🆕4.3.3 New Classes and Properties

Classes and properties derived from the second level modelling process.

In the second-level modeling, the elemental ontology was refined by aligning it with the PERSPECTIVISATION ontology developed by Aldo Gangemi, with particular attention to the classes Background, Cut, Lens, Eventuality, and Attitude. This phase involved the systematic addition of new classes and properties to the existing ontology structure, allowing for a richer representation of perspectives within subcultures. This level adds a nuanced layer to the ontology, enabling the representation of multiple viewpoints and the dynamic nature of identity and perception within youth subcultures.

By employing punning for viewpoints and attitudes, the authors enable a dual interpretation that allows these elements to function both as abstract classes and as specific instances. This approach provides the ontology with enhanced versatility, facilitating both theoretical analysis and practical application. It supports intensional analysis (theoretical and conceptual) by treating viewpoints and attitudes as classes for generalized reasoning, while also supporting extensional application (real-world instances) by treating them as individuals. This dual treatment enriches the ontology, making it effective for both abstract conceptualization and practical, instance-based use.

Classes

• ExternalViewpoint

  Represents the perspective of individuals who are not participants within a youth subculture. It is disjoint with InternalViewpoint.

• InternalViewpoint

  Represents the self-perception and self-definition of members within a subculture. This includes how individuals within the subculture view themselves and their own identity, as well as how they interpret their place within the subculture.

• Influence

  This class covers various factors affecting the interpretation of a youth subculture. This can include a variety of influences such as media portrayals, influences from social institutions - like family, work, school, home -, personal experiences of individuals, educational level, and cultural trends, all of which contribute to the evolving perceptions of subcultures by both insiders and outsiders. Hall’s Encoding/Decoding theory is integrated into this analysis, allowing us to deconstruct the role of television as a primary source of information on the subject.

• PerspectiveShift

  Represents the interpretation or portrayal of a youth subculture. This can include shifts in societal attitudes, evolving stereotypes, and changes in self-perception within subcultures, reflecting different historical or cultural contexts.

• Stereotype Represents common generalizations about subcultures. It draws from M. Cardwell's definition of a stereotype as "a fixed, often simplistic generalization about a particular group or class of people. [...] These stereotypes are often negative and unflattering, and may underly prejudice and discrimination. Stereotypes may not necessarily be false assumptions about the target group, as they often contain a grain of truth." (Cardwell, 1999). In our ontology, the Stereotype class encapsulates the generalized beliefs and oversimplified notions frequently attributed to members of specific subcultures. These stereotypes reflect societal perceptions and can shape mainstream discourse, influencing how subcultures are understood and portrayed. By capturing these stereotypes, the class facilitates the analysis of misrepresentations and biases that may skew public perception, offering insights into the disparity between societal views of subcultures and their actual characteristics and values.

• PositiveAttitude / NegativeAttitude / NeutralAttitude These classes represent different evaluative stances towards a youth subculture, whether by its members or by outsiders. Depending on whether a particular attitude aligns more closely with the values or stereotypes associated with a subculture, it will take on a positive, negative, or neutral connotation.

  • NegativeAttitude: typically linked to stereotypes.

  • NeutralAttitude: does not strongly align with either as it is more likely a mix of the two.

  • PositiveAttitude: typically linked to moral values.

Properties

• hasViewpoint (People -> InternalViewpoint/ExternalViewpoint)

  Links a person to their internal or external viewpoint regarding a subculture.

  • isViewpointOf: Inverse property identifying the viewpoint associated with a person.

• hasAttitude (People -> NegativeAttitude or NeutralAttitude or PositiveAttitude) This property connects a person to their attitude, which can be positive, negative, or neutral.

  • isAttitudeOf: Inverse property

• influencedBy (NegativeAttitude or NeutralAttitude or PositiveAttitude -> Influence) This property shows the influences affecting an attitude.

  • influences: Inverse property indicating what an attitude affects.

• triggersStereotype (YouthSubculture -> Stereotype)

  This property relates stereotypes to the youth subculture they generalize.

• isCharacterisedBy (ExternalViewpoint/InternalViewpoint -> PerspectiveShift) This property links viewpoints to the perspective shifts they determine. It captures how the views of subcultures, both internally (self-perception) and externally (public perception), are affected by shifts in perspective.

• expressedVia (PositiveAttitude/NegativeAttitude/NeutralAttitude -> Stereotype/MoralValue) The property denotes that attitudes towards a subculture are shaped by stereotypes and values.

  • expresses: Inverse property associating stereotypes and values with the attitudes they express.

• determines (ExternalViewpoint/InternalViewpoint -> NegativeAttitude or NeutralAttitude or PositiveAttitude): This property captures how an external or internal viewpoint can lead to a specific attitude towards a subculture.

• hasPerceptionOf (NotParticipant -> YouthSubculture) Links non-participants to subcultures,

• hasInfluencingFactors (YouthSubculture -> Influence) Connects subcultures to influences

• hasPerspectiveShift (YouthSubculture -> PerspectiveShift ) Relates subcultures to perspective shifts.