Functionalism

Question 1

Robert Merton (Sociologist)

Answer 1

Strain theory - Individuals experience strain between the goals and values of society and what they’re able to achieve, which leads to deviancy in response such as; innovation, ritualism, and retreatism.

Question 2

Albert Cohen (Sociologist)

Answer 2

Status frustration - Working class boys may be seen as inferior compared to other people therefore they try to gain status in other ways (such as gangs and crime).

Question 3

Cloward and Ohlin (Sociologist)

Answer 3

Illegitimate opportunities - Deviance is a reaction to the lack of legitimate opportunities that a working class boy might have, causing them to join deviant subcultures as a way of finding more opportunities. (They may join criminal subcultures, conflict subcultures, and retreatist subcultures).

Question 4

Miller (Sociologist)

Answer 4

Focal concerns - There is not a value consensus in society because working class boys share different to values to other people - they care more about looking tough and being streetwise then they do contributing to the working force and being academic.

Question 5

Parsons (Sociologist) - creation of youth subcultures.

Answer 5

Youth only emerged due to changes in the family with the development of capitalism where education was required to be successful in the workforce, young people had to be taught things that cannot be taught be the family.

Question 6

Abrams (Sociologist)

Answer 6

Youth culture was created and maintained by the media. Because young people had more spending money, businesses designed themselves as a target audience for youth.

Question 7

Eisenstadt (Sociologist)

Answer 7

Youth culture and teenage hood helps to keep order in society. Youth experience anomie and have to ‘let off steam’ using youth culture as a safe outlet to explore their own identity.

Question 8

What’s some examples of society adjusting to let young teenagers ‘let off steam and stress’ (examples)

Answer 8

• Under 18’s have seperate laws where they aren’t punished as harshly when they commit crime.
• Certain behaviors in teenagers are endorsed in society (such as speaking out of turn and not meeting social etiquette)
• Letting them have more independence as teenagers to discover their own identity (parents let their kids freely hang out with friends).