Youth Subcultures

Component 1 Section B

Postman (1982) - intro

Childhood is disappearing due to increased media exposure

John Clarke (1976) - social class

Studied Skinheads and found that their macho attitudes were a response to poverty and increased immigration

Dick Hebdige (1979) - social class

Studied Punks and used the term bricolage to describe how they reused everyday items and how their style was a rejection against the mainstream

Tony Jefferson (1976) - social class

Studied Teddy Boys and found that their style was an attempt to buy status due to their lack of income compared to their peers

Jacobson et al (2010) - social class

Found that 3/4 of young people in custody have absent fathers and 1/2 lived in a deprived household

Albert Cohan (1955) - social class

Working class youths experience status frustration

Cloward and Ohlin (1961) - social class

Working class youth experience blocked opportunities

Decker and Van Winkle (1996) - social class

Gangs are attractive to working class youths because they offer status

White (2020) - social class

Gangs tend to be linked to underclass conditions such as poverty

Martin Mac An Ghail (1994) - social class

three responses to school:
- macho lads
- ordinary lads
- academic achievers

Sarah Thornton (1995) - gender

Girls aren't seen in subcultures because they have less disposable income than men and more pressure to get married

Angela McRobbie and Jenny Garber (1991) - gender

Bedroom Culture

Reddington (2003) - gender

Girls are very active in punk subculture

Holland (1995) - gender

Studied nightlife in newcastle and found an equal number of men and women

Carolyn Jackson (2006) - gender

Ladette culture - girls acting like lads

Harding (2014) - gender

Young men without access to employment turn to crime to reinforce their masculinity

Raewyn Connell (1995) - gender

There are many forms of masculinity within society

Dick Hebdige (1979) - ethnicity

Rastafarian culture emerged as a form of resistance to white culture, racism and slavery

Nayak (2003) - ethnicity

white wannabes - white working class boys who are influenced by black music

Mercer (1987)- ethnicity

The traditional styling of hair in black culture can be seen as emphasising identification with black identity and a form of resistance to racism

Carl Nightingale (1993) - ethnicity

Young black males in philadelphia were excluded both racially and socially from achieving societies goals and so turn to illegitimate means

Bourgois (1995) - ethnicity

Drug dealing was a way of surviving and achieving respect for young black males

Tony Sewell (1997) - ethnicity

notes that for black males the culture of the street is anti school and values style

Mizra (2009) - ethnicity

notes that afro carribean girls tend to be pro education

Archer (2003) - ethnicity

studied muslim boys and found that they gained protection in peer groups from racism

Talcott Parsons (1962) - functionalism

There is a rite of passage between childhood and adulthood that prepares youths for adulthood

Shmuel Eisenstadt (1956) - functionalism

Youth culture brings young people together to provide shared norms and values, it may also be a way to let off steam and develop their own identities.

Mark Abrams (1959) - functionalism

The rise in youth culture in the 1950's was linked to increase media development aimed at youth since they had more disposable income and job opportunities

Robert Merton (1938) - functionalism

Strain theory - youths experience a difference between their goals and values vs what they can actually achieve

The CCCS - marxism

Youth subculture as a resistance to societies control and feeling like their identities are under threat

Lee and Young (1993) - marxism

relative deprivation and marginalisation

Angela McRobbie (1976) - feminism

When girls are present in youth subculture they are presented as passive girlfriends with focus on attractiveness

Smart (1976) - feminism

Girls are limited to the private domestic sphere - it's harder for researchers to access female subcultures

Lincoln (2004) - feminism

Updates bedroom culture - girls bedrooms are split into zones

Shane Blackman (1995) - feminism

New Wave Girls - girls who shared an interest in punk music, wore black trousers, baggy clothes etc.

Manchester Institute of Popular Culture - postmodernism

Studied "club culture" and found no clear gender, class or ethnic divide

Sarah Thornton (1995) - postmodernism

"taste culture" - based on music and style / "subcultural capital" - knowing what's cool or not

Redhead (1990) - postmodernism

subcultures now develop within the media

Maffesoli (1996) - postmodernism

"neo tribe" - individuals are no longer restricted to just one youth subculture

Bennet (1999) - postmodernism

studied night clubs in Newcastle and found "neo tribes" based on fashion, music and lifestyles. Recognizes the shifting nature of groups

Ted Polhemus (1994) - postmodernism

"supermarket of style" - fluidity of subculture

Howard Becker (1963) - interactionist

Labelling theory - self fulfilling prophecy

Stan Cohen (1972) - interactionist

Folk devils and moral panics - examined dramatization of media coverage of mods and rockers

Jock Young (1971) - interactionist

Deviancy Amplification - cycle of deviance