Youth culture

Last updated
Student Vietnam War protesters in 1965 Student Vietnam War protesters.JPG
Student Vietnam War protesters in 1965

Youth culture refers to the societal norms of children, adolescents, and young adults. Specifically, it comprises the processes and symbolic systems that are shared by the youth and are distinct from those of adults in the community. [1]

Contents

An emphasis on clothes, popular music, sports, vocabulary, and dating typically sets youth apart from other age groups. [2] Within youth culture, there are many constantly changing youth subcultures, which may be divided based on race, ethnicity, economic status, public appearance, or a variety of other factors. [3]

Existence

There is a debate surrounding the presence, existence, and origins of youth culture. Some researchers argue that youth culture is not a separate culture, as their values and morals are not distinct from those of their parents. Additionally, peer influence varies greatly among contexts, gender, age, and social status, making a single "youth culture" difficult to define. [4] which differ from those of their parent's culture. Janssen et al. used the terror management theory (TMT) to argue for the existence of youth culture. [5] They tested the following hypothesis: "If youth culture serves to help adolescents deal with problems of vulnerability and finiteness, then reminders of mortality should lead to increased allegiance to cultural practices and beliefs of the youth."[ citation needed ] The results supported the hypothesis and the outcome of previous studies, and suggest that youth culture is a culture.

Schwartz and Merten used adolescent language to argue that youth culture is distinct from the rest of society. [6] Schwartz argued that high school students used their vocabulary to create meanings that are distinct to adolescents. Specifically, the adolescent status terminology (the words that adolescents use to describe hierarchical social statuses) contains qualities and attributes that are not present in adult status judgments. According to Schwartz, this reflects a difference in social structures and the ways that adults and teens experience social reality. This difference indicates cultural differences between adolescents and adults, which supports the presence of separate youth culture. [6]

Movements

Throughout the twentieth century, youth have had a strong influence on both lifestyle and culture. The flappers and the Mods are two examples of the impact of youth culture on society. The flappers were young women that were confident about a prosperous future after World War I. [7] This liveliness showed in their new attitudes in life in which they openly drank, smoked, and, in some cases, socialized with gangster-type men. The fashionable dress at the time also reflected the flapper's new lifestyle.

Mods emerged during a time of war and political and social troubles, and stemmed from a group called the modernists. They were young men and women who came from all classes who believed that their fashion choices "gave them entrée everywhere" and empowered them. [8] The Mods' style and embrace of modern technology spread from the UK overseas to North America and other countries.[ citation needed ]

Theories

The presence of youth culture is a relatively recent historical phenomenon. There are several dominant theories about the emergence of youth culture in the 20th century, which include hypotheses about the historical, economic, and psychological influences on the presence of youth culture. One historical theory credits the emergence of youth culture to the beginning of compulsory schooling. James Coleman argues that age segregation is the root of separate youth culture. [9] Before mandatory education, many children and adolescents interacted primarily with adults. In contrast, modern children associate extensively with others their age. These interactions allow adolescents to develop shared experiences and meanings, which are the root of youth culture.

Another theory posits that some cultures facilitate the development of youth culture, while others do not. The basis of this distinction is the presence of universalistic or particularistic norms. Particularistic norms are guidelines for behavior that vary from one individual to another. In contrast, universalistic norms apply to all members of society. [4] Universalistic norms are more likely to be found in industrialized societies. Modernization in the last century has encouraged universalistic norms since interaction in modern societies makes it necessary for everyone to learn the same set of norms. Modernization and universalistic norms have encouraged the growth of youth culture. The need for universalistic norms has made it impractical for young people's socialization to come primarily from immediate family members, which would lead to significant variation in the communicated norms. Therefore, many societies use age grouping, such as in schools, to educate their children on societies' norms and prepare them for adulthood; youth culture is a byproduct of this tactic. Because children spend so much time together and learn the same things as the rest of their age group, they develop their own culture.

Psychological theorists have noted the role of youth culture in identity development. Youth culture may be a means of finding identity when one's path in life is not always clear. Erik Erikson theorized that the vital psychological conflict of adolescence is identity versus role confusion. The goal of this stage of life is to answer the question, "Who am I?"

