youth subcultures - deviance/deviant subcultures

Question 2

Youth and deviance - introduction
- terms (8)
- general (7)

Answer 2

Terms (8):
- ‘Delinquent subcultures’, ‘criminal subcultures’, ‘gangs’, ‘organised gangs’, ‘delinquency’, ‘hierarchy’, ‘anti-school’/’anti-education’ subcultures

General (7):
1. Delinquent subcultures: old-fashioned term, anti-social behaviour, not necessarily criminal
2. Criminal subcultures: actively criminal, organised, disorganised
3. Gangs: used by media, organised in hierarchy, name, territory, leader; violence a key element
4. Spectacular subcultures: sociological term; highly visible subcultures of 1950s-1970s (Teddy Boys, Mods, Punks, Skinheads)
5. Anti-school subcultures: pupils rejecting academic/educational norms, values and may be underachieving (anti-school v anti-education)
6. Newer/emerging deviant subcultures: internet and media-influenced subcultures emerging (pro-ana, streamers, ‘lad’ sites, fan-based subcultures)
7. Postmodernists (diverse society, autonomy and self-concept fluidity overtaking set subcultures)

Question 3

Youth and deviance - patterns and trends
- terms (7)
- general (2)
- socs (social class: 2, gender: 4, ethnicity: 5)

Answer 3

Terms (7):
- ‘Delinquent subcultures’, ‘criminal subcultures’, ‘gangs’, ‘organised gangs’, ‘delinquency’, ‘hierarchy’, ‘anti-school’/’anti-education’ subcultures

General (2):
- Difficult to properly calculate, petty offences and crimes vary; some overrepresented, others under researched (sexism, racism, class)
- CPNs (Community Protection Notices), CBOs (Criminal Behaviour Orders) issued, often for youths

Socs (2):
- 10-17yrs 37% of Anti-Social Behaviour orders in 2012
- 2012: ASBOs issued decrease of 6% from 2001, lowest for over a decade

1 - Social class socs/stats (2):
1. Jacobson et al (2010, 200 children in custody found **3/4 **fatherless, half economically deprived, over a quarter witnessed domestic violence, half had disrupted education and school exclusion)
2. Cambridge: longitudinal 400 male study; socioeconomic deprivation key predictor of future criminality

2 - Gender socs/stats (4):
1. Home Office data: men 10-17 responsible for 20% all police-recorded crime (2009-2010), young women for 4%
2. Official Crime data: peak female crime-committing age 15, for males, 18; males grow out of crime in their 20s
3. Official Crime date: female crimes increasing compared to men; 1994-2004 female prisoners increased by 150%
4. Muncie (1999, rise in imprisonment of women (and the moral media panic is) an overreaction)

3 - Ethnicity socs/stats (5):
1. Home Office: black ethnic youths 21% youths in custody (2012/13), but black ethnic youths account for less than 3% population
2. Black ethnic youths more likely to be stopped and searched by police: stopped and searched 7x more than white youths (2009/10)
3. Home Office: black people arrested 3.3x more than white people (2009/10)
4.** Home Office: increase in British Asian crime rates by 5.6%, arrest rates rose by 13% (2009/10)
5. Lea and Young (1993, most crimes ‘intra-racial**’; to understand stats, context and living standards of ethnic communities necessary)

Question 4

Youth deviance, and reasons why - Functionalism
- terms (7)
- general (1)
- socs (8)
- evaluation (2)

Answer 4

Terms (7):
- ‘Delinquent subcultures’, ‘criminal subcultures’, ‘gangs’, ‘organised gangs’, ‘delinquency’, ‘hierarchy’, ‘anti-school’/’anti-education’ subcultures

General (1):
- Focus on the norms and values of subcultures

Socs (8):
1. Merton (1938, deviance (and so innovation, ritualism, retreatism) arises from insecurity of youths unable to contribute to collective society goals, or fulfil expectations set by societal consensus)
2. Cohen, Cloward, Ohlin: argue within a subculture, deviant means of achieving society’s goals becomes the new norm
3. Cohen (1955, due to ‘status frustration’, to get ‘respect in the eyes of one’s fellows’ teen boys seek out status through deviant means)
4. Cloward and Ohlin (1961, to achieve mainstream society’s goals, disadvantaged with ‘blocked opportunities’ working class youths ‘innovate’ through illegitimate or deviant means)
5. Cloward and Ohlin (1961, types of deviant subcultures ensuring means, even if illegitimate: criminal subcultures, conflict subcultures, retreatist subcultures)
6. Miller (1958, partially disagreed with functionalist consensus view: argues working class values are entirely different to middle-class values; ‘focal concerns’ of freedom and excitement over academic success)
7. **Bennett et al (2006, studied young criminals, found ‘righting wrongs’, ‘keeping up appearances’, ‘excitement’** some of the main reasons – “like the buzz you get from doing things”)
8. Centre for Social Justice: “As it becomes harder to get into employment, young people are turning to gangs as an alternative”

