WY lecture 2
Youth Revolt and Youth Subcultures - The 50’s, 60s and 70s
Beginning of 20th century: institutionalization of ‘youth’. In a society, they are separated from
childhood and adulthood, shared characters like social position
In this time, everyone went to elementary school, but since then more people went to
secondary school.
Last week; learning outcome 1
There exists a sociological and a psychological dimension of the concept of youth
Youth has become more sharply distinguished from childhood and adulthood, in the
sociological as well as psychological sense
Within youth, distinctions have been made between upper and lower-class youth, as
well as between normal and deviant youth
There are two images of youth, a positive and a more negative one (problems,
vulnerable to dangers)
These images are class-related
Last week; learning outcome 2
‘Normal’ youth has become the subject of all kind of educational and social provisions
These provisons are modelled after a mix of Boy Scout and Wandervogel elements
because these are perceived as an ideal combination of adolescent psychological
characteristics and the need for guidance and control
Characteristics:
o Character building (no cognitive lessons, but lessons that fits with their
developmental interests and capabilities)
o Idealism (improve themselves and society)
o An anti-modernistic outlook: play; hiking; wandering
Teenage
1930’ – a lot of youth employement
o Government asked the leaders of the groups: what to do?
o Working in the rural areas (cities were dangerous) labor camps
Dancing: feeling free
Last fragment: what the majority of the people did
o What was youth life like? Going out, having fun, showing tensions of sex
Period in life in which young people trying to find themselves (they are
doing this together), without a lot of responsibilities
Youth culture: high school musical, greese
Talcott Parsons Youth Culture (1942)
Functionalist: structural functionalism, or simply functionalism, is a framework for
building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to
promote solidarity and stability
o Society can be understood as a organic body. Pieces do something different,
but as a whole enables you to function. Institutions have their own functions
and together makes a society (education is done by family and at school,
safety comes from the police and the justice system)
o Sometimes institutions lose their functions
Living in US (1930s): rapid social change, especially within family and work
Analysis directed at white urban middle class people
o Conflict between the way in which people are educated traditionally (for
instance, a mother teaches her daughter etc. etc.) versus the current way.
, WY lecture 2
This model of transitions doesn’t work anymore, because the new generation
is much more educated. Institutions and schools can’t take care of the youth
education anymore. Youth culture is necessary to educate young people.
Being together, without parents and teachers, with a lot of unwritten social
norms and rules.
Invented word ‘youth culture’ as name for a new institution that has to solve new
problems:
o Socialization process in family
o Preparation for work (male and female roles)
After World War II
Reconstruction (in the US: a lot of lives were taken and the society had to be rebuild,
financial problems)
Cold War
Babyboom – increase of birth rate (characteristic: in the 1950’s you had relatively a
lot of young people) populatiegrafiek! could be dangerous: how to find schools
and work for them? especially concerns for the working class youth
Growing welfare (‘Wirtschaftswunder’): employers asked: can I have some more
salary?
Consumerism
Youth:
o Emergence of the ‘teenager’
o Concern (Halbstarken, Nozems, Rock ‘n Roll, Skeptische Jugend)
After World War II: theories
Schelsky: Skeptische Jugend (Sceptical Youth)
The Netherlands: Massajeugdonderzoek (mass youth project)
US: Eisenstadt (From generation to generation; age groups and social structure)
Festinger: social psychologist
o Formal
Erikson: developmental psychologist
o More personal stories
Differences in writing style!
Festinger and Erikson
Shared experience of World War II: holocaust, totalitarianism (also fascism and
communism)
o How could all those thing happen?
Loyalty to charismatic leaders, especially of youth
o Why? they were criminal, but why, then, are they so loyal to leaders?
Group pressure
o Especially Festinger
Festinger 1954
Social comparison theory
The theory explains how individuals evaluate their own opinions and abilities by
comparing themselves to others in order to reduce uncertainty in these domains, and
learn how to define the self
A lot of different groups: an individual can identify with one group, which will mean
that he feels like he belongs to this group and do NOT belong to another group.
o In-groups and out-groups (and comparing!)
