylor, “Ethnographic Research: A Reader”). The ethnographic interview process has a certain and definite method. It includes the setting of the problem definition, identification of participants and clarification of settings when the problem occurring time and again and most importantly documentation of the interview process among many other steps (LeCompte & Schensul, “Designing and conducting ethnographic research”). Such steps were followed in the interview and were very helpful for the success of the ethnographic interview. Annotated Bibliography Bakvis, Herman. Catholic power in the Netherlands McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 1981. This book suggests that the Christianity and sub – cultures are co – related and there have been age old relation in between. It helps to understand that the benevolent work of the Heroes Camp through the medium of being ministry is not an exception, rather a common happening. Gelder, K. & Thornton, S. The Sub – Culture Reader Routledge, 1997. The book provides due importance in the understanding of the origins of sub – cultures and the development of sub – cultures all though out the globe. This book has prompted additional research on various aspects of sub – cultures. Heroes Camp, “About Us”. February 23, 2010. Welcome to Heroes Camp. No Date. This particular page of the chosen sub – culture helped to understand the various personalities associated with the Heroes Camp. It also helped to choose the officials for the purpose of interview on the basis of experience and rank. This source helped us to gain deep insight regarding various persons of the organization. Heroes Camp, “History”. February 23, 2010. Welcome to Heroes Camp. No Date. The page of the website of Heroes Camp stresses upon the history of the organization and the real picture of the works and activities into which the organization is involved into. This source has been great help in order to understand the methodology that has been followed at Heroes Camp. LeCompte, Margaret Diane & Schensul, Jean J. Designing and conducting ethnographic research Rowman Altamira, 1999. The book has been tremendous helpful to understand and design the interview process and therefore contributed positively towards the research. Prus, Robert C. Symbolic interaction and ethnographic research: intersubjectivity and the study of human lived experience SUNY Press, 1996. The book by Robert C. Prus concentrates on the importance of the sub – cultures for the ethnographic research. It has provided with the much required knowledge prior to the interview. Taylor, Stephanie. Ethnographic Research: A Reader SAGE, 2002. The book clearly emphasized that it is the ethnographic research that helps the incumbent to understand the social science like that of sub – cultures. Read More