Evaluation (2):
- Generalise widely of working class culture; dismisses ethnicity, gender, disability and religion
- Labels criminals and deviant youths as solely white, working-class boys

Question 5

Youth deviance, and reasons why - The New Right
- terms (9)
- general (2)
- socs (2)

Answer 5

Terms (9):
- ‘Delinquent subcultures’, ‘criminal subcultures’, ‘gangs’, ‘organised gangs’, ‘delinquency’, ‘hierarchy’, ‘anti-school’/’anti-education’ subcultures, ‘underclass’/’welfare dependency culture’ (Murray), ‘Left Realists’, ‘neo-Marxists’

General (2):
- Deviance arises from being socialised outside of society’s general consensus of norms and values – this often happens due to discrimination, inequality, etc.
- The extent of these, which class is to blame, and how this should be dealt with varies depending on the New Right thinker.

Socs (2):
1. Murray (1984, deviant youth subcultures not socialised into consensus norms, created an underclass of welfare dependency – lone-parents, absent fathers prime reason for this: ‘boys without fathers grow up unsocialised’)
2. Murray (1984, British need to be less tolerant of underclass, or the issue will worsen)

Question 6

Youth deviance, and reasons why - Marxism/neo-Marxism
- terms (10)
- general (1)
- socs (1)
- evaluation (1)

Answer 6

Terms (10):
- ‘Delinquent subcultures’, ‘criminal subcultures’, ‘gangs’, ‘organised gangs’, ‘delinquency’, ‘hierarchy’, ‘anti-school’/’anti-education’ subcultures, ‘underclass’/’welfare dependency culture’ (Murray), ‘Left Realists’, ‘neo-Marxists’

General (1):
- Deviance arises from disadvantaged youths, excluded and purposeless, finding meaning, structure and protection through resistance against consensus norms and values. Often this is due to inequality, discrimination, social class issues and economic structures.

Socs (1):
1. Lea and Young (1993, reasons for crime and deviance: relative deprivation; media comparison, competition breeding insecurity (1), marginalisation; exclusion, powerlessness (2), subculture; formed to help those excluded and marginalised (3))

Evaluation (1):
- Ignored feminist issues, generalised greatly, focuses solely on social class, arguably outdated in comparison to postmodernism

Question 7

Youth deviance, and reasons why - Interactionism
- terms (14)
- general (1)
- socs (2)
- evaluation (2)

Answer 7

Terms (14):
- ‘Delinquent subcultures’, ‘criminal subcultures’, ‘gangs’, ‘organised gangs’, ‘delinquency’, ‘hierarchy’, ‘anti-school’/’anti-education’ subcultures, ‘underclass’/’welfare dependency culture’ (Murray), ‘Left Realists’, ‘neo-Marxists’, self-fulfilling prophecy, internalisation, socially constructed, agents of social control

General (1):
- See deviance as a social construct, used to define, label and discriminate against specific groups in society (e.g. white working class boys)

Socs (2):
1. Becker (1963, labelling relates to power, creates a self-fulfilling prophecy via internalisation and socialisation; used by powerful agents of socialisation to control groups of people)
2. Cicourel (1968, process of dealing with deviants: 1 - police interrogate, search; 2 - police arrest; 3 - probation officer has profile of ‘delinquent’; how individuals respond and react greatly influences outcome, and this is created by social class socialisation. I.e., delinquents socially constructed, used by agencies of control)

Evaluation (2):
- Acknowledge agents of control, socialisation and labelling, issues of social class
- Dismiss nuances of ethnicity, feminism, disability, etc; also don’t explain why youth commit deviant acts

Question 8

**Youth deviance, and reasons why - **
- terms ()
- general ()
- socs ()
- evaluation ()