C1 SA - Culture & Identity - Topic 9, Agents of socialisation and how they reinforce age identities

Question 1

The media - STUDY - (Muncie)

(Thornton)

Answer 1

Muncie - Media represents youth as deviant and troublesome. Middle age presented as time of crisis. Old age presented as being time of dependency and time of loneliness.
Thornton - Media responsible for creation of youth culture and the association of style with youth.

Question 2

The media and youth - STUDY (Cohen)
(Griffin)
(Astley)

Answer 2

Cohen - Media exaggerates youth behaviour so it is newsworthy, creating ‘moral panic’ and ‘folk devils’ - young people blamed for moral decline.
Griffin - ‘Dysfunctional’ - ‘Deficit’ - ‘Deviant’
Astley - Government policies for young people, post 16 education is encouraged.

Question 3

Ageism and the mass media - Study (Sontag)

Answer 3

Advertising - youth = beauty

Sontag - Double standard, women expected to look youthful whereas men are not.

Question 4

Workplace - STUDY - (Arber and Ginn)
(Bradley)
(Giddens)

Answer 4

Arber & Ginn - Ageism reinforced by retirement, redundancies and unemployment. Middle-aged people have limited working life as employers do not want to train them.
Bradley - Old people seen as less suitable as they are ‘slow’ and less adaptable to change.
Giddens - Retirement, ‘third age’ - much longer due to improved health - Coming close to death, ‘fourth age’.

Question 5

Peer group - STUDY - (Heath)

Cote

Answer 5

Heath - Friendship network important agent of socialisation for young adults, period where people are most likely single.
Cote - Friends become more important than parents as a source of knowledge about how life should be led.