PAPER 1 Youth Subcultures

Question 1

How and why are youth subcultures formed?

What does Postman say about youth?

Answer 1

he discusses the ‘disappearance of childhood’ and blames the media for exposing children to the adult world too young and sexualising them.

Question 2

How and why are youth subcultures formed?

What specific things define youth?

Answer 2

• involvement in education rather than work.
• lack of responsibilities
• importance of the peer group

Question 3

How and why are youth subcultures formed?

What is a youth subculture?

Answer 3

distinctive groups of youths within the wider youth culture who stand out in their terms of dress, style and music taste.

Question 4

How and why are youth subcultures formed?

What are ‘spectacular’ youth subcultures?

Answer 4

Highly visible subcultures of the 1950’s to 1970’s. Including teddy boys, mods, punks, rockers and skinheads. they were researched by the CCCS at Birmingham University.

Question 5

functionalist views of youth culture and subcultures

What do functionalists see youth as?

Answer 5

They see youth as a transitional stage from childhood to adulthood. As they seek independence from their families, youths get their sense of belonging fro their peers.

Question 6

functionalist views of youth culture and subcultures

What does Parsons say created youth?

Answer 6

He said that youth emerged due to capitalism. he said in pre-capitalist societies the transition to childhood to adulthood was marked with a ritual e.g hamar tribe. Or in western societies marriage or child bearing.

Question 7

functionalist views of youth culture and subcultures

Why does Parsons see youth as important?

Answer 7

he says that youth is a time where an individual must learn to leave the family and become independent. He says this is done through getting part time jobs and spending time away from their parents. He sees youth as a ‘right of passage’.

Question 8

functionalist views of youth culture and subcultures

What does Eisensdadt say about youth?

Answer 8

He saw youth as a way of bringing young people into society. He said youth culture brings feelings of belonging. He said youth culture allows individuals to ‘let off steam’ and get any frustrations ‘out of their system’.

Question 9

functionalist of youth culture and subcultures

What does Abrams say about youth?

Answer 9

He said that the emergence of youth culture was linked to the increase in their spending power as a distinct group. He says youth culture was created by the media.

Question 10

functionalist views of youth culture and subcultures

How can the functionalist view on youth subcultures be evaluated?

Answer 10

• generalises all youths and does not account for individual differences, e.g class, race, gender.
• ethnocentric as researched by white, middle class males.

Question 11

marxism/neo-marxism view on youth subcultures

What are neo-marxists and who are they influenced by?

Answer 11

more recent marxists who take on influence from marxism and recent marxist thinkers such as gramsci and his concept of ‘hegemony’. This means the ideological dominance the ruling class has over the subordinate classes.

Question 12

marxism/neo-marxism view on youth subcultures

What do marxist/neo-marxists focus on when thinking about youth subcultures?

Answer 12

They focus on the social class and economic situations faced by young people as their explanations for the formation of youth subcultures.

Question 13

marxism/neo-marxism view on youth subcultures

What did they think caused the emergence of ‘spectacular subcultures’?

Answer 13

-high unemployment
- inner-city decay
- racial tensions
- strikes

Question 14

marxism/neo-marxism view on youth subcultures

How can the marxist/neo marxist view on youth subcultures be evaluated?

Answer 14

• feminists criticise them for ignoring women in the CCCS study, McRobbie and Garber.
• the middle class also had subcultures, hippies
• the majority of yoiuths did not belong to a subculture, they were studying a minority in the spectacular subcultures.

Question 15

feminist view on youth cubcultures

What do feminists say about youth subcultures?

Answer 15

They say that the role of girls in subcultures has been ignored by other theories on youth subcultures.

Question 16

feminist view on youth cubcultures

What do McRobbie and Garber say about youth subcultures?

Answer 16

They argued that girls were absent from research in youth subcultures. They said that girls were often represented as the passive girlfriends of the male subculture members. Due to the researchers being mostly male, they founf it difficult to form a rapport with the girls. They argue that due to the girls close-knit friendships they were important to study in their own right.

