Emergence of youth subcultures - OCR A2 SOCIOLOGY

Emergence of youth subcultures - OCR A2 SOCIOLOGY

1. Functionalist

   • Peer subcultures give youth's a sense of belonging which they no longer receive from the family and have not yet experienced from work
   • Parsons
     • 'Youth' emerged due to changes in the family associated with development of capitalism
     • Developments in work required more training and socialisation for young people
     • 'Right of passage' between childhood and adulthood
   • Eindstadt
     • Reduces stress and gives young people a sense of belonging
   • Abrams
     • Youth culture created by the media
     • Youth emergence linked to youth spending power

2. Marxist

   • Youth subcultures are a form of resistance against the ruling class and a reaction to the economic situation working-class youths found themselves in
   • Hall and Jefferson
     • Resistance through rituals

3. Feminist

   • McRobbie and Garber
     • Girls are conspicuously absent from most research on youth subcultures
       • Mulvey
         • Male Gaze
       • Bedroom Culture

4. Postmodernist

   • Youth styles are now much more fluid and changeable
   • Manchester Institute of Popular Culture (MIPC)
     • No clear identity found in 'club cultures'
       • Thornton
         • Subcultural capital
           • Know whats in and out, used to gain status and distinguish from mainstream followers
       • Redhead
         • Media-driven reality
         • Media formed cultures
   • Neo-Tribes
     • Bennett
       • Neo-tribes clear when looking at nightclubs in Newcastle
     • Maffesoli
       • Loosely organised grouping with no fixed membership or commitment
     • Holland and Chatterton
       • Rather than having Neo-tribes, we have the majority of youths characterised by commercial chart music, drinking culture and pleasure-seeking behaviour.
   • Polhemus
     • Supermarket of style

5. Postman

   • Disappearance of childhood
     • Due to media interference and increased learning
   • Youth to stop children facing adult problems