Formulation of Youth Subcultures

• Roberts - Cross cultural 


  3 transitions from childhood to adulthood: 

  1. Abrupt- Bemba girls have full rights of adult women after their first period (transition is short) 
  2. Gradual- UK compulsory State Education is the age of 18 so people live with their parents longer (13-21 years old) 
  3. Lengthy- 13-25+ years old 
• Roberts


  Youth is a relatively new idea: in the 1950s youth began to emerge as a separate identity. Prior to this, people moved quickly into adulthood (eg, left school at 11 and went into workforce)
• Hall & Jefferson


  • Teddy Boys tried to recreate a sense of working-class community.  
  • Working-class boy felt threatened from growing immigration so formed groups with a sense of loyalty to protect their territory.  
  • They bought Edwardian style suits (worn by upper-class) with their disposable income to challenge dominant ideologies and social class.
  • Wore drainpipe trousers and listened to American Rock and Roll.  
• A.Cohen

  • Subcultures allow lower class boys to gain status through misbehaving and inverting traditional values.
  • Originally strove to emulate middle class values but were unable, which led to status frustration
• Status frustration definition


  Sense of personal failure and inadequacy
• Berger


  • Youthfulness is a personal quality, an attitude to life, rather than a matter of age.
  • Regardless of their age, youthful people are impulsive, spontaneous, energetic, playful, and thrill seeking.  
• Pilcher  


  • Youth is centered on a withdrawal from family and parental control
  • Leads to concerns that they are vulnerable and need protection from corrupting influences  
• Davies 


  • Studied youth in 2000s and found that they differed very little to the values of their parents
  • Few young people had a distinctive rebellious subculture -mostly conformist and conservative  
• Emergence of Youth 1950-1970s


  1. Education - 1944 Education Act meant school was compulsory until age 15, led to teenage culture in UK
  2. Media/Advertising - companies began to advertise to youth as a new consumer market through the use of TV, advanced music and fashion
  3. Economy - Post WW2 economy grew which opened more jobs so youth had more disposable income to spend on clothes and leisure
  4. Immigration - Windrush led to subcultures as a response to racism, and the borrowing of style and music like the band Madness.