Collective identity youth

Collective Identity:Collective Identity:
Youth CultureYouth Culture
G325G325 Critical PerspectivesCritical Perspectives

Collective Identity: Youth CultureCollective Identity: Youth Culture
The concept of a collective identity refers to a set of individuals'
sense of belonging to the group or collective. For the individual, the
identity derived from the collective shapes a part of his or her
personal identity.
Collective Identity is the idea that through participating in social
activities, individuals can gain a sense of belonging and in essence
an "identity" that transcends the individual.
KEY WORDS:
Stryker: this theorist
suggested we interact
with others to create an
identity, this is called
identity negotiation.
This develops a
consistent set of
behaviours that reinforce
the identity of the
person or group. These
behaviours then become
social expectations.

KEY WORDS:
Foucault: This
theorist believed people
do not have a 'real'
identity within
themselves; that's just a
way of talking about the
self -- a discourse. An
'identity' is
communicated to others
in your interactions with
them, but this is not a
fixed thing within a
person. It is a shifting,
temporary construction
Identity is a vacillating idea as it does not determine a person for their
whole life, but merely adapts depending on their social circumstances.
We, as human beings tend to have a number of different identities –
however we will adopt certain characteristics that make us recognisable
to other people.

KEY WORDS:
Hegemony: A
leadership or
dominance, especially by
one state or social group
over others.
Gramsci: used the
term hegemony to show
how the dominant class
can project its own
ideologies so that those
who are subordinated
accept it as 'common
sense' and 'natural'.
• Studied subcultures in 1970s.
• Subcultures allow youth to express opposition to society and
challenge hegemony.
• Style is key aspect of subculture – attempt to resist hegemony.
• Representations tend to be limited: Youth as fun or youth as
trouble.
Hebdige (1979)

KEY WORDS:
Jacques Lacan:
Mirror stage – child
begins to develop their
identity – recognise
themselves in a mirror at
around 6 months, helps
to develop sense of self.
Just like the recognition
of the mirror, images on
screen offer:
• Identification
• Aspiration
Subculture
• Fashion:
• Clothing, hairstyle
• Opposition/ resistance to dominant culture
• Lifestyle/
• practices
• Music, art
• Counterculture
• Dialect/ slang
• Place, gender, class, race

KEY WORDS:
Jacques Lacan:
Mirror stage – child
begins to develop their
identity – recognise
themselves in a mirror at
around 6 months, helps
to develop sense of self.
Just like the recognition
of the mirror, images on
screen offer:
• Identification
• Aspiration
Subculture
• Fashion:
• Clothing, hairstyle
• Opposition/ resistance to dominant culture
• Lifestyle/
• practices
• Music, art
• Counterculture
• Dialect/ slang
• Place, gender, class, race
Think about this different subcultures of
the youth today.
Create a montage of their identities –
what are their interests? How do they
dress? What are their ideologies?

L.O: To explore the mediasL.O: To explore the medias
influence on the youth.influence on the youth.

Youth SubculturesYouth Subcultures
• Key Quote: “Subcultures try to compensate for
the failure of the larger culture to provide
adequate status, acceptance and identity. In the
youth subculture, youth find their age-related
needs met.” (Tittley, p.2).
• Youth are no longer children but they are also not yet
adults, i.e. they are too old to sit in with Mum and Dad on
a Saturday night watching Casualty, but they are not old
enough to get into bars, pubs and clubs etc. They do not
have a fixed identity at this point so they form these
subcultures to forge their own as a collective.

Kelman (1958) wrote about social influence and identified
three areas of conformity:
•1.Compliance – public but not private conformity
•2.Identification – influenced by someone who is liked and
respected
•3.Internalisation – completely accept the beliefs and
behaviour of a group and conform publicly and privately

Thrasher (1927) studied gangs in the jails and on the streets of Chicago.
He found various reasons for young people joining gangs, including:
•A sense of family – mostly from broken homes so desired a group of
people to feel part of.
•Guidance – again, because of lack of family guidance they seek
someone to teach them and to help structure their belief system.
•Solidarity – giving them the self-esteem and security that they longed
for.
•Gangs were forming in Chicago as a result of urban neglect. These
young people represented the “inner cracks of identity that occur in the
turbulent years of adolescence”.

