Sociology of youth 2

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A quick introduction to classical sociological theories and youth development practice

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Sociology of Youth Studies

Critical Practice

Mini Lecture

Dr Fiona Beals

0 Took notion of anomie further by looking at strain

0 Society defines success (goals and means)

0 Resource & Opportunities differ0 If strain:

0 Conformity +/+0 Innovation +/-0 Ritualism -/+0 Retreatism -/-0 Rebellion -+/-+

Strain - Merton

0 Started with Durkheim – the person is labelled deviant but really they ‘differ’ to the norms established

0 Developed further by Mead who argued that we develop our identity through interactions with others – if we are called a criminal we see ourselves as a criminal

0 The Outsiders – Becker look at ‘dope smokers’. Becker argued that society applies rules onto people and defines deviant behaviour.

0 The labelling of people leads to the deviant using the labelling as a reason for their behaviour

0 Stereotyping and the self-fulfiling prophecy

Labelling - Becker

0 Media, labelling and the reaction to deviance

0 Mods and the Rockers0 Milk Bar Cowboys0 Popular reaction to a challenge

to the social order0 Five stages

0 Concern0 Hostility0 Disproportionality0 Volatility

Moral Panic – Stanley Cohen

Case Study: Columbine

http://www.cagle.com/news/SchoolShooting2005/main.asp

Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold

0 White middle-class ‘normal’ kids0 Both held racist views about blacks0 Both had interests in the occult0 Both had diaries0 Both had negative experiences in the classroom0 Both belonged to a group (The Trench Coat Mafia) …

http://www.cagle.com/news/SchoolShooting2005/main.asp

The Shootings0 Planned for the 19th of April0 Happened on the 20th April0 12 students and one teacher were killed0 Brought immediate responses from the

media and the President

www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/bc42.html

The Media Reaction

0 Shootings were extensively covered for months after the event0 Denver Post had 750 articles on the shootings in the six

months following the incident0 Denver Post won a Pulitzer Prize

0 The media reaction has been analysed in academic articles, web-forums, and movies0 Bowling for Columbine

http://www.cagle.com/news/SchoolShooting2005/main.asp

http://www.cagle.com/news/SchoolShooting2005/main.asp

http://www.cagle.com/news/SchoolShooting2005/main.asp

http://www.cagle.com/news/SchoolShooting2005/main.asp

http://www.cagle.com/news/SchoolShooting2005/main.asp

0 Build on the work of Marx0 Society is built on class divisions0 Progress is the economic

advancement of one class0 There is a play of power0 Capitalism doesn’t benefit everyone

0 Gramsci 0 Hegemony allows for cultural

domination0 The Organic intellectual

0 Bourdieu0 Social, Cultural and Symbolic Capital0 Hegemony in socialisation – symbolic

violence (blindess)

Countercultural Theories

0 Subcultural Theories0 Chicago School (Merton)

0 Thrasher0 Albert Cohen0 Gangs – subcultures can be defined

through their delinquent behaviours0 Birmingham School (Marx)

0 Phil Cohen0 Subcultures take on styles0 Are working-class0 The style is a voice of resistance and

the taking on of labels0 Countercultures0 Recent developments

Countercultural Theories

0 Influenced by the work of Foucault, Said and Wittigenstein

0 The concept of ‘adolescence’ is a social construction

0 Inequalities are way deeper than class

0 Exploring our history can reveal how the traces of inequalities remain today

0 Psychology is a deeply problematic western science

0 Authenticity and identity are key

Postmodern Understandings