Question 17

feminist view on youth cubcultures

How can the feminist view be evaluate?

Answer 17

postmodernists argue that gender is less significant and current subcultures do not have any clear gender distinctions, spo feminist analysis is less relevent.

Question 18

post modernist views on youth subcultures

What do post modernists say about youth subcultures?

Answer 18

They say that youth styles are now more fluid and changeable, they cross over ethnic, gender and class divides.

Question 19

post modernist views on youth subcultures

What is ‘club culture’?

Answer 19

This was carried out by the MIPS, links to post modernism because the clubbers had no clear gender, class or ethnic distinctions. They emphasise the role of the media as an integral part of club cultures.

Question 20

post modernist views on youth subcultures

What does Redhead say about youth subcultures?

Answer 20

Argues that the idea of authentic subcultures that develop outside of the media influence could no longer be sustained from the 1980’s onwards and that subcultures are formed within the media.

Question 21

post modernist views on youth subcultures

What are ‘neo-tribes’ according to Maffesoli?

Answer 21

He uses the term ‘neo-tribes’ rather than subculture. He says group identities are no longer formed along traditional lines like gender and class. He says people ‘flit’ between tribe to tribe.

Question 22

post modernist views on youth subcultures

What does Bennett say to support Maffesoli?

Answer 22

His research in nightclubs in Newcastle. He said that clubbing is a multidimensional experience as clubbers move between floors and rooms and engage with different crowds.

Question 23

post modernist views on youth subcultures

What did Polhemus say about the ‘supermarket of style’?

Answer 23

He says youths create their identities by picking and mixing from various cultures, fashions, lifestyles and music. He also said that the emergence of retro fashions are mixed into things.

Question 24

post modernist views on youth subcultures

How can the post modernist view on youth subcultures be evaluated?

Answer 24

• still distinct subcultures such as emos within society today.
• people still divide themselves clearly on gender or ethnic lines.

Question 25

subcultures as related to social class

What does the term ‘bricolage’ mean by Hebdige?

Answer 25

punk culture where punks reuse ordinary objects e.g wearing ripped clothing and piercing their clothing and bodies with safety pins also bondage and fetish cothes became everyday items.

Question 26

subcultures as related to social class

What does Brake say about the CCCS?

Answer 26

he says that solutions to the economic barriers they faced were ‘magical’ solutions rather than practical, concrete solutions.

Question 27

subcultures as related to social class

What does Hebdige mean by ‘incorporation’?

Answer 27

This is wear subservice styles are taken over by the media and fashion industries so ‘punk’ clothes find their ways into high street stores and their edginess is fading away.

Question 27

What does Hebdige mean by ‘incorporation’?

Question 28

subcultures as related to social class

How does Thornton challenge the CCCS with her study on club cultures?

Answer 28

She says that youths are excempt from rent and the vast majority enjoy a disposable income. She says all but the very poor can partake in club culture.

Question 29

subcultures as related to gender

What does Thornton say about subcultures and girls?

Answer 29

she says the ‘teenage market’ is largely dominated by boys. Due to girls having a less disposable income and marrying earlier. She says girls invest their time into school whilst boys invest their time in going out. She says that due to this, girls have a lower ‘subcultural capital’.

Question 30

subcultures as related to gender

What does Thornton say about acid house/rave culture?

Answer 30

She said that girls charcaterise the scene by being ‘techno traceys’, dancing around woth their handbags. She said that things associated with females are less important or acceptable.

Question 31

subcultures as related to gender

What does McRobbie say about ‘active girls’?

Answer 31

She said that girls have become more active in relation to consumer culture. For exaple the change in focus in magazines, from romance to self-confident sexuality. She says that girls actively use magazines to laugh at them or critique them rather than passively accepting what they have to say.

Question 32

subcultures as related to gender

What does McRobbie say about black ‘ragga’ girls?

