Sociology of Youth Studies Part 2

1. SOCIOLOG Y OF
Y OUTH STUDIES

2. SO FAR
• Durkheim
• Merton
• Becker
• Cohen

4. • Build on the work of Marx
– Society is built on class divisions
– Progress is the economic advancement
of one class
– There is a play of power
– Capitalism doesn’t benefit everyone
• Gramsci
– Hegemony allows for cultural
domination
– The Organic intellectual
• Bourdieu
– Social, Cultural and Symbolic Capital
– Hegemony in socialisation – symbolic
violence (blindess)
Conflict Theories

5. • Subcultural Theories
• Chicago School (Merton)
– Thrasher
– Albert Cohen
– Gangs – subcultures can be defined through
their delinquent behaviours & function
• Birmingham School (Marx)
– Phil Cohen
– Subcultures take on styles
– Are working-class and subjected
– The style is a voice of resistance and the
taking on of labels
• Countercultures
• Recent developments
Conflict Theories

6. • Influenced by the work of Foucault,
Said and Wittigenstein
• The concept of ‘adolescence’ is a
social construction
• Inequalities are way deeper than class
• Exploring our history can reveal how
the traces of inequalities remain
today
• Psychology is a deeply problematic
western science
• Authenticity and identity are key
• The place of resistance
Postmodern Understandings

7. CASE STUDIES:
SMASHPROOF: BROTHER
DAVID DALLAS: SOUTHSIDE
TIPENE: WESTSIDE
TRU REZ CREW: I’M A LUCKY ONE
WARPARTY: FEELIN’ RESERVED