Youth Revolt and Youth Subcultures - The 50’s, 60s and 70s
Beginning of 20th century: institutionalization of ‘youth’. In a society, they are separated from
childhood and adulthood, shared characters like social position
In this time, everyone went to elementary school, but since then more people went to
secondary school.
Last week; learning outcome 1
There exists a sociological and a psychological dimension of the concept of youth
Youth has become more sharply distinguished from childhood and adulthood, in the
sociological as well as psychological sense
Within youth, distinctions have been made between upper and lower-class youth, as
well as between normal and deviant youth
There are two images of youth, a positive and a more negative one (problems,
vulnerable to dangers)
These images are class-related
Last week; learning outcome 2
‘Normal’ youth has become the subject of all kind of educational and social provisions
These provisons are modelled after a mix of Boy Scout and Wandervogel elements
because these are perceived as an ideal combination of adolescent psychological
characteristics and the need for guidance and control
Characteristics:
o Character building (no cognitive lessons, but lessons that fits with their
developmental interests and capabilities)
o Idealism (improve themselves and society)
o An anti-modernistic outlook: play; hiking; wandering
Teenage
1930’ – a lot of youth employement
o Government asked the leaders of the groups: what to do?
o Working in the rural areas (cities were dangerous) labor camps
Dancing: feeling free
Last fragment: what the majority of the people did
o What was youth life like? Going out, having fun, showing tensions of sex
Period in life in which young people trying to find themselves (they are
doing this together), without a lot of responsibilities
Youth culture: high school musical, greese
Talcott Parsons Youth Culture (1942)
Functionalist: structural functionalism, or simply functionalism, is a framework for
building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to
promote solidarity and stability
o Society can be understood as a organic body. Pieces do something different,
but as a whole enables you to function. Institutions have their own functions
and together makes a society (education is done by family and at school,
safety comes from the police and the justice system)
o Sometimes institutions lose their functions
Living in US (1930s): rapid social change, especially within family and work
Analysis directed at white urban middle class people
o Conflict between the way in which people are educated traditionally (for
instance, a mother teaches her daughter etc. etc.) versus the current way.
, WY lecture 2
This model of transitions doesn’t work anymore, because the new generation
is much more educated. Institutions and schools can’t take care of the youth
education anymore. Youth culture is necessary to educate young people.
Being together, without parents and teachers, with a lot of unwritten social
norms and rules.
Invented word ‘youth culture’ as name for a new institution that has to solve new
problems:
o Socialization process in family
o Preparation for work (male and female roles)
After World War II
Reconstruction (in the US: a lot of lives were taken and the society had to be rebuild,
financial problems)
Cold War
Babyboom – increase of birth rate (characteristic: in the 1950’s you had relatively a
lot of young people) populatiegrafiek! could be dangerous: how to find schools
and work for them? especially concerns for the working class youth
Growing welfare (‘Wirtschaftswunder’): employers asked: can I have some more
salary?
Consumerism
Youth:
o Emergence of the ‘teenager’
o Concern (Halbstarken, Nozems, Rock ‘n Roll, Skeptische Jugend)
After World War II: theories
Schelsky: Skeptische Jugend (Sceptical Youth)
The Netherlands: Massajeugdonderzoek (mass youth project)
US: Eisenstadt (From generation to generation; age groups and social structure)
Festinger: social psychologist
o Formal
Erikson: developmental psychologist
o More personal stories
Differences in writing style!
Festinger and Erikson
Shared experience of World War II: holocaust, totalitarianism (also fascism and
communism)
o How could all those thing happen?
Loyalty to charismatic leaders, especially of youth
o Why? they were criminal, but why, then, are they so loyal to leaders?
Group pressure
o Especially Festinger
Festinger 1954
Social comparison theory
The theory explains how individuals evaluate their own opinions and abilities by
comparing themselves to others in order to reduce uncertainty in these domains, and
learn how to define the self
A lot of different groups: an individual can identify with one group, which will mean
that he feels like he belongs to this group and do NOT belong to another group.
o In-groups and out-groups (and comparing!)
