Credit Points 10

Legacy Code 100298

Coordinator Sherene Idriss Opens in new window

Description Young people have long been the focus of social fears. Public figures regularly express concern about the disorder created by unruly youths, or the effects of change on young people. This is the case in relation to popular music, 'youth gangs', new technologies and other areas. This subject will consider how young people became defined as a problem by politicians, policy, the media and others. Resulting 'moral panics' represent social anxieties around economic, social and technological change, producing calls for 'solutions' which often entail repressive laws or policing. Students will examine a range of case studies from Australia and elsewhere.

School Humanities & Comm Arts

Discipline Sociology

Student Contribution Band HECS Band 4 10cp

Check your fees via the Fees page.

Level Undergraduate Level 2 subject

Restrictions

Successful completion of 40 credit points of study in currently enrolled program.

Assumed Knowledge

Satisfactory understanding of key issues and concepts of first year core subjects.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

1. Understand the nature and formation of moral panics
2. Describe and explain the key features and concepts of subculture theory
3. Investigate the emergence of the category of youth in public discourse
4. Examine the role of the media in amplifying public insecurities around youth and in identifying 'folk devils'
5. Assess the social and economic roots of disorder among young people
6. Consider the connections between social anxieties, governance, policing and media coverage of youth cultures and disorder
7. Evaluate the connections between youth, ethnicity, class and gender in representations of youth in contemporary Australia

Subject Content

• Social contexts of youth cultures and moral panics - industrialisation, migration, consumer society and urbanisation
• Social dimensions of youth cultures and moral panics - relations of class, gender and race/ethnicity
• Moral panic theory, risk and social anxiety
• Theories of youth culture and subcultures
• Media reporting and policing of 'problem youth' in contemporary Australia
• Case studies of youth cultures and moral panics
• Understanding diverse youth cultures in global contexts