• Willis (1977) studied British youths and
found that they were struggling to deal with
the changes sweeping post-war Britain.
They therefore developed these ‘deviant’
subcultures and employed a variety of
strategies including “outright aggression” to
deal with these changes.

L.O: To explore the history ofL.O: To explore the history of
subcultures.subcultures.

Representation of Youth:Representation of Youth:
 ‘We live in a decaying age. Young people no longer respect
their parents. They are rude and impatient. They frequently
inhabit taverns and have no self-control.’
 Inscribed on Egyptian tomb, 4000 BC
 ‘I see no hope for the future of our people if they are
dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth
are reckless beyond words... When I was young, we were
taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the
present youth are exceedingly wise [disrespectful] and
impatient of restraint’
 Hesiod, 8th Century BC
 ‘What is happening to our young people? They disrespect
their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law.
They riot in the streets, inflamed with wild notions. Their
morals are decaying. What is to become of them?’
 Plato, 4th Century BC

‘‘Youth Culture’ emerges:Youth Culture’ emerges:
 19th
century ‘Bowery Boys’ or
‘Soaplocks’
 Recognisable youth culture: own
slang, dress code, musical taste
etc.
 First time entertainment and
fashion industries targeted a
youth group

L.O: To explore mediaL.O: To explore media
influences.influences.

KEY WORDS:
Gramsci: used the
term hegemony to show
how the dominant class
can project its own
ideologies so that those
who are subordinated
accept it as 'common
sense' and 'natural'.
Cultivation
Theory: George
Gerbner believed that
the more time people
spend ‘living’ in the
television, the more they
are to believe social
reality portrayed on
television. The
Cultivation Theory leaves
people with a
misconstrued perception
of what is true in our
world.
Media Influence: Youth CultureMedia Influence: Youth Culture
The media used its influence by portraying
their hegemonic view of what the youth
should be like.
Cultivation Theory
The hope was that they young would see this
and believe this is how they SHOULD behave.

KEY WORDS:
Dichotomous:
Divided or dividing into
two parts or
Classifications.
1945-60s:1945-60s:
Economic potential is obvious – market of the
future, but also the first negative stereotypes.
Youth simultaneously represented “a prosperous
and liberated future” and “a culture of moral
decline”
First sign of adult culture’s dichotomous image of
teenagers
Film example: ‘The Wild One’

KEY WORDS:
Hegemony: A
leadership or
dominance, especially by
one state or social group
over others.
Ideology: The
opinions, beliefs and
ways of thinking
characteristics of a
particular person, group
or nation.
Polysemic:
Different individuals can
interpret different
meanings from the text.
Giroux: believed that
the youth are placed into
an ‘Empty Category’ as
adults don’t know how
to define them.
• Adults have always voiced their views of
teenagers in a predominately negative way.
• Adult mainstream exploited the image of
the ‘rebel teen’
• Sold to teenagers as aspiration
• Sold to adults as a fear

KEY WORDS:
Moral Panic: an
intense feeling expressed
in a population about an
issue that appears to
threaten the social
order.
Marcuse suggests that
the mass media carry with
them prescribed attitudes
and habits, certain
intellectual and emotional
reactions which bind the
consumer and reduce
them to a mindless mass.
– leading to a passive
audience.
This could/and would lead
to Cohen’s idea of Moral
Panic. The feel of the
youth imitating what they
see.
Acland argues that media
representations of
delinquent youths actually
reinforce hegemony. They
do this by constructing an
idea of ‘normal’ adult and
youth behaviour, and
contrasting it with deviant
youth behaviour which is
shown to be unacceptable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCENBce_dls

L.O: To analyse the media’sL.O: To analyse the media’s
influence on the youth.influence on the youth.

