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Answer
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Hint
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Folk Devils
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This term refers to individuals or groups posing an imagined or exaggerated threat to society.
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Functionalism
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This sociological perspective argues that media is part of the socialisation process in modern society and encourages 'boundary maintenance' - tells children and young people how they should be behaving: -Young people may be subjected to negative peer pressure and be encouraged to indulge in deviant behaviour. -Media representations remind adolescents what is socially expected of them and the punishments they can expect if they transgress. |
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Old Age
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Symbolic annihilation is significant among representations of this age group in the media: -There are common stereotypes – such as the grumpy old man, dotty old woman. -Old age is presented as undesirable - being typically stereotyped as being poor, in ill-health, a burden, forgetful, anti-social, interfering, incapable of work, not interested in sex, and personally difficult, stubborn and grumpy. -Older men are presented more positively than older women - for example as sexual partners of younger women in Hollywood movies, or as distinguished, experienced and informed 'wise old men', such as political and religious leaders, successful businesspeople, experts of various kinds, and as established and authoritative media journalists and commentators. -Whereas there are few positive images of older women, who are often rendered invisible - symbolically annihilated - because women are, in media imagery, expected to be forever young and youthful, and there are not many positive roles for them as they grow older. -Examples of older men being presented more positively than older women in films and as celebrities - Keanu Reeves and girlfriend, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford, Rolling Stones versus Madonna. -But there have been important challenges to this – for example, advertising campaigns like with Dame Judi Dench and Dove's Pro-Age campaign, or films, such as Carl Fredricksen, the main character in 'Up'. |
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Boundary Maintenance
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This refers to the social control aspect of the socialisation process: -Children need to be socialised into social rules of behaviour but they and adults need to be reminded every now and then of the social boundaries of their behaviour; that certain types of behaviour attract the social disapproval of others, and therefore, possible punishment. |
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Pluralism
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This sociological perspective argues that media representations reflect social reality - young people commit more crime and deviance than any other social group: -Moreover, criminal behaviour is newsworthy: people want to read about it and so it sells newspapers. |
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Stanley Cohen (2002)
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This sociologist suggests the media paint young people as 'folk devils' - and so are easily blamed for social problems: -He argues that young people are relatively powerless, and an easily identifiable group to blame for all of society's ills. -Consequently, young people - particularly young African-Caribbean males - have often been used as scapegoats by the media to create a sense of unity in society, by whipping up a moral panic among the public against the 'folk devils' who allegedly pose a threat to society, and uniting the public against a common 'enemy' and encouraging them to support tough action against them. -As a result of these media-generated moral panics, all young people may then get labelled and stereotyped as potentially troublesome or as an anti-social problem group. |
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Evans & Chandler (2006)
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These sociologists note that children being represented in television commercials in ways that socialise them to become active consumers, thereby encouraging them to have an appetite for toys and games by television advertising and film merchandising has led to the emergence of a new family pressure: 'pester power': -This is the power of children to train or manipulate their parents to spend money on consumer goods that will increase the children's status in the eyes of their peers. -They suggest that pester power is creating great anxiety among poorer parents, who will often go into debt to provide for their children's desires. |
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Greta Thunberg Effect
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This term refers to how Greta Thunberg, a teenager (an age group often negatively depicted in the media), staged often quite stark actions of protest on the topic of climate change (such as dropping out of school, linked to how crime is linked with youths by the media): -Despite this, this led to many people admiring her character and it brought further attention to the issue she was raising - that of climate change. |
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Wayne et al. (2006)
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These sociologists found that it was very rare (only 1%) for news items on TV to feature a young person's perspective or opinion: -They note that the media only deliver a one-dimensional picture of youth, one that encourages fear and condemnation rather than understanding. -Moreover, they argue that it distracts from the real problems young people face in the modern world - such as homelessness, not being able to get onto the housing ladder, unemployment, mental health - that might be caused by society's or the government's failure to take the problems of youth seriously. |
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Neo-Marxism
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This sociological perspective argues that the media reflect the social hierarchy – with agenda-setting done by the adult dominant hegemony: -The Glasgow University Media group specifically has observed that most journalists subscribe to a consensus view of society that places older people at the top of the hierarchy of credibility with regard to their sources. -Consequently, the agenda as far as the reporting of youth is concerned is set by older people and consequently is negative. |
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Postmodernism
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This sociological perspective argues that young people are actively involved in diverse media and participatory culture: -As we live in media-saturated, postmodern societies, negative portrayals are only a small aspect of media representations, which are actually diverse and pluralistic. -They highlight the role of the new media and the fact that young people are accomplished creators and users of such media. -For example, young people, in their desire to construct unique identities, use a plethora of new media - especially social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, etc. - to construct positive (and sometimes very profitable) media representations of themselves. |
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New Media
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This type of media, and specifically social media, means that young people have more power over their representation and are also doing more than the stereotypes suggest; self-representation – TikTok, Instagram, etc.
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Youth (15-early 20s)
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This age group is often negatively stereotyped: -Boys especially are often associated with crime and anti-social behaviour. -Teenage boys commonly described as 'yobs', 'thugs', 'sick', 'feral', 'hoodie', 'lout', 'heartless', 'evil', 'frightening' and 'scum'. -Media representations are reliant on news values – need to feed older newspaper audience – this leads to misrepresentation of ‘deviant’ youth. -Young lack power in society – easily scapegoated and/or misrepresented – link to Cohen's 'folk devils'
-Fear of change (status quo) leads to moral panic – ‘the youth of today’ - such as with knife crime, crime, gangs, County Lines, etc. -Girls are often represented through 'dangerous' sexuality. -Their views are often described as 'woke' and/or they are seen as 'snowflakes'. |
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Children
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This age group has a range of stereotypes typically found in the media such as 'cute', 'little angel', 'little devil' and 'celebrity accessory': -However, there are changing representations – they are increasingly represented as having more power/knowledge - but this can lead to moral panics. -Presented as active consumers – typically found in advertising – has led to pester power. -Presented as active agents in their own lives – shift in TV and films to them telling their own stories – Harry Potter, Tracy Beaker, etc. |
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