Learning Topic 2 Reflect understanding of youth cultures, sub cultures and development
By the end of this topic you will learn to:
Be aware of youth culture, sub cultures and youth development of how these impact on a young person's actions and decisions
Use relevant approaches, appropriate to the culture and background of the young person
Assess the impact of your own cultural values and ethnocentrism on youth work
Section 2.1 Understanding youth culture and sub cultures
"The way young people are, their position in the social world, and their own perceptions of their position, is always complex and complicated."
So say Joanna Wyn and Rob White in their book 'Youth and Society' (1997).
The idea of youth culture is an enduring theme in youth studies. Yet youth theory contains much debate about whether the quest for identity is more influential on a young person's development than the culture that they develop in. In our Western society, the focus on the individual means that this debate rages. Understanding youth almost becomes a contest between understanding the personal experiences that young people have (ie: the interpretations of individuals) versus the emphasis on the existence of definable youth groups (youth culture).
However the understanding of youth as belonging to a 'youth culture' has been around since the 1950s, and some would argue (Wyn and White) since the 1920s. We understand young people as being part of 'Gen X' or 'Gen Y' etc. We use these labels in an attempt to describe distinctive lifestyle characteristics of different generations of young people.
However these terms are too broad to provide a useful analysis of young people. They are superficial in the sense that they do not provide any analysis of the world that young people live in. Beginning to understand youth subculture can help here.
A youth subculture is a youth-based subculture with distinct styles, behaviours, and interests. Youth subcultures offer participants an identity outside of that ascribed by social institutions such as family, work, home and school. Whatever their specific features and characteristics, youth subculture offers young people the opportunity to display their uniqueness, their distinctiveness, their individuality; a way of asserting identity in relation to presumed adult norms as well as in relation to each other.
Activity 2.1: Introduction to sub cultures
As of September 2010, Wikipedia listed as least 70 youth sub-cultures which are listed below.
1. How many are you familiar with?
A-C
D-G
H-J
L-N
O-Q
R
S
T-Z
Anarcho-punk
BDSM
Beat Generation, see Beatnik
Biker, see also Motorcycle clubs and Outlaw motorcycle clubs
Having had a quick general look at sub cultures, time now for a closer look at one of them.
If it is still there, watch this light hearted YouTube clip on the 'Goths' sub culture!
The dangers and usefulness of sub cultures
The clip above may be good fun, but it is of course quite stereotyped in it's view of what a Goth is. Yet it does highlight the usefulness of thinking about sub cultures. Sub cultures help us as more clearly identify youth by elements that matter to them; music; clothes; etc. Many youth sub cultures are often distinguished by such things as;
fashion
beliefs
slang, dialects or behaviours.
vehicles - cars, motorcycles, scooters or skateboards have all played central roles in certain youth subcultures.
music genres - these are often associated with youth subcultures, such as punks, ravers, metalheads and goths.
conformity and ethnicity can also be important in relation to youth subcultures.
The study of subcultures often consists of the study of the symbolism attached to clothing, music, other visible affections by members of the subculture, and also the ways in which these same symbols are interpreted by members of the dominant culture.
For more information, see this chapter On Youth Cultures and Subcultures from 1998, Bessant, J. et al, Youth Studies: An Australian Perspective, Pearson Education, Malaysia.
The idea of youth 