Youth

Question 1

two key stages of transition

Answer 1

1) education to employment

2) parental home to independent home

Question 2

Youth as ‘time out’

Answer 2

Hockey and James
3 parts
1) separation-from previous childhood role
2) reintergration-into new stage
3) liminal period-in between stage
-processes that go on in liminal stage transform them giving them new status

Question 3

quote from James about bodies

Answer 3

“bodies of young people are major definitional criterion for marking adolescence

Question 4

modern Britain on youth (summarise view)

Answer 4

physiological aspects have less importance.

not considered an adult just because bodies have matured

Question 5

puberty definition

Answer 5

physiological changes that differentiate adults from children, changes that accompany and include development of reproductive capacities

Question 6

puberty is affected by cultural factors-who argues this?

Answer 6

Field and Field
-e..g diet and stress
-

Question 7

modern britain onset of puberty is at what age compared to pre-industrial times

Answer 7

• modern day 12/13

- pre-industrial times aged 3/4 (Gillis)`

Question 8

differences in understanding beginning of adulthood over historical time

Answer 8

pre-industrial time, adulthood achieved after puberty.
modern Britain, not just regarded as adults due to bodily changes. the state considers adult at 18 but even then not really an adult (no set age)

Question 9

who sees youth as a gradual and lengthy process?

Answer 9

Hutson and Jenkins

-involves gradual inclusion into independent adulthood

Question 10

cultural differences in physiological factors affecting when you become and adult (who and what)

Answer 10

Brannen et al

• whilst UK parents see it as normal for kids to become more independent, those born outside UK didn’t see it as a time for increasing separation from household
• common with Asian/middle eastern families

Question 11

cross-cultural perspecitves Langley

Answer 11

Nandi people in Kenya

-moment of circumcision is moment they become an adult

Question 12

cross-cultural perspective Richards

Answer 12

Bemba people of Zambia

-Chinsunga ceremony after girl has first period

Question 13

1950/60s celebration of youth

Answer 13

Abram’s paper on the teenage consumer

• teenage spending in late 50s made up significant proportion of overall spending on goods/services e.g. motorbikes and stereos
• stylised youth identities e.g. teddy boys

Question 14

how does Brake describe those who dressed can afford to style youth identity

Answer 14

male, white, mc, beign ‘part-time’-pariticipated in out work time

Question 15

demographic factors (1950/60s)

Answer 15

youth population became a larger cohort
ww2 disrupted established patterns of social behaviour/experiences
-leave school at 15 walk straight into a job

Question 16

marginalization of youth (1980s to present day)

Answer 16

• decline in levels of employment

- recession hit them hardest as lack of skills

Question 17

thinkers such as Maguire

Answer 17

talk about structural shifts in the economy
decline in traditional jobs requiring manual labour
-expansion of service sector
-larger cohort in 70/80s meant more people chasing fewer jobs

Question 18

how did government help with marginalization of youth?

Answer 18

-kept in state education

Question 19

age, social class and ethnicity factors

Answer 19

• teen marriage rates down from 1 in 4 to 1 in 18 (Kiernan and Wicks)
• Jones and Wallace-wc women experience marriage and pregnancy earlier than white males

Question 20

who talks about individualisation (relate to youth cultures) and what is his argument?

Answer 20

• Beck: the risk society
• changes in employment and family life make life courses less certain than previous society
• back then, life courses were predictable and defined by factors such as ethnicity
• now less differentiated
• flexible biographical project we can direct as individuals
• but increased choice brings increased uncertainty

Question 21

why is extension of the youth phase beneficial?

Answer 21

• can take stock of all options
• but also risk and uncertainty
• peer groups important because spend longer in age graded institutions

Question 22

youth culture definition

Answer 22

group of interacting individuals experiencing common shared problems and experiences and develop particular meaning systems, forms of expression and lifestyles

Question 23

Murdock annd McCrota describe youth as:

Answer 23

“becoming a generation for itself with distinct consciousness and style

Question 24

who talks about functions of youth cultures?

Answer 24

Eisenstadt

Question 25

functions of youth cultures (Eisenstadt)

Answer 25

• young people must rid themselves of behaviour enacted with parents and other adult kin
• in pre-modern times, smooth process
• attain adult status in the social system through patterns of behaviour acquired within the family
• modern society, individuals learn according to universal standards rather than particularised family standards
• youth cultures are partly orientated towards adult roles and partly defensive against them

Question 26

who agrees with Eisenstadt and why?

Answer 26

Parsons-thought youth cultures function for easing process from childhood to adulthood. leave behind emotional dependency of childhood in prep for adult roles

Question 27

criticism that applies to Eisenstadt and Parsons

Answer 27

using a white middle class model-no diversity

Question 28

who talks about marxist views and youth culture and argues what?

Answer 28

Clarke et al

• age doesn’t matter more than social class
• cultural study perspectives argue youth cultures win space for young people, culturally, spacially and time wise
• styalised forms may be symbolicc attempts to defy class structure
• e.g. teddy boy exploration of upper class Edwardian style can be interpreted as a symbolic solution to the reality of manual unskilled careers and life chances

Question 29

criticisms of Clarke et al

Answer 29

McRobbie and Garber-only focus on male youth and the spectacular rather than the ordinary

Question 30

how do functionalists and marxists agree over youth cultures?

Answer 30

see it as a coping mechanism

Question 31

who talks about differing youth cultures throughout history?

Answer 31

Brake (COHORTS)

• cohorts of young people have to work out/through problems of transition to adulthood
• social class position affects life course chances differently to those before/after them

Question 32

criticism of Brake

Answer 32

only focused on leisure activities

Question 33

how does Coffield describe 1950/60 youth culture?

Answer 33

‘golden age of youth’

Question 34

evidence of 1950/60 youth culture being the golden age

Answer 34

Carter (1962) found in a sample of 200, 1/2 had jobs before leaving school, and half the boys and 2/3 girls had jobs within first two weeks after leaving (prosperous labour market)

Question 35

who supports Carters study?

Answer 35

Maizel (1970) found similar evidence, 1/2 obtained jobs whilst still at school

Question 36

who directly criticised Beck?

Answer 36

Furlong and Cartmel

• agree things have changed and there are new risks towards adulthood
• but see social class as an important shaping factor, affecting transitional stages

Question 37

evidence of social class factors becoming less important

Answer 37

-Health (1 in 4 uni students have psychological health issues), eating disorders, binge drinking, drug use