A subculture is a smaller culture within a wider dominant culture. Subcultures are characterized by their unique values, practices and beliefs. From a sociological perspective, subcultures are an important tool for explaining the behavior of specific social groups. Sociological scholars develop subcultural theory after observing and continually explaining deviance in social settings (Grinnell College, undated). Deviations are a direct result of social problems within a society, causing a subculture to adopt its unique alternative axiological models and ways of life. Thus, as groups proliferated, subcultures emerged in the mid-20th century, with unique characteristics and idiosyncratic behaviors not found in the dominant culture. Subcultures are an important development because they convey a sense of personal identity independent of social beliefs or shared ways of life. Groups of school-age children form what could be called a subculture in a way because they have their own beliefs and beings that have nothing to do with what is taught in school or what is communicated to their parents at home.