Cultural theorist Henry A. Giroux argues that in media
representations of young people ‘youth becomes an empty
category’ (1997) which reflects the anxieties and interests of adult
society.
From this perspective media representations of the collective
identities of young people are constructed by adults, and serve the
needs of adult society.
This approach to youth identity and the media raises several
questions about the relationship between media and identity.

The Wild One
Adult’s fears and
anxieties
Re-enforcing
hegemony
Youth’s response

How are the youth representedHow are the youth represented
within the media.within the media.
Introduction
Henry A Giroux argues in media representations ‘youth becomes an empty category’
reflecting the concerns of adults.
•media representations of youth serve the purpose of the middle class adults who produce
them
•media representation of youth reinforce hegemony
•Explain how you are going to be exploring this in ‘The Wild One’
Historical Representations
Media representations of young people have always tended to be negative, look back at the
ancient quotes describing youth.
Main focus
‘The Wild One’ (1953) shows a motorcycle gang terrorising a small town. It focused on a
delinquent, anti-social youth.
This representation reflected anxieties of middle class adult society, in relation to the threat
to hegemony posed by young people. – use specific examples.
KEY WORDS:
• Foucault
• Hegemony
• Gramsci
•Giroux
• Jacques Lacan
• Cultivation
theory
• Ideology
• Polysemic
• Moral Panic
• Marcuse
• Acland

Rebel Without A
Cause
Adult’s fears and
anxieties
Re-enforcing
hegemony
Youth’s response

1. How does the opening of Rebel Without A Cause help to
demonstrate Giroux’s idea of the youth being an ‘empty
category’?
2. What is the main character’s identity?
3. What do you think the ‘adult’ fear might be?
4. How might this have created a moral panic amongst the older
audiences during the time?
5. What do you think the hegemonic values are in the opening?
6. How might a younger audience respond to this opening?

Introduction
Henry A Giroux argues in media representations ‘youth becomes an empty category’ reflecting the
concerns of adults.
•media representations of youth serve the purpose of the middle class adults who produce them
•Explain how you are going to be exploring this in ‘The Wild One’ and ‘Rebel without a Cause’.
Explain what ‘Identity’ is. How is it defined? Think about the process children go through. How has
this impacted stereotypical views of the youth (look back at the ancient quotes describing youth).
How has the media historically represented them? Why?
Main focus
Media representations of young people have always tended to be negative, e.g. ‘The Wild One’
(1953) shows a motorcycle gang terrorising a small town (banned for 14years), ‘Rebel Without A
Cause’ (1955) focused on a delinquent, anti-social youth.
•Both representations reflect anxieties of middle class adult society, in relation to the threat to
hegemony posed by young people.
•However one does try to challenge the stereotypes created by adults and shows the flaws in the
hegemonic values.
KEY WORDS:
• Foucault
• Hegemony
• Gramsci
• Jacques Lacan
• Cultivation
theory
• Ideology
• Polysemic
• Moral Panic
• Marcuse
• Acland

Case Study – Anuva Hood:Case Study – Anuva Hood:
• Whose representation is this this?
• Why has this representation been constructed in this way?
• How can this representation be decoded? (Audience Reception)
• What points or arguments can you make as a result of this
analysis?
• Which theories and theorists can you reference in support of
your comments and arguments?
• What is the overall conclusion you come to for this this case
study?

