Oppositional culture is a term that describes subcultures who consciously reject mainstream values and norms. The term is most often used by sociologists who study education

Sociology of education

The sociology of education is the study of how public institutions and individual experiences affect education and its outcomes. It is most concerned with the public schooling systems of modern industrial societies, including the expansion of higher, further, adult, and continuing...

, such as John Ogbu.

This body of research has noted that many black adolescents devalue academic striving, and pejoratively equate achievement with "acting white

Acting white

In the United States, acting white is a pejorative term usually applied to African-Americans, which refers to a person's perceived betrayal of their culture by assuming the social expectations of white society. Success in education in particular can be seen as a form of selling out by being...

." However, the term refers to any subculture's rejection of conformity to prevailing norms and values, not just within the educational system. Thus many criminal gangs and religious cults could also be considered oppositional cultures.