All Functionalist Youth Culture Studies Flashcards
What concept did Cloward and Ohlin create?
Opportunity structures
According to Cloward and Ohlin, which 2 forms of opportunity structures are there?
Legitimate opportunity structures, illegitimate opportunity structures
What are legitimate opportunity structures?
Structures in society that allow people to achieve status in an acceptable way
What are illegitimate opportunity structures?
Structures in society that allow people to achieve status in an unacceptable way
Which class of area are illegitimate opportunity structures more likely to be present?
Working class areas
Name 2 types of subcultures Cloward and Ohlin say WC people might join
Conflict subcultures, Retreatist subcultures
What happens in conflict subcultures?
Working class people protect their territory
What happens in retreatist subcultures?
People do drugs
What concept did Cohen create?
Status frustration
What did the working class boys in Cohen’s study try to do?
Achieve status in school
In Cohen’s study, what caused the working class boys to stop working hard in school?
The work got difficult
In Cohen’s study, what did the working class boys experience when they failed in school?
Status frustration
What is status frustration?
When working class people feel frustrated they cannot improve their social status due to their social class
What form of subcultures did the boys in Cohen’s study turn to when experiencing status frustration?
Anti-school subcultures
Name 2 behaviours of the working class boys in Cohen’s status frustration study
Vandalism, Violence
How did the working class boys in Cohen’s study achieve status in their anti-school subculture?
They gained status among themselves
Who created focal concerns?
Miller
What did Miller say?
Working class boys are socialised into inferior norms and values
According to Miller, how do working class boys obtain this behaviour?
By copying the behaviour of working class men around them
Name a focal concern behaviour
Violence
What did Parsons say youth cultures acted like?
A bridge for transition from childhood to adulthood
What did Parsons say about the childhood to adulthood transition?
It is stressful
According to Parsons, what form of status do children leave when transitioning from childhood to adulthood?
Ascribed status
What do youth cultures provide young people in the transition from childhood to adulthood?
A sense of belonging
According to Parsons, what will young people do once they complete the transition from childhood to adulthood?
Integrate into mainstream society
What did Eisenstadt say the period between childhood and adulthood was?
Limbo
What does Limbo mean?
A period of uncertainty
According to Eisenstadt, what do youth cultures provide in terms of values?
Shared set of norms and values
What do Eisenstadt say young people can do in youth cultures?
Let off steam
According to Eisenstadt, what does it mean to “let off steam”?
Get out frustrations in a safe space
Which theory did Merton create?
Strain theory
What does strain theory say in relation to deviant youth cultures?
Some people experience an economic strain making them join deviant youth cultures
What did Merton say people will do if they cannot be conformists?
They will follow one of 4 adaptations
What are conformists?
People who try and achieve societys goals in a socially acceptable way
What are innovators?
People who try and achieve societys goals in a socially unacceptable way
What are retreatists?
People who opt out of society to achieve their own goals
Name the goal in American society, according to Merton
The American Dream