Answer 32

She said that these girls dance in a sexually explicit way to music with sexist lyrics. This way they are able to reclaim their sexuality and use it to assert their own identities.

Question 33

subcultures as related to gender

What does Reddington say about subcultures related to gender?

Answer 33

She says there are active female members in ‘spectacular subcultures’ such as Vivienne Westwood in the punk subculture. However, punk females were often not taken seriously and were referred to as ‘punkettes’ and were judged on their appearances.

Question 34

changing roles for females in subcultures

How can their be seen to be changing roles for females in subcultures?

Answer 34

New romantics, ravers and goths were more unisex cultures.

Question 35

changing roles for females in subcultures

What examples are there of female only subcultures?

Answer 35

riot grrrls and sk8ter girls. Seen to have strong and powerful female identities and resist against patrairchy.

Question 36

changing roles for females in subcultures

What does Bennett say which can suggests female roles are changing?

Answer 36

looser bounderies between youth subcultures has opened up space for girls to develop their own identities.

Question 37

changing roles for females in subcultures

How can Holland’s study of the nightlife in Newcastle support?

Answer 37

she says that ‘bedroom culture’ may be a thing of the past as men and women wre both involved in club culture.

Question 38

subcultures as relates to ethnicity and hybridity

How can the ‘spectacular’ subcultures be seeen to have ethnic influences?

Answer 38

• teddy boys listened to blues music and black rythm in rock ‘n’ roll.
• reggae was enjoyed by skinheads
• asian music can be heard in modern dance music.

Question 39

subcultures as relates to ethnicity and hybridity

What does Hebdige argue?

Answer 39

He says that British youth subcultures can be read as a ‘succession of differential responses to the black immigration presence in Britain. This is shown through the skinheads listening to reggae but gaining a reputation of racism and resistence to immigration.

Question 40

subcultures as relates to ethnicity and hybridity

What are rastafarians and reggae culture?

Answer 40

• associated with Jamaican culture.
• often associated with red, gold and green, colours of Ethiopia.
• smoking weed to reach higher spirituality.
• Hebdige saw rastafarianism as a form of resistence against the roots of slavery.

Question 41

subcultures as relates to ethnicity and hybridity

What is Brasian culture?

Answer 41

• subculture of young British Asians
• Bhangra is often incorporated into British music.
• Johal says some British Asians incorporate a ‘hyper-ethnic style’ where they exaggerate their parents culture.
• ‘code-switching’ is where Brasians can move between one cultural form to another depending on whether ‘britishness’ or ‘Asianness’ is most appropriate.

Question 42

subcultures as relates to ethnicity and hybridity

How can functionalists, the CCCS and feminists be criticised in relation to ethncity?

Answer 42

They are accused of being ethnocentric and do not consider the impact of race and ethnicity on youth subcultures.

Question 43

subcultures as relates to ethnicity and hybridity

What are ‘white wannabes’?

Answer 43

Nayak identified a subculture of white, working class males who adopt the style and language of ‘black culture’. Associated with ‘bling’ and hip-hop. Examples include Ali G and eminem.

Question 44

subcultures as relates to ethnicity and hybridity

What are ‘modern primitives’?

Answer 44

characterised by body modifications and tattoos. can be seen as a hybrid culture as they mix modern with ‘primitive’.

Question 45

subcultures as relates to ethnicity and hybridity

How can ethnicity and hybridity be seen as a positive thing?

Answer 45

leads to more mixing and understanding between different groups had has been seen as an example of ‘cultural exchange’

Question 46

subcultures as relates to ethnicity and hybridity

How can ethnicity and hybridity be seen as a negative thing?

Answer 46

some argue that taking aspects of ethnci cultures into white cuktures is cultural appropriation. E.g chinese letters, henna, bindis. Hutnyk says that western subcultures strip the meaning from symbols and use them in a superficial way.

Question 47

Why do young people participate in deviant subcultures?

What is a delinquent subculture?

