Anti-society

An anti-society is a small, separate community intentionally created within a larger society as an alternative to or resistance of it. For example, Adam Podgórecki studied one anti-society composed of Polish prisoners; Bhaktiprasad Mallik of Sanskrit College studied another composed of criminals in Calcutta.

Anti-languages are developed by these societies as a means to prevent outsiders from understanding their communication, and as a manner of establishing a subculture that meets the needs of their alternative social structure. Anti-languages differ from slang and jargon in that they are used solely among ostracised or rebellious social groups including prisoners, criminals, homosexuals, and teenagers.

History
Janse writes that reform societies get their start with the Second Great Awakening in the early nineteenth century. National evangelical Protestant organizations encouraged the development of local groups to organize Sunday schools, missionary efforts, and Bible study groups. Also among these local groups were anti-vice societies that encouraged the observance of the Sabbath and fought dueling and gambling. Over the 1820s, these groups spread beyond evangelical circles and gradually broke apart into societies organized for specific purposes, including everything from anti-swearing and anti-Masonry to anti-Indian removal and anti-slavery. Also in the mix were temperance groups, which sometimes referred to themselves as anti-intemperance societies.|https://daily.jstor.org/the-rise-of-anti-societies/%