In many societies, adolescents are expected to behave like children and take on adult roles. Some psychologists have theorized that forming youth culture is a step to adopt an identity that reconciles these two conflicting expectations. For example, Talcott Parsons posited that adolescence is when young people transition from reliance on parents to autonomy. In this transitory state, dependence on the peer group serves as a stand-in for parents. [10] Burlingame restated this hypothesis in 1970. He wrote that adolescents replace parents with the peer group and that this reliance on the peer group diminishes as youth enter adulthood and take on adult roles. [11]

Fasick[ clarification needed ] relates youth culture as a method of identity development to the simultaneous elongation of childhood and the need for independence in adolescence. According to Fasick, adolescents face contradictory pulls from society. Compulsory schooling keeps them socially and economically dependent on their parents, while young people need to achieve some sort of independence to participate in the market economy of modern society. As a means of coping with these contrasting aspects of adolescence, youth create freedom through behavior—specifically, through leisure-oriented activities done with peers. [12]

Impact on adolescents

Example of a participant of emo youth subculture Emo Chic.jpg
Example of a participant of emo youth subculture

For decades, adults have worried that youth subcultures were the root of moral degradation and changing values in younger generations. [4] Researchers have characterized youth culture as embodying values that are "in conflict with those of the adult world". [13] Common concerns about youth culture include a perceived lack of interest in education, involvement in risky behaviors like substance use and sexual activity, and engaging extensively in leisure activities. [14] These perceptions have led many adults to believe that adolescents hold different values than older generations and to perceive youth culture as an attack on the morals of current society. [4] These worries have prompted the creation of parenting websites such as The Youth Culture Report and the Center for Parent Youth Understanding, whose goal is to preserve the values of older generations in young people. [15]

There is no consensus among researchers about whether youth subcultures hold different beliefs than adults do. Some researchers have noted the simultaneous rise in age segregation and adolescent adjustment problems such as suicide, delinquency, and premarital pregnancy. [16] However, most evidence suggests that these youth problems are not a reflection of different morals held by younger generations. Multiple studies have found that most adolescents hold views that are similar to their parents. [17] One study challenged the theory that adolescent cohorts had distanced themselves from their parents by finding that between 1976 and 1982, their problems increased, and they became less peer-oriented. [18] A second study's findings that adolescents' values were more similar to their parents in the 1980s than in the 1960s and '70s echoes Sebald's finding[ clarification needed ]. [19] Another study did find differences between adolescents' and parents' attitudes but found that the differences were in the degree of belief, not in the behavior itself. [20]

There may also be pluralistic ignorance on the part of youth when comparing their attitudes to peers and parents. A study by Lerner et al. asked college students to compare their attitudes on several issues to their peers and parents. Most students rated their attitudes as falling somewhere between their parents' more conservative attitudes and their peers' more liberal attitudes. The authors suggested that the reason for this is that the students perceived their friends as more liberal than they were. [21]

Sports, language, music, clothing, and dating tend to be superficial ways of expressing autonomy—they can be adopted without compromising one's beliefs or values. [12] Some areas in which adolescents assert autonomy can cause long-term consequences, such as substance use and sexual activity.

The impact of youth culture on deviance and sexual behavior is debatable. More than 70 percent of American high school students report having drunk alcohol. [22] Similarly, about two-thirds of teenagers have engaged in sexual intercourse by the time they leave high school. [22] As drinking and having sex may be common in adolescence, many researchers include them as aspects of youth culture. [12] While engaging in these activities can have harmful consequences, the majority of adolescents who engage in these risky behaviors do not suffer long-term consequences. The possibilities of addiction, pregnancy, incarceration, and other negative outcomes are some potentially negative effects of participation in youth culture. Research demonstrates that many factors may influence youth to engage in high-risk behaviors, including "a lack of stable role models, heightened family stresses, lowered levels of family investment, weakened emotional bonds between parents and their children, lowered levels of social capital and social control, and a lack of hope in ones[ sic ] future". [23]

Teen culture may also have benefits for adolescents. Peer influence can have a positive effect on adolescents' well-being; for example, most teens report that peer pressure stops them from using drugs or engaging in sexual activity. [4]

Impact on society in general

Young people can make changes in society, such as through youth-led revolutions. Organizations of young people, which were often based on student identity, were crucial to the American civil rights movement, which included organizations like the Southern Student Organizing Committee, Students for a Democratic Society, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. The Freedom Summer campaign relied heavily on college students; hundreds of students engaged in registering African Americans to vote, teaching in "Freedom Schools", and organizing the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. [24]

The American protests in the Vietnam War were also student-driven. Many college campuses opposed the war with sit-ins and demonstrations. Organizations such as the Young Americans for Freedom, the Student Libertarian Movement, and the Student Peace Union were based on youth status and contributed to anti-war activities. Some scholars have claimed that the activism during the Vietnam War was symbolic of a youth culture whose values were against mainstream American culture. [25] [26]

