Functionalists views 3A

Parsons

• social roles associated with different age groups are functional for society

• in industrialised societies there is a wide gulf between childhood and adulthood so there needs to be a transition stage where youth are segreagated and learn to become adults as they move away from childhood

• functionalists see having a clear youth culture as solving the problems of transition

• the problems stem form the fact that young have lower levels of income and status

• youths are fairly allocated this role based on their limited skills and experience within meritocracy

• by starting at the bottom you will eventually mature into a well rounded adult and good worker that will have a positive impact on society

eisenstadt

• having a specifically rebellious style and behaviour helps youth find their sense of identity. youth culture allows young people to experiment safely with their identities before becoming an adult

• being rebellious in youth helps them over come issues and prevents it from happening at a later stage

• scouts and YMCS and Brownies/ guides are useful for supervising risk taking and helping to avoid deviancy

• being given space to fit identity will make you a stable adult that will then benefit future society and economy and share the same values

• allowing one to get all their deviancy out and experiment with it in youthfulness will help them prevent themselves form being deviant or a criminal adult

• better to get youth deviance out of your system when young then becoming part of a serious criminal gang when older

durkheim

venkatesh

your culture helps young people avoid confusion or a breakdown of norms and values

• puberty, changes in relationships, dealing with new roles and status can add pressure to youth which affect norms and values

• your culture helps young people maintain a level of social order through their peers and ysc

• this then stabilises them as a adult

• this state of confusion is called anomie which means a state of normlessness.

• it means the break down in social control

• 1 the breakdown in societys social order eg war. the country is in a state of anomie, unclear who’s in charge, structure is gone, norms of society are gone and leaves individuals confused

• 2 anomie for personal sense

• - individuals may be driven to suicide due to a sense of anomie in their personal life

• individuals who lack self control purpose or regulation are more likely to experience this

a cohen

boys failing at school suffered from status frustration and so inverted th value system are rewarded each other for poor behaviour and failure

• gave status to the worse behaved as they judged that to be ‘cool’

• ysc have their own hierarchy where youth can gain status because they have different norms and values to mainstream society

coward and ohlin

youth may join criminal ysc to make a living if conventional means are blocked

3 types of subcultures

1 criminal where crimes are committed and the gang has a clear hierarchy

2 conflict gangs organised by young people which focusses on protective territory and low level crimes

3 retreats = gangs that cannot succeed through legitimate methods and end up dropping out and using drugs

decker and van winkle

reasons for joining a gang consist of both pulls and pushes

pulls = gaining status, excitement, loyalty, money, opportunities for wc youth

pushes = may comes from social, economic and cultural disadvantages

• feelings of exclusion, marginalisation, economic oppression may push youths form the underclass towards the status and identity of being in a gang

• for youths from dysfunctional families, the clear hierarchy and close relationships of a gang can provide the sense of safety and support that is missing

what do Durkheim, Eisenstadt and parsons believe about ysc

believe there is one single ysc that emegered in the 1950s providing different functions for all young people

who do a Cohen, coward and ohlin think

that there are several different ysc that operate for a variety of reasons