How are the youth represented withinHow are the youth represented within
the media.the media.
Introduction
Henry A Giroux argues in media representations ‘youth becomes an empty category’
• reflecting the concerns of adults.
•media representations of youth tend to serve the purpose of the middle class adults who produce them and
therefore tries to reinforce hegemony
•However – identity is negotiable (is it fair to categorise all youths together?)
What have the stereotypical views of the youth been in the past? (look back at the ancient quotes describing
youth). How has the media historically represented them? Why?
•Hebdigde “fun or trouble” – use examples from WO/RWAC/HB
•Acland – reinforcing hegemony - use examples from WO/RWAC/HB
•Marcuse/Cohen – Moral panic – explain adults concerns.
•Do you think this is/was a fair representation? Think about the historical context.
Main focus
Modern films do still apply/fit in with these stereotypes – give examples from AH and FIOS. But we
tend to see more of Hebdige’s “Fun” side to youth.
But we can not completely categories all representations of youth as negative. Even in older movies
there were hopes for the youth – perhaps because of the reinforcement of hegemony. – Use
examples from RWOAC/FIOS/AH.
Conclusion – How are the youth represented? Are we starting to break down the ‘empty category’?
KEY WORDS:
• Foucault
• Hegemony
• Gramsci
• Jacques Lacan
• Cultivation
theory
• Ideology
• Polysemic
• Moral Panic
• Marcuse
• Acland

Introduction
Henry A Giroux argues in media representations ‘youth becomes an empty category’ reflecting the concerns of adults.
Media representations of young people have always tended to be negative, e.g. ‘The Wild One’ (1953) shows a motorcycle gang
terrorising a small town. ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ (1955) focused on a delinquent, anti-social youth.
Both representations reflect anxieties of middle class adult society, in relation to the threat to hegemony posed by young
people.
Hoodie Cinema article
Harry Brown/Kidaulthood – negative, extreme, middle class fear of working class youth.
Modern Film
Giroux – constructed by adults.
Gramsci/Acland – negative representations reinforce hegemony, ideology of protection.
Still negative representations but beginning to see a few positives such as.....
KEY WORDS:
• Foucault
• Hegemony
• Gramsci
• Jacques Lacan
• Cultivation
theory
• Ideology
• Polysemic
• Moral Panic
• Marcuse
• Acland
•Giroux

L.O: To analyse print media’sL.O: To analyse print media’s
representation of the youth.representation of the youth.

Case Study: Hoodies and Alter BoysCase Study: Hoodies and Alter Boys
• Download a QR app on your phone.
• Around the school there are 15 QR codes.
• Scan then to read small news articles.
• Put the articles into the relevant boxes on your
work sheet (just sum up the article on the
sheet).

Case Study: Hoodies and Alter BoysCase Study: Hoodies and Alter Boys
How are young people represented?
What is the significance of the representation? You may want to
consider the issue of social class.
Which theorists can you discuss in relation to the
representations?
Can you link your discussion to any other articles we have looked
at?

Contemporary ArticlesContemporary Articles
Find some examples of recent news articles written about the
youth.
Find about 10 examples.
Think about the same questions you looked at for ‘Hoodies and
Alter Boys’.
How are young people represented?
What is the significance of the representation? You may want to consider the issue
of social class.
Which theorists can you discuss in relation to the representations?
Can you link your discussion to any other articles we have looked at?

L.O: To learn how to successfullyL.O: To learn how to successfully
answer an exam question.answer an exam question.

• Refer to at least two types of media.
• Answer must be relevant to the question.
• Make connections.
• Clear argument.
• Balance of theory and texts.
• Personal engagement.
• Discussion of past, present, and future.
• Terminology.
• Clear argument.
• Terminology.

Essay Structure
Introduction
Begin with a quote. State focus (social group, texts) and argument.
Historical
‘The Wild One’ (1953)/ ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ (1955)
Media Area 1 - Newspapers
Media Area 2 - Film
Conclusion
Sum up your argument, give your opinions, make a prediction for the
future.
Essay Structure
Introduction
Begin with a quote. State focus (social group, texts) and argument.
Historical
‘The Wild One’ (1953)/ ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ (1955)
Media Area 1 - Newspapers
Media Area 2 - Film
Conclusion
Sum up your argument, give your opinions, make a prediction for the
future.