In the early 2010s, the Arab Spring illustrated how young people played roles in demonstrations and protests. The movement was initiated primarily by young people, mostly college students dissatisfied with the opportunities afforded to them. The participation of young people prompted Time magazine to include several youth members of the movement in its 2011 list of 100 most influential people. [27] Additionally, this movement utilized social media (which is considered an aspect of youth culture)[ citation needed ] to schedule, coordinate, and publicize events. [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialization</span> Lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologies

In sociology, socialization is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society. Socialization encompasses both learning and teaching and is thus "the means by which social and cultural continuity are attained".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adolescence</span> Human transition from puberty to adult

Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood. Adolescence is usually associated with the teenage years, but its physical, psychological or cultural expressions may begin earlier or end later. Puberty typically begins during preadolescence, particularly in females. Physical growth and cognitive development can extend past the teens. Age provides only a rough marker of adolescence, and scholars have not agreed upon a precise definition. Some definitions start as early as 10 and end as late as 30. The World Health Organization definition officially designates an adolescent as someone between the ages of 10 and 19.

Peer pressure is a direct or indirect influence on peers, i.e., members of social groups with similar interests and experiences, or social statuses. Members of a peer group are more likely to influence a person's beliefs, values, religion and behavior. A group or individual may be encouraged and want to follow their peers by changing their attitudes, values or behaviors to conform to those of the influencing group or individual. For the individual affected by peer pressure, this can have both a positive or negative effect on them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peer group</span> Primary group of people with similar interests, age, background, or social status

In sociology, a peer group is both a social group and a primary group of people who have similar interests (homophily), age, background, or social status. Members of peer groups are likely to influence each others' beliefs and behaviour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juvenile delinquency</span> Illegal behavior by minors

Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. These acts would otherwise be considered crimes if the individuals committing them were older. The term delinquent usually refers to juvenile delinquency, and is also generalised to refer to a young person who behaves an unacceptable way.

Adolescent cliques are cliques that develop amongst adolescents. In the social sciences, the word "clique" is used to describe a group of 3 to 12 "who interact with each other more regularly and intensely than others in the same setting". Cliques are distinguished from "crowds" in that their members socially interact with one another more than the typical crowd. Crowds, on the other hand, are defined by reputation. Although the word 'clique' or 'cliquey' is often used in day-to-day conversation to describe relational aggression or snarky, gossipy behaviors of groups of socially dominant teenage girls, that is not always accurate. Interacting with cliques is part of normative social development regardless of gender, ethnicity, or popularity. Although cliques are most commonly studied during adolescence and in educational settings, they can exist in all age groups and settings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ephebiphobia</span> Fear of youth

Ephebiphobia is the fear of youth. First coined as the "fear or loathing of teenagers", today the phenomenon is recognized as the "inaccurate, exaggerated and sensational characterization of young people" in a range of settings around the world. Studies of the fear of youth occur in sociology and youth studies. It is distinguished from pedophobia by being more focused on adolescents than prepubescent children.

Relational aggression, alternative aggression, or relational bullying is a type of aggression in which harm is caused by damaging someone's relationships or social status.

Political socialization is the process by which individuals internalize and develop their political values, ideas, attitudes, and perceptions via the agents of socialization. Political socialization occurs through processes of socialization that can be structured as primary and secondary socialization. Primary socialization agents include the family, whereas secondary socialization refers to agents outside the family. Agents such as family, education, media, and peers influence the most in establishing varying political lenses that frame one's perception of political values, ideas, and attitudes. These perceptions, in turn, shape and define individuals' definitions of who they are and how they should behave in the political and economic institutions in which they live. This learning process shapes perceptions that influence which norms, behaviors, values, opinions, morals, and priorities will ultimately shape their political ideology: it is a "study of the developmental processes by which people of all ages and adolescents acquire political cognition, attitudes, and behaviors." These agents expose individuals through varying degrees of influence, inducing them into the political culture and their orientations towards political objects. Throughout a lifetime, these experiences influence your political identity and shape your political outlook. 

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Youth subculture</span> Subcultures associated with young people

Youth subculture is a youth-based subculture with distinct styles, behaviors, and interests. Youth subcultures offer participants an identity outside of that ascribed by social institutions such as family, work, home and school. Youth subcultures that show a systematic hostility to the dominant culture are sometimes described as countercultures.