Answer 47

A term to refer to youth deviance. Deviant behaviour includes: joyriding and vandalism and other antisocial behaviour, not necessarily criminal.

Question 48

Why do young people participate in deviant subcultures?

What is a criminal subculture?

Answer 48

Subcultures actively involved in criminal behaviour. It may be organised crime such as drug dealing. Cloward and Ohlin say that not everyone has access to such criminal subcultures.

Question 49

Why do young people participate in deviant subcultures?

What is a gang?

Answer 49

A group of people who regularly associate together. A gang will often have a name, leader and set of rules.

Question 50

Why do young people participate in deviant subcultures?

What are spectacular subcultures?

Answer 50

Highly visible subcultures during the 1950’s to 1970’s. They often had confrontational attitudes and were stduied at Birmingham University.

Question 51

Why do young people participate in deviant subcultures?

What are anti-school subcultures?

Answer 51

Groups of pupils who reject the norms and values of school and reverse them. They do not value doing well academically and value trouble making instead. Some anti school subcultures reject school but value education.

Question 52

Why do young people participate in deviant subcultures?

What new and emerging subcultures are there?

Answer 52

There are subcultures online nowadays. Youths interact and share experiences. Online communities will often be focused on gender, ethnicity or religion. For example ‘LAD bible’.

Question 53

Functionalist explanations on youth deviance

What is the functionalist view on subcultures?

Answer 53

They focus on the norms and values in subcultures, some argue are shared woth mainstream culture, but may be fulfilled in different ways.

Question 54

Functionalist explanations on youth deviance

What does Merton argue about youth subcultures?

Answer 54

He recognises that there is a strain between the goals of society and the individual. This may lead to deviant responses such as innovation, retreatism and ritualism.

Question 55

Functionalist explanations on youth deviance

What does Cohen say about youth subcultures?

Answer 55

He says that teenage boys desire status. He also says that working class boys are aware of mainstream values such as success at school. A working class boy sees himself as inferior to middle-class boys which creates a feeling of ‘status frustration’. A delinquent subculture with values of aggression and being good in a fight may form to help with the feelings of frustration. This can explain why working class boys get involved in deviance.

Question 56

Functionalist explanations on youth deviance

What do Cloward and Ohlin say about youth deviance?

Answer 56

They also saw deviance as a reaction to problems achieving the values of mainstream culture. The deviant is unable to get the values in legitimate ways and uses deviant ways to get them. They say that some experience ‘blocked opportunities’ to attain valued goals through legitimate means. They say that no everyone can use the same methods to achieve goals.

Question 57

Functionalist explanations on youth deviance

What three deviant subcultures do Cloward and Ohlin speak about?

Answer 57

1) Criminal subcultures- develop in slum areas where there is a hierarchy of criminal activity.
2) conflict subcultures- formed in unstable areas with no access to a hierarchy of criminal opportunity, gangs are formed to defend areas.
3) retreatist subcultures- youths who fail to achieve in legitimate or illegitimate ways. They will retreat from societies values all together and often descend into petty crime or addiction.

Question 58

Functionalist explanations on youth deviance

What does Miller say about deviant subcultures?

Answer 58

Miller says that working class boys do not even try to gain academic success, that is a middle class value. Miller calls working class boys’ values ‘focal concerns’. These values are being tough and macho and valuing freedom and excitement.

Question 59

Functionalist explanations on youth deviance

How can the functionalist view be evaluated?

Answer 59

• It is a sweeping generalisatoion of the working class
• In reality working class cultures are subject to regional, ethnic and individual variations.

Question 60

New Right explanations on youth deviance

What is Murray’s overview of youth deviance?

Answer 60

He says that youths in deviant subcultures have not recieved the proper socialisation. They have a deviant set of norms and values based on dependency, laziness and criminality.

Question 61

New Right explanations on youth deviance

What does Murray say about girls without fathers?

Answer 61

He says that girls without fathers are emotionally damaged and try to find a father substitute. Which often leads to them getting pregnant at an early age.