Introduction
Henry A Giroux argues in media representations ‘youth becomes an empty category’ reflecting the concerns of adults.
Media representations of young people have always tended to be negative, e.g. ‘The Wild One’ (1953) shows a motorcycle gang
terrorising a small town. ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ (1955) focused on a delinquent, anti-social youth. Hoodie Cinema article
Harry Brown/Kidaulthood – negative, extreme, middle class fear of working class youth.
Both representations reflect anxieties of middle class adult society, in relation to the threat to hegemony posed by young
people.
Film
Gramsci/Acland – negative representations reinforce hegemony, ideology of protection. However we are moving away from
these negative representations. Fault in our stars/Anuvahood.
Newspaper
‘Hoodies or Altar Boys’ 2009 study
Contemporary articles.
Giroux – constructed by adults.
Gramsci/Acland – negative representations reinforce hegemony, ideology of protection.
Cohen – moral panic – ‘clarify moral boundaries’.
Gerbner – cultivation theory.
Conclusion
Sum up argument – As I have shown most media representations of young people are negative. This is because they reflect the
concerns of their middle class producers, and as a result usually reinforce hegemony…
More positive representations can be found on television channels aimed at younger people.
The effect of media representations of young people is…
In the future I believe…(social media, young people can construct their own representations – Student Fees protests, power of
mass media).
KEY WORDS:
• Foucault
• Hegemony
• Gramsci
• Jacques Lacan
• Cultivation
theory
• Ideology
• Polysemic
• Moral Panic
• Marcuse
• Acland
•Giroux

1.Analyse the ways in which the media represent one group of
people you have studied. (Jan 10/ 11)
2. “The media do not construct collective identity; they merely
reflect it”. Discuss. (Jan 10)
3.Discuss how one or more groups are represented through the
media? (Jun 11)
4.Explain the role play by the media in the construction of
collective identity (Jun 11)
5.What is collective identity and how is it mediated? (Jan 11)
6.With reference to any one group of people that you have
studied, discuss how their identity has been ‘mediated’ (Jun 10)
Past Exam Questions:Past Exam Questions:

L.O: To REVISE successfully.L.O: To REVISE successfully.

Revision Ladder:Revision Ladder:
Write down
everything you can
remember about
the topic from
memory.
Reduce the key points
down to under 200
words.
Find/research a real
life piece of evidence
or news which
illustrates the topic.
Explain a piece of
evidence for
(supporting) and
against
(challenging) a
theory or
perspective.
Write a short
paragraph on how far
you agree with the
topic and why?
Transform a theory or perspective into a
comic strip or storyboard.

L.O: EXAM practise.L.O: EXAM practise.

How do media representations
influence collective identity?
You may refer to one group of
people or more in your answer.
How do media representations
influence collective identity?
You may refer to one group of
people or more in your answer.

L.O: To be able to mark accordingL.O: To be able to mark according
to the MARK SCHEME.to the MARK SCHEME.

• Clear argument.
• Terminology.
• Clear argument.
• Terminology.
How do media representations influence collective identity? You may
refer to one group of people or more in your answer.
How do media representations influence collective identity? You may
refer to one group of people or more in your answer.

D.I.R.T:D.I.R.T:
• WWW
• EBI
• D.I.R.T Task that needs to be completed to
improve this essay.

L.O: To be able to IMPROVE ourL.O: To be able to IMPROVE our
essays.essays.

Discuss the social implications of media in
relation to collective identity. You may refer
to one group of people or more in your
answer.
Discuss the social implications of media in
relation to collective identity. You may refer
to one group of people or more in your
answer.

How far does the representation of a
particular social group change over time?
How far does the representation of a
particular social group change over time?

With reference to any one group of people
that you have studied, discuss how their
identity has been ‘mediated’.
With reference to any one group of people
that you have studied, discuss how their
identity has been ‘mediated’.

Collective identity youth

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