Teenage rebellion is a part of social development in adolescents in order for them to develop an identity independent from their parents or family and a capacity for independent decision-making. Teenage rebellion usually begins at around 13 years old, while for some it may start to happen 1-2 years before puberty. It then ends at around 18-24 years old. They may experiment with different roles, behaviors, and ideologies as part of this process of developing an identity. Teenage rebellion has been recognized within psychology as a set of behavioral traits that supersede class, culture, or race; some psychologists, however, have disputed the universality of the phenomenon. According to Terror Management Theory, the child's allegiance to parental authority and worldviews can weaken after the discovery that parents, like themselves and everyone else, are mortal. This realization creates an unconscious need for security that is broader than what the parents alone provide. This can lead to new cultural allegiances, in the search for a more enduring sense of meaning. Teenagers seek to perceive themselves a valued contributor to aspects of culture that more convincingly outlive or transcend the mortal individual's lifespan. However, since the parents also instill their cultural beliefs onto the child, if the child does not come to associate their parents' mortality with their cultural beliefs, the chances of rebellion decrease.

Alternative fashion or alt fashion is fashion that stands apart from mainstream, commercial fashion. It includes both styles which do not conform to the mainstream fashion of their time and the styles of specific subcultures. Some alternative fashion styles are attention-grabbing and more artistic than practical, while some develop from anti-fashion sentiments that focus on simplicity and utilitarianism.

Emerging adulthood, early adulthood, or post-adolescence refers to a phase of the life span between late adolescence and early adulthood, as initially proposed by Jeffrey Arnett in a 2000 article from American Psychologist. It primarily describes people living in developed countries, but it is also experienced by young adults in wealthy urban families in the Global South. The term describes young adults who do not have children, do not live in their own homes, and/or do not have sufficient income to become fully independent. Arnett suggests emerging adulthood is the distinct period between 20 and 29 years of age where young adults become more independent and explore various life possibilities.

Identity formation, also called identity development or identity construction, is a complex process in which humans develop a clear and unique view of themselves and of their identity.

Religious identity is a specific type of identity formation. Particularly, it is the sense of group membership to a religion and the importance of this group membership as it pertains to one's self-concept. Religious identity is not necessarily the same as religiousness or religiosity. Although these three terms share a commonality, religiousness and religiosity refer to both the value of religious group membership as well as participation in religious events. Religious identity, on the other hand, refers specifically to religious group membership regardless of religious activity or participation.

Crowds are large groups of adolescents defined by their shared image and reputation. Crowd membership is externally imposed and not a direct consequence of interaction with other members of the crowd.

Adolescent sexuality in Canada is not as well documented as adolescent sexuality in the United States; despite the proximity of the two nations, Canada has its own unique culture and generalizations about Canadian adolescent sexuality based on American research can be misleading. Because of this, several surveys and studies have been conducted which acquired information on Canadian adolescent sexuality. Surveys which provide this information include the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), the National Population Health Survey (NPHS) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY). According to information drawn from the Canadian Community Health Survey and the National Population Health Survey, in 2005 43% of teens aged 15 to 19 reported that they had had sexual intercourse at least once.

Jeffrey Jensen Arnett is a professor in the Department of Psychology at Clark University in Massachusetts. His main research interest is in "emerging adulthood", a term he coined, which refers to the distinct phase between adolescence and young adulthood, occurring from the ages of 18 to 25.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legal socialization</span>

Legal socialization is the process through which, individuals acquire attitudes and beliefs about the law, legal authorities, and legal institutions. This occurs through individuals' interactions, both personal and vicarious, with police, courts, and other legal actors. To date, most of what is known about legal socialization comes from studies of individual differences among adults in their perceived legitimacy of law and legal institutions, and in their cynicism about the law and its underlying norms. Adults' attitudes about the legitimacy of law are directly tied to individuals' compliance with the law and cooperation with legal authorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delinquency spiral</span> Psychological mechanism in adolescence

The delinquency spiral is a psychosocial mechanism that helps understand the involvement in delinquency of certain individuals, whether adults or minors. It concerns the onset and worsening of delinquency in adolescence. It is during adolescence that young people are first confronted with peers who have delinquent values and/or behaviors. They may experience a discrepancy between their own values and behaviors and those of their peers. To reduce this dissonance, young people may either increase their involvement in delinquency or decrease it.