Question 62

New Right explanations on youth deviance

What does Murray say about boys without a father?

Answer 62

He says that boys without a father have poor impulse control, to be sexual predators and unable to get up the same time each morning for their job.

Question 63

New Right explanations on youth deviance

What does Murray say will be the British publics response?

Answer 63

He says that the British public will become less tolerant and that politicians will become more willing to toughen up on them.

Question 64

New Right explanations on youth deviance

How can the New Right view be evaluated?

Answer 64

• victim blames
• doesnt account for everyone who claims benefits.

Question 65

marxist/neo marxist explanations on youth deviance

What do marxists say is the cause of youth deviance?

Answer 65

A form of resistance against society’s control and a reaction to their identity being threatened.

Question 66

marxist/neo marxist explanations on youth deviance

How do Lea and Young explain youth deviance?

Answer 66

Relative deprivation- people feel deprived compared to others. Rise of the media has led to an increase of this feeling. Youths often feel deprived compared to adults.
Marginalisation- This is where young people feel pushed to the edges of society and feel like their voices are not heard
subculture- due to the feelings of relative deprivation and marginalisation, youths may join subcultures to relieve their frustrations with people with similar feelings, these may be deviant.

Question 67

marxist/neo marxist explanations on youth deviance

How can the marxist view of youth deviance be evaluated?

Answer 67

• The CCCS is accused of ignoring gender by feminists
• they also generalised youth, not all youth were part of a subculture
• The CCCS ideas were outdated
• The left-realist ideas are up to date.

Question 68

Interactionist explanations on youth deviance

What do interactionists see deviance as?

Answer 68

They see deviance as a social construct where mainstream society has defined a certain group as deviant.
They say that young, working-class males get labelled by the police, public and media.

Question 69

Interactionist explanations on youth deviance

What does Becker say about youth deviance?

Answer 69

Becker says that labelling relates to power. Some people have the power to make a label stick. For example, the police labelling young people may have an effect, they may stop and search and arrest them more. This can lead to a ‘self fulfilling prophecy’ where the individual internalises their label. This can cuase working class males to interact differently with the police.

Question 70

Interactionist explanations on youth deviance

What was Cicourel’s study on the social organisation of juvenile justice?

Answer 70

He did a study to see the processes of dealing with potential deviants.
stage 1- police stop/search based on ‘suspicious’ or ‘unusual’ behaviour.
stage 2- the police arrest individual based on appearance of the individual and manner.
stage 3- probation officer asseses the individual to see if they fit in with ‘typical delinquent’.
At each stage behaviour has an effect. If individual is sorry then no further action is taken.
Cicourel concluded that ‘delinquents’ are constructed by the agencies of control and their policies.

Question 71

Interactionist explanations on youth deviance

How can the interactionist view be evaluated?

Answer 71

• interactionists assume the label come first, so they do not explain why some youth actually commit deviant acts before they have been labelled and others do not.

Question 72

social class and deviant subcultures

What is the ‘sociology of vindictiveness’ by Jock Young?

Answer 72

• He argues we live in a ‘bulimic society’ where citizens are encouraged to worship money, status and success but in many ways are excluded from achieving these things.. He discusses the ‘intensity of exclusion’ felt by the underclass, incorporating feelings of resentment, humilation and anger.

Question 73

social class and deviant subcultures

What did Harding find in his study of violent street gangs?

Answer 73

He used the analogy of a casino and saw gangs as a social arena of competition where members struggle for status, position and survival. He said that gaining cultural and social capital was like accumulating chips in a casino.

Question 74

social class and deviant subcultures

What did Decker and Vn Winkle find about the link between gangs and social deprivation?

Answer 74

They found that the reasons why youths join gangs were to do with ‘pull’ and ‘push’ factors. The ‘pulls’ are the attractiveness of the gang. For example, excitement, money-making oppurtunities and status. The ‘pushes’ come from social and economic disadvantages. Feelings of exclusion may push youth into gangs.

