Ethnicity and deviant subcultures

Question 1

What does Bourgois say about ethnicity and youth deviance?

Criminal/delinquent subcultures and gangs

Answer 1

• Studied Latino and American drug dealers within New York
• ‘Anguish of growing up poor’- deviance was the norm to cope with the pain and suffering of growing up poor
• Drug dealing was a means of survival and achieving respect

Question 2

What does Alexander say about ethnicity and youth deviance?

Criminal/delinquent subcultures and gangs

Answer 2

• Bengali youths were often involved in fighting
• Moral panic about the Asian gang (following riots)
• Myth of the Asian gang created by the media, fuelled by Islamophobia- stereotypes picked up on by teachers, projected the ‘gang’ label onto groups who shared an ethnicity/identity

Question 3

What does Nightingale say about ethnicity and youth deviance?

Criminal/delinquent subcultures and gangs

Answer 3

• Young black males in the US are excluded (racially and economically) from participating in mainstream culture- values of money and consumerism
• So they turned to illegitimate means to achieve these goals (violence and crime)
• (Paradox of inclusion)

Question 4

What does Sewell say about ethnicity and youth deviance?

Anti-school subcultures

Answer 4

• There are 4 reactions to school amongst African-Caribbean boys:
  1) Conformists (pro-education, pro-school)
  2) Innovators (pro-eductaion but anti-school, seek alternative ways to achieve)
  3) Retreatists (reject values of education/school, drop-outs)
  4) Rebels (form own alternative subcultures)

Question 5

What does Mac an Ghaill say about ethnicity and youth deviance?

Anti-school subcultures

Answer 5

• Studied black youth in inner-city schools- class and gender intersect with racism/stereotypes
• Rasta Heads (confrontational African Carribean boys)
• Warriors (anti-school, covert resistance- male Asians)
• Black sisters (pro-education- work hard but open defiance- Asian and African Caribbean girls)

Question 6

What does Mirza say about ethnicity and youth deviance?

Anti-school subcultures

Answer 6

• African Carribean girls resented labels, racism, and the expectation of failure
• Adopted a ‘strategic rationalisation’ of what they perceived as wasteful and unproductive
• Maximised their chances of educational success- keep their heads down, avoid confrontation
• Rational response to a negative school experience (not a resistance)

Question 7

What does Archer say about ethnicity and youth deviance?

Anti-school subcultures

Answer 7

• Muslim boys adopted both masuline and religious identities within their peer groups
• Backdrop of Islamophobia and demonisation of young Muslim males in the media
• Identity was Muslim but they were conscious of the protection that being a member of their subcultures gave them against racial groups/bullying

Question 8

What does Strand and Winston say about ethnicity and youth deviance?

Anti-school subcultures

Answer 8

• Negative peer relationships were a significant issue in underachievement of African Caribbean boys
• White young boys’ underachievement due to low self esteem and a lack of parental aspirations