References

  1. ↑ "Youth culture". Archived from the original on 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
  2. ↑ Fasick, Frank A. (1984). Parents, Peers, Youth Culture and Autonomy in Adolescence., Adolescence, 19(73) p.143-157
  3. ↑ Hughes, Lorine A.; Short, James F. (2015). "Gangs, Sociology of". International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. pp. 592–597. doi:10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.45026-9. ISBN   978-0-08-097087-5.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Steinberg, L. (2008). Adolescence. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.[ page needed ]
  5. ↑ Janssen, Jacques; Dechesne, Mark; Van Knippenberg, Ad (December 1999). "The Psychological Importance of Youth Culture: A Terror Management Approach". Youth & Society. 31 (2): 152–167. doi:10.1177/0044118X99031002002. S2CID   141095062.
  6. 1 2 Schwartz, Gary; Merten, Don (March 1967). "The Language of Adolescence: An Anthropological Approach to the Youth Culture". American Journal of Sociology. 72 (5): 453–468. doi:10.1086/224376. PMID   6071974. S2CID   7855500.
  7. ↑ Goldberg, Ronald Allen (2003). America in the Twenties. New York: Syracuse University Press. p. 138.
  8. ↑ Feldman, Christine (2009). "We Are The Mods:" A Transnational History of a Youth Subculture. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc. p. 25.
  9. ↑ Coleman, James Samuel (1961). The adolescent society. Free Press. ISBN   0029064007.[ page needed ]
  10. ↑ Parsons, T. The Social System. Glencoe, Ill: Free Press, 1951.[ page needed ]
  11. ↑ Burlingame, W.V. The youth culture. In E.D. Evans (Ed.), Adolescents: Readings in behavior and development. Hinsdale, Ill: Dryden Press, 1970, pp. 131-149.
  12. 1 2 3 Fasick, Frank A (Spring 1984). "Parents, Peers, Youth Culture and Autonomy in Adolescence". Adolescence. 19 (73): 143–157. ProQuest   1295932867.
  13. ↑ Sugarman, Barry (1967). "Involvement in Youth Culture, Academic Achievement and Conformity in School: An Empirical Study of London Schoolboys". The British Journal of Sociology. 18: 151–317. doi:10.2307/588602. JSTOR   588602. PMID   6046858.
  14. ↑ Parsons, T. (1954). Age and Sex in the Social Structure of the United States. In Essays in Sociological Theory, 89-103. New York: Free Press.
  15. ↑ "What is CPYU?". Archived from the original on December 9, 2011. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  16. ↑ Bronfenbrenner, U. (1974). The origins of alienation. Scientific American, 231, 53-61.
  17. ↑ Fasick, F. (1984). Parents, Peers, Youth Culture and Autonomy in Adolescence., Adolescence, 19(73), 143-157.
  18. ↑ Sebald, H. (1986). Adolescents' shifting orientation toward parents and peers: A curvilinear trend over recent decades. Journal of Marriage and Family, 48, 5-13.
  19. ↑ Gecas, V., & Seff, M. (1990). Families and adolescents: A review of the 1980s. Journal of Marriage and Family, 52, 941-958.
  20. ↑ Weinstock, A., & Lerner, R.M. (1972). Attitudes of late adolescents and their parents toward contemporary issues. Psychological Reports, 30, 239-244.
  21. ↑ Lerner, R.M., Meisels, M., & Knapp, J.R. (1975). Actual and perceived attitudes of late adolescents and their parents: The phenomenon of the generation gaps. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 126, 195-207.
  22. 1 2 apps.nccd.cdc.gov=[ permanent dead link ]
  23. ↑ Shanahan, Michael J. (2000). "Pathways to Adulthood in Changing Societies: Variability and MechanismsIn Life Course Perspective". Annual Review of Sociology. 26: 667–692. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.26.1.667.
  24. ↑ "Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement -- Mississippi Movement & MFDP". Archived from the original on 2008-04-24. Retrieved 2011-12-19.
  25. ↑ Harrison, Benjamin T. (2000)'Roots of the Anti-Vietnam War Movement,' in Hixson, Walter (ed) the Vietnam Antiwar Movement. New York: Garland Publishing
  26. ↑ Meyer, David S. 2007. The Politics of Protest: Social Movements in America. New York: Oxford University Press.
  27. ↑ "Youth of the Arab Spring Among TIME's 100 Most Influential | the Arab American Institute". Archived from the original on April 24, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  28. ↑ "The Arab Uprising's Cascading Effects | Smart Journalism. Real Solutions. Miller-McCune". Archived from the original on March 1, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.