YOUTH & DEVIANCE

YOUTH & DEVIANCE

CLASS
1. Youths from working class cultures are more likely to be considered to be deviant. Arguably the reason could be down to income, such as the poor youth thieving or taking drugs.
2. Often white collar crime is considered more socially acceptable than working class crime for example, burglary and robbery cost the US government 3.8 billion a year whereas white colour crimes amount to 500 billion a year (human) Conflict Theory would suggest that White collar crime is difficult to identify and that they can use their power and influence to avoid prosecution. White collar criminals are much less likely than working-class individuals to face prison sentence.
3. According to functionalists the morality of the majority of people define what is to be aspired to and the implications of this way of thinking has serious implications for people from a lower class backgroud, the reason for this, is because they do not have the means IE income, education to aspire to the moral majorities expectations.
4. It could be considered that the criminalization of deviance is where the actions of the poor are more likely to be considered deviant, leaving the rich untouchable. When considering young people in the mix it is apparent that they are constantly deviant according to the mass media. Marxist would believe this is a form of oppression to keep the working class young people working within working class routes.
5. The mass media such as newspapers are a prime example of causing class inequality.The press only publish the negative effects of certain groups such as the benefit system causing devices between classes. It could be considered that there are delinquencies within the benefit system due to peoples entitle meants. For example, child tax credits and nursery care can be claimed with an income of 150K yet tax credits hav a cap of 13.3K. Marxist would argue that this is to keep incomes low to oppress the working class too keep them under the illusion of power.
YOUNG PEOPLE
1. It could be argued that youth or the term youth is socially constructed therefore, society constructs the way we understand and experience youth often through mainstream media. For example, hoodies to be feared.
2. Historically Young people or the term youth has changed, for example in the 19th century children as young as five would go out to work, now children are protected from exploitation in the work place. Similary children in third world countries (Inda) work in sweat shops from very young ages, where as children in the west do not work until they are sixteen.
3. Labelling theory would argue that the term youth has negative connotations, IE when mainstream newspaper publish articles surrounding young people they will always refer to them as youth or youth of today, especially when crime is brought into the mix.
4. In historical terms, “youth culture” studies are relatively new for sociological analysis, it appears that most studies are mainly post 2nd world war. Early studies in this area were mainly produced by Functionalist sociologists (the dominant sociological perspective in 1940's / '50's) and tended to focus upon "youth" as a distinctive form of culture. general themes in this "sociology of youth" tended to be things like:
  1. The idea that "youth" represents a period of "ambivalence" - a distinct phase in human social development that represents a transition period from childhood to full adulthood.
    1. • Youths holding norms and values that were significantly different to the norms and values held by their parents..
5. It could be argued that the actions of our young people are often seen with expressed trepidation by society due to the various moral panics on the subject, resulting in communities becoming saturated with anxiety and fear. These moral panics are often spurred on by multi media such as Facebook and twitter but undeniably the force of the mass media has shaped peoples mind on our young people.
6. Arguably young people are considered more deviant than adults this is to young people having no social status. Anti-social behaviour, subcultural activity and non-conformity in youth is very common within society and arguably this may be considered as delinquency but although young people do not conform to society this does not mean they are braking the law. Its apparent that Young people are associated with street crime, drug addiction, alcoholism where as adults are not.
ETHNICITY
1. Gilroy argues in his book Ain't no black in the union jack 1987 Gilroy moves away from the analysis that black is evil and speaks more about the division between colour and ethinictity, Gilroy would suggest that the western word is more superior IE ethnocentric. Gilroy would also suggest that the reporting of the mainstream reader is often the case of racism.
2. Media representation from the press include, migrants take all new jobs in Britain, Muslims school ban our culture, strangers in our own country and keep out Britain is full up.
3. It is apparent that ethnicity can be important in relation to the identity and purpose of specific youth subcultures. You could argue that youth subcultures can be defined as meaning systems, way of expression or lifestyle developed by groups in subordinate structural positions in response to dominant systems.
4. Integrationist’s theorist Stan Cohen argues youth sub cultures are not coherent social groupings that arise spontaneously as a reaction to social forces. But that the mass media's labelling results in the creation of youth subcultures. This theory also accounts for factors such as gender and ethnicity.
5. When society is subjected to negative front page press from the daily express and the daily mail on a regular occurrence it alters the publics discourse on ethnicity, race and cultures. It disregards the positive enriching of Britain by the many nations and cultures in our multicultural society. Instead it brings suspicion, anger, division and competition with other races and individual minority groups in society.
GENDER
1. It is apparent when looking at crime related statistics that men are more likely to commit masculine based crime such as violence and spending. arguably this could be due to the social construction of masculinity. Deviant behaviour is often associated with males, furthermore when women commit certain crime such as murder and child abuse people are out raged more so than males arguably this could be consider that women shoudld be more moralistic than men because they are they are the ones who give birth.
2. It is apparent when looking at different theorists in relation to gender and crime that the theorists theorise crime as the domain of men without considering women.
3. The marxist would argue that society alienates people through the class struggle for example youth are alienated from the social system which in turn encourages oppression for the working class youth which essentially stops life chances and maintains inequality.
4. “With few exceptions, the development of theories of deviance and delinquency has evolved along gender-specific lines. Mainstream theories have usually been formulated to explain the deviant behavior of young males. Conversely, those theories developed to explain female deviance have been on the periphery of the field. The gender-specific origins of many deviance theories have led some to argue that “general” theories of deviance are little more than specific theories of male deviance.”
5. Cynthia Cockburn would highlight that masculinity is the result of crime, Cynthia would carry on to say that 92% of crime is carried out by males with females very much conforming to the female role in society. Cynthia would also say that masculinity is socially constructed which in turn causes crime. If you look at the Sex Role Theory, this theory argues that boys and girls are socialised differently therefore resulting in boys becoming more delinquent
Deviance is an absence of conformity to these norms. Social norms differ from culture to culture. For example, a deviant act can be committed in one society that breaks a social norm there, but may be normal for another society. Race, class, gender and age are alternately seen as direct contributors to deviant behaviour, as stigmatized statuses that are targets for deviant labelling, and as sources of power to exert that very same social control.
Deviance can be defined as acting or behaving out side of what society generally believe is "normal" Youths are labelled as deviant based on the clothes they wear the language they use activity that they engage in, for example skate boarders are seen to be drug takers (weed smokers). Conceptions of deviant behaviour are labelled hoodie, Emo, goth, and Chav. Generally deviance relates to uncarpeted attitudes or an individual chosen life style.

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	Created by charlie.hornsbur over 9 years ago