Question 75

social class and deviant subcultures

What did white find?

Answer 75

He also observed that gangs are linked to poverty and social exclusion. He says that gangs provide a sense of inclusion and support for vulnderable groups and provide mechanisms for young people to cope with their oppressive environment.

Question 76

Anti-school subcultures and social class

What can anti school subcultures do for young people?

Answer 76

They protect self esteem, enabling them to get respect and protect them from the fears of failure.

Question 77

Anti-school subcultures and social class

Not all sociologsts agree that anti-school subcultures exist. What did Brown find?

Answer 77

He identified three possible responses to education among working class youths:
Getting in- low achievers who wanted to join manual jobs
Getting out- high achievers who wanted to use education to improve their social position
Getting on- ‘ordinary’ working class youths who complied with school.

Question 78

Anti-school subcultures and social class

What did Mac an Ghaill find in his study?

Answer 78

He found a number of ‘fluid’ groups with different responses to school:
- the ordinary lads: not academic and were indifferent to school
- the academic achievers: pro school and worked hard
- the macho lads: anti school subcultures who valued being tough. Referred to the academic achievers as ‘dickhead achievers’.

Question 79

Anti-school subcultures and social class

How can there be an interactionalist perspective on anti school subcultures?

Answer 79

labelling and social class can be seen as a factor in explaining membership of anti school subcultures.
Lacey found in her study of a secondary school pupils arrived with pro school attitudes. However, setting pupils in abilities led to demoralisation among those identified as having lower ability who tended to be from lower class backgrounds. Anti school subcultures developed as a response to this.

Question 80

Anti-school subcultures and social class

What did Raey say that is similar to Lacey’s findings?

Answer 80

He said that it is understandable for anti-school subcultures to develop when confronted with a high risk of educational failure and seen to have little value. She argues that education is seen as a competiton they cannot win, but in their subcultures they can create their own competitoons, where some of them can and so win.

Question 81

Gender and deviant subcultures

What has criminal and deviant behaviour usually been linked with?

Answer 81

Young males. Through subcultures like the teds, mods and rockers in the 50’s and 60’s, to the ‘hoodies’ of the 2000’s. Males have been feared and demonised by society and the media. Criminal and deviant behaviour can be seen as an extension of desirable masculine traits. It is seen as ‘natural’ for young males to be attracted to deviance.

Question 82

gender and deviant subcultures

What does Messerschmidt say about males and deviant subcultures?

Answer 82

He argues that a gang acts as a location for ‘doing masculinity’ which has to be ‘accomplished’ and proved.

Question 83

gender and deviant subcultures

What does Harding say to develop Messerschmidt’s ideas of ‘doing masculinity’?

Answer 83

He says that how masculinity is made or accomplished depends on the social field a young male finds himself in. Those without employment, a traditional source of hegemonic masculinity, will find other ways to achieve their masculinity.

Question 84

gender and deviant subcultures

What does Campbell say about male deviant subcultures which is similar to Hardings view?

Answer 84

He argues that the abandonment of certain communities, the state has unleashed the most extreme forms of masculinity, denying men access to legitimate forms of masculinity through academic success or the breadwinner role. Thus, deviance have become the key means by which young men express their masculinity.

Question 85

gender and deviant subcultures

What would marxists say about young, working class males and delinquent subcultures?

Answer 85

They may argue that this focus places the blame on the powerless working-class male. And ignores ‘symbolic violence’. Bourdieu says this is perpetrated by more powerful, older males in society through their ideological dominance.

Question 86

gender and deviant subcultures​: delinquent girls

What do statistics and evidence from self-report studies show about the increase in deviant girls?

Answer 86

It suggests that famale offending and deviance peaks earlier that for boys, but recedes earlier and more significantly.

Question 87

gender and deviant subcultures​: delinquent girls

How does Heidensohn explain deviant girls?

