6: Social Class and Youth Subcultures Flashcards
what factors are associated with typical working class youth?
lack of respect for education
criminal association
lack of money
rough
council housing
use of informal language
what factors are associated with typical middle class youth?
comfortable lifestyle
respectable jobs
more educated
high aspirations
what factors are associated with typical upper class youth?
privately educated
- enjoy high culture activities (cultural capital)
which working class subcultures did cohen (1972) research?
skinheads
- mods
Q
what did cohens research find out about skinheads?
-held working class values
-suffered from low self esteem due to reality of lifestyles
-showed defiance by celebrating working class styles
-anti authoritarian and gained pleasure from going against society
-subculture was an attempt to recover working class community, so represented an exaggerated version of traditional working class
-attitude was aggressive and violent
-disliked ethnic minorities and middle class
what did cohens research find out about mods?
-reflected upward aspiration of more affluent section of working class
-section sought to copy middle class by wearing italian suits and driving scooters
-mods rejected traditional working class culture in attempt to live a more glamorous and cosmopolitan life
give two evaluation points of cohens (1972) research.
brake (1980) agrees that subcultures can be classified into class categories : delinquent youth, cultural rebels, politically militant youth. suggests that WC people have formed delinquent youth subcultures. middle class youth formed cultural rebellion and politically militant groups. this supports idea of social class divide. (+)
feminism criticism as female mods and skinheads not been taken into account and ignores that they may affect society differently. (-)
who researched status frustration?
albert cohen (1955)
what did albert cohen (1955) study?
studied delinquency and stated :
- delinquency is a collective response to express discontent and commit crime
-focused on crimes providing no monetary reward
-focused on WC boys who wished to become successful and rich, but couldn’t due to educational failure
-leads to dead end jobs, so cannot attain goals
-failure explained due to position in social structure. failure leads to “anomie” which is mismatch between goals and realistic achievements
-being stuck at bottom of stratification system can lead to “status frustration” which means they reject the success goals of the mainstream culture
-create their own norms and values in order to achieve success in other ways (collective solution)
-delinquent subculture reject and reverse mainstream culture
-high value placed on criminalities which then prestige, glory, satisfaction and recognition is gained from peers
-WC boys solve “status frustration” by forming a delinquent subculture
give three evaluation points for cohens (1955) research.
- box (1981). criticised cohen. stated that delinquent subculture theory could only apply to small minority of criminals. does not explain every single WC male. also questioned view that youth feel shame if failed at school. box stted youth might feel resentment if labelled as failures. leads them to turn to crime. (-)
- bordua (1962). criticised cohen selective use of term “lower class subculture”. argued that term could be used correctly when referring to lower class in education as culture of not taking education seriously can be passed down generations. however, term cannot explain crime in lower class, as this is not necessarily passed down generations. instead crime is generated by upsurge of young working class delinquents. (-)
- matza (1964). criticised view that most delinquents are strongly opposed to mainstream values. matzas research found many young delinquents accepted mainstream values and only occasionally committed crimes. found youth drifted into delinquency sometimes but weren’t committed to delinquent subculture. (-)
what did harding (2014) research?
the street casino : survival in violent street gangs
what did harding (2014) research find?
-conducted extensive ethnography study of local residents and gang members in south ldn
-used analogy of casino, harding saw gangs as a social arena of competition where members struggle for distinction, status, position and survival
-like accumulating chips in casino, success is determined by accruing “street capital”
-gangs were a “game of high stakes” for youth
-element of aggression and competition within gang
-males joined gang for sense of purpose and belonging, especially if failed at school
-gang members took risk involving crime, gang rivalry and territory welfare
give three evaluation points of hardings (2014) research.
-lack of consideration for “ordinary youth”. vast majority of young people are not members of subcultures for purpose of rebellion. post modernists refer to these groups as “neo tribes” based on loose friendship and fun, rather than political or ideological reasons. (-)
-marxists would agree that working class is forced to resort to criminal activity as a result of oppressive upper class. (+)
feminists would criticise for lack of female representativeness, so theory can’t be applied to them. (-)
what did farrington and west (1994) longitudinal study find out?
used self reports to plot amounts and types of offending of sample of WC males over time
1/3 of males aged upto 32 into ldn, had been convicted for at least one criminal offence
400 males born 1951-1954
farrington found theft, burglary and criminal damage declined as males reached 20s
also found low income, poor housing and large family size seemed to be main variables that could help predict social characteristics of offenders (links to WC)
give three evaluation points of farrington and west (1994) longitudinal study.
self reports rely on honesty from offender which can be problematic. if participants lie, then stats about youth deviance would be invalid when examining link between social class and deviancy. (-)
study can follow individuals through life to identify factors that lead them to offend such as social class, home life etc. for example, farrington found males who had a father with unstable work were more likely to commit crime by 18. longitudinal studies can track and trace people over time, increasing verstehen. (+)
research done over long period of time so likely to be high dropout rate over time. sample becomes smaller, making results more skewed and biased when looking at youth criminals and social class. (-)
