SS5098 - Youth in Modern Society: Consumers, Deviants and Rebels (2026/27)
| Module specification | Module approved to run in 2026/27 | ||||||||||
| Module title | Youth in Modern Society: Consumers, Deviants and Rebels | ||||||||||
| Module level | Intermediate (05) | ||||||||||
| Credit rating for module | 15 | ||||||||||
| School | School of Social Sciences and Professions | ||||||||||
| Total study hours | 150 | ||||||||||
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| Assessment components |
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| Running in 2026/27(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change) |
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Module summary
In the current period a plethora of youth resistance actions, movements and subcultures have developed in response to socio-economic deprivation on a global scale. From youth riots to graffiti writers in the UK to the politicised Latin Kings and Queens gang in New York, young people are developing cultural, political and deviant responses to their dispossession and exclusion. In this module we will focus on case-studies and theories of youth social, cultural and deviant resistance over time. Questions of race/ethnicity, class, gender and age will be addressed as we explore the e meanings and representations of youth reactions to industrial and post-industrial societies. This is a an interdisciplinary module which combines the perspectives from sociology, ciminology and cultural studies to address contemporary youth experience.
Prior learning requirements
Available for Study Abroad? YES
Syllabus
• Conceptualising 'Youth': Theories and Issues
• Youth, Deviance, and Social Control
• Young Consumers in Postmodern Societies
• Demonising Youth: Mass Media and Moral Panics
• Youth Rebellion and Resistance: Theories of Protest
• Youth Identities and Subcultures
• Gendering Youth: Masculinities and Femininities
• The 'Unchilding' of Young People between the Local and the Global
Balance of independent study and scheduled teaching activity
Teaching will comprise weekly lectures followed by exercises and reflexive discussion in seminars. Teaching will be informed by research and scholarly activities of the tutors. Learning: Learning will be supported by the Weblearn site for the module which will include all the teaching materials and guidance for assessment. The students will be encouraged to engage with contemporary issues and follow the current debates in the media. This will be supported by Weblearn-based materials and forums.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1. Outline the key themes and issues in sociology surrounding the nature of youth identity and consumerism
2. Have a critical understanding of youth social, criminal and cultural resistance
3. Recognise the ways in which youth subcultures are accommodationist, resistant and/or transformative.
4. Recognise the relevance of sociological and criminological knowledge to understanding the position of youth in modern society