Answer 87

She focuses on social control. Girls are subject to more control in terms of behaviour and control by the family in terms of how long they are allowed outside the house. They are also controlled by the idea that their place is within the domestic sphere and the fear of being alone in the dark. She also said that they risk more by becoming deviant, in that it will be seen as ‘double deviant’. Going against femininity as well as laws and norms.

Question 88

gender and deviant subcultures​: delinquent girls

What did Klein say about female gang membership?

Answer 88

She says that women commit equally violent acts as their male counterparts.

Question 89

gender and deviant subcultures​: delinquent girls

What does Harding say about the role of girls within gangs?

Answer 89

He says that girls use their social skills to carve out a role. They will never become leaders but they are ‘fixers’. For example; hiding drugs and weapons and trading information between the rival gangs. Social skills are a source of ‘street capital’, essential to survival. Sexual violence is seen as a way of ‘keeping them in line’.

Question 90

gender and deviant subcultures​: delinquent girls

What does research show about the exploitation of girls in gangs?

Answer 90

Most research show that girls in gangs are victims of sexual exploitation. Sometimes male gag members as young as ten are forced to rape as their initiation. A case involving a 13 year old girl who was subject to sexual exploitation was found to be grooming her 10 year old sister for the same purpose.

Question 91

Anti school subcultures and gender

What did Mac an Ghaill idenitify about the ‘macho lads’ in their study?

Answer 91

He sais that they valued the 3F’s (fighting, football and fucking). He argued that they showed extreme hegemonic masculinity, perhaps as a form of resistance to a percieved threat of their masculine identity.

Question 92

Anti school subcultures and gender

What did Archer and Yamashita find in their tudy of boys in an inner-city London school?

Answer 92

They found that the boys were attached to a ‘bad boy’ image related to hyper-heterosexuality. They saw academic achivement as ‘soft’. They also felt that their area was ‘unsafe’ and their gang or subculture was a key part of ‘doing masculinity’.

Question 93

Anti school subcultures and gender

What did Jackson find out about ‘laddishness’ in schools?

Answer 93

She found evidence of ‘laddishness’ from both boys and girls. It was cool to be clever but not to work hard. The laddishness included smoking, swearing and being loud and open about their sex lives.

Question 94

Anti school subcultures and gender

What did Blackman find out about anti school subcultures including girls?

Answer 94

He did a study on girls in an anti-education subculture. These irls were academic and high-profile. They were defined by their music taste and their appearance. They wore doc marten boots and had punk fashions. They resisted the regime of school and skived lesson, howevee they were academic and did value education so were not anti-education but were anti-school.

Question 95

Ethnicity and deviant subcultures

How is ethnicity seen to be linked with crime?

Answer 95

Much evidence shows that those from African-Caribbean backgrounds are significantly over-represented in the official crime statistics. The social disadvantages imposed by social class and race combine to explain why young black youths may be likely to join youth subcultures.

Question 96

Ethnicity and deviant subcultures

What does Nightingale say?

Answer 96

He studied young black males in Phildelphia and argued that they consume mainstream US culture through the media like everyone else, sharing values like success and money. However they were excluded both racially and economically from achieving these values. Thus, they turned to illegitimate ways to achieve them through crime. He calls this the ‘paradox of inclusion’. The desire to be included drives the desire for success and the American lifestyle, and yet to achieve it for those suffering with racism and poverty means deviant behaviour which ensures exclusion.

Question 97

Ethnicity and deviant subcultures

What did Bourgois find in his study?

Answer 97

He studies Latino and African-American drug dealers in New York. He discussed the ‘anguish of growing up poor’ in the richest city in the world, arguing that this creates inner-city street cultures where deviant practices become the norm. Drug dealing became their ways of earning respect. Bourgois saw it understandable that they might ask why they would take the subway to work a minimum wage job when a million-dollar drug sealing indusrty was on was on their doorstep.

Question 98

Ethnicity and deviant subcultures

Why can the link between gangs and ethnicity be seen to be exaggerated?

