Youth as the Subject of Current Research: Europe (From Perspectives on Contemporary Youth, P 193-209, 1988, Janusz Kuczynski, S N Eisenstadt, et al, eds. -- See NCJ-124226)

• NCJ Number: 124235
• Author(s): W W Adamski
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 17 pages
• Sale Source: United Nations University
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Japan

Annotation

This paper examines the main concepts and theoretical approaches in youth studies in Europe and identifies priority issues in youth research in the 1980's.

Abstract

The youth culture approach in youth studies focuses on problems specific to teenagers, problems evoked by peer groups of high school or college students, and problems arising from cultural norms and behavior patterns. Research that emphasizes the counter-culture and post-materialistic concepts of youth life orientation addresses youth's tendency to change the status quo and their focus on values and quality of life in a world of limited natural resources. The generational approach in youth studies attempts to link a given age cohort of "newcomers" to a society with a specific cultural and historical development. The focus on youth as an integral and differentiated component of social structures attempts to develop a historical-sociological concept of the younger generation and possible options for its functioning as an agent of social change. The development of juventology is an attempt to build a paradigm for the juvenile. Priority issues in youth research in the 1980's are the economic and occupational situation of youth, higher education, youth integration through the family and local community network, and youth sociopolitical attitudes and behavior. 49 notes.