YS: THEORETICAL VIEWS

Question 1

What do functionalists generally believe about youth?

Answer 1

As they see society as based on consensus, social integration is vital. Functionalists see youth as a transition from childhood to adulthood.

Question 2

Parsons - ‘youth’ as a social category.

Answer 2

Only emerged due to changes in the family associated with the development of capitalism.

Question 3

Parsons - youth as a transitional stage.

Answer 3

Potentially stressful time where an individual must learn to leave the security of the family and become an independent person.

Question 4

Eisenstadt - youth culture.

Answer 4

A way of bringing young people into society. During this isolated period there could be a risk of stress and anomie.

Question 5

Eisenstadt - offerings of youth culture.

Answer 5

Provide a safe outlet for the tensions that the transition from childhood to adulthood may bring. ‘Let off steam’.

Question 6

Abrams - media and youth culture.

Answer 6

Because the emergence of youth as a distinct group with spending power. They began to be targeted by businesses and media.

Question 6

How can the functionalist view of youth be criticised? What do Neo-Marxists say?

Answer 6

Do not identify clear distinctions such as class, race or gender. Neo-Marxists for example, focused on the link between class and youth subcultures.

Question 7

What type of youth subcultures did marxists tend to focus on?

Answer 7

Spectacular subcultures.

Question 8

Who were the CCCS inspired by?

Answer 8

More recent marxist thinkers such as Gramsci and his concept of ‘hegemony’. The ideological dominance or social authority that the ruling class has over the subordinate class.

Question 9

CCCS’ analysis - link youth subcultures with class.

Answer 9

They recognised that though the youths dressed and looked different to their parents, they still faced the same experiences and social conditions facing their class as a whole.

Question 10

CCCS - youth resistance.

Answer 10

Resistance against the ruling class and a reaction to the economic situation WC youths found themselves in.

Question 11

What is the main criticism of the marxist/CCCS perspective on youth?

Answer 11

They ignore the fact that the middle class also had subcultures.

Question 12

How do feminists challenge the CCCS?

Answer 12

For ignoring girls in their subcultural analysis. McRobbie and Garber were part of the CCCS but created their own analysis based on the role of girls.

Question 13

Which marxist sociologist researched middle-class subcultures (hippies)?

Answer 13

Brake, who was a part of the CCCS.

Question 14

What did feminists McRobbie and Garber argue about girls in subcultures?

Answer 14

Girls were conspicuously absent from most research on youth subcultures, though when they did it was reinforcing stereotypes.

Question 15

What was one of the main reasons for the focus on males in subcultures?

Answer 15

Most researchers at this time were male - developed a rapport with male subjects.

Question 16

What did feminists McRobbie and Garber argue about the importance of female youth subcultures?

Answer 16

Girls negotiate in different spaces to those inhabited by boys and their friendship groups were often very close-knit.

Question 17

How can the feminist perspective be criticised? By which group particularly?

Answer 17

Recent developments, postmodernism, may mean that gender is less significant, and that current subcultures do not have any clear gender divisions.

Question 18

What is the overall postmodernist perspective on youth subcultures?

Answer 18

Youth culture has become increasingly fragmented and diverse. Styles are much more fluid and changeable.

Question 19

What did the postmodern MIPS find in their research of ‘club culture’?

Answer 19

Among the clubbers there was no clear gender, class or economic distinctions.

Question 20

What does postmodernist Thornton call club cultures?

Answer 20

‘Taste cultures’.

Question 21

What is having subcultural capital about according to postmodernist Thornton?

Answer 21

About being in the know about what is “in” or “out” on the subcultural scene.

Question 22

What does Redhead argue about authentic subcultures, based off of Thornton’s findings?

Answer 22

The idea of authentic subcultures that develop outside of the media influence could no longer be sustained as subcultures are formed within media.

Question 23

What does postmodernist Maffesoli mean by the term ‘Neo-tribes’?

Answer 23

Refers to a much more loosely organised grouping with no fixed membership or deep commitment. Young people may ‘flit’ from tribe to tribe.

Question 24

How does postmodernist Bennett support the idea of Neo-tribes in his research of Newcastle nightclubs?

Answer 24

He found Neo-tribalism which recognises the shifting nature and fluidity of preferences.

Question 25

How does postmodernist Polhemus develop this idea of fluidity?

Answer 25

Through the ‘supermarket of style’ in which youths can create different identities through picking from various cultures, fashions, lifestyles etc.

Question 26

How does the work of Hollands and Chatterton criticise the postmodern viewpoint?

Answer 26

They argue that youth culture today is largely ‘mainstream’ and corporate.

Question 27

How is the postmodernist perspective on fluidity criticised?

Answer 27

The fluid world of Neo-tribes should mean that everyone is equal, but this is not true for many groups who still divide themselves based on class or gender lines.