Answer 98

The centre of social justice’s 2009 report on gangs challenged the popular misconception that gangs in the UK are associated with those from African-Caribbean backgrounds. They found that gang members reflected the ethnicity of the ethnicity of the local population: thus in Scotland gang members are mostly white.

Question 99

Anti school subcultures and ethnicity

Why do ethnic minorities form subcultures?

Answer 99

May be a response to the perception of young people from ethnic minorities have about racism from the education system and from specific teachers. The manner of response seems to differ between ethnic groups and males are likely to adopt a confrontational approach.

Question 100

Anti school subcultures and ethnicity

What did Sewell identify?

Answer 100

He identified four visible groupings to school by African-Caribbean boys, borrowing the responses that Merton used to explain deviance.
conformists- pro education and pro school
innovaters- pro education but anti school
retreatists- rejected school and dropped out
rebels-formed subcultures
He argued the majority of black boys were conformists but the 18 percent who were rebels got all the attention and created the negative stereotype.

Question 101

Anti school subcultures and ethnicity

What pro-education attitude did Mirza identify among African-Caribbean girls?

Answer 101

The girls she studied resented teacher labels, racism and the expectation of failure. They adopted ‘strategic rationalisation’. They adopted strategies to maximise their chances of success. They kept their heads down and sat at the back of the classroom and got on with work. Mirza didn’t see this as a form of resistence but as a rational response to their negative school experience.

Question 102

Anti school subcultures and ethnicity

What did Archer find about Muslim boys?

Answer 102

Found that they demonstrated their masculine and religious identity in peer groups, against a backdrop of islamaphobia in the media. They saw themselves as muslim rather than Pakistani. They also were conscious of their protection tat being a member of their subculture gave them against potential racist bullying.

Question 103

Anti school subcultures and ethnicity

What did Strand and Winston find about the different reactions to underachivement by different ethnic groups?

Answer 103

They found that negative peer relationships were a significant issue in the underachievemt in African-Caribbean boys. In white boys underachivement was due to low self-esteem and lack of parental aspirations. They found that Asian and African boys had positive peer support and some were suprised when asked whether their friends would laugh at them for working hard.

Question 104

The media and youth deviance

What do Interactionists argue about the media and youth deviance?

Answer 104

They say that the newspapers and media coverage exaggerate youth deviance. It exaggerates and over-reports it which can lead to deviance amplification.

Question 105

The media and youth deviance

What is deviance amplifcation?

Answer 105

Deviance increases as more people are aware of it, more young people are encouraged to behave in this way due to labelling and the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 106

The media and youth deviance

What was Pearson’s research in 1983?

Answer 106

He found that even in the 19th century, social concern about rowdy youths or ‘hooligans’ led to sensationalist newspaper headlines. The behaviour wa labelled as ‘alien’ and ‘un-British’. It was also blamed on the hot weather of the August bank holiday in 1898.

Question 107

The media and youth deviance

What was Cohen’s study on Folk devils and moral panics?

Answer 107

He examined media coverage of the mod and rocker clashes in the 1960’s. He argued that the coverage was out of proportion to the incidents themselves. He also said that the fights between mods and rockers were no different to other fights that occored in the 50’s and 60’s. He argued that the media had created a moral panic and tuened the mods and rockers into ‘folk devils’. For example, the media labelled them as ‘vermin’.

Question 108

The media and youth deviance

What did Young find about interactions between the police and hippies?

Answer 108

The police saw the hiuppies as dirty, scruffy ‘pot-heads’. They brought these meanings to any interaction they had with hippies. This led the hippies to become a more cohesive group and exaggerate deviant traits identified by the police.

Question 109

The media and youth deviance

What three stages of deviancy amplification does Young identify?

Answer 109

1) translation of fantasy- police are susceptible to accepting media stereotypes
2) negotiation of identity- police negotiate evidence they find to fit preconcieved stereotypes
3) amplification- which leads to a self fulfilling prophecy that may amplify deviance.