Department of Sociology

THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO

Soc 582b: Sociology of Youth

Winter 2003

Prof. James Côté

W 9:00-12:00 5406

Office hours are T 10:00-12:00 in 5401 SSC.

Course Description:

The Sociology of Youth is a rapidly growing area of study in Europe, North America, Australia, and many countries in the British Commonwealth. Likewise, the literature is burgeoning, both in terms of journal articles (Sociology Abstracts lists over 19,000 hits since 1994 for the keyword "youth") and books (UWO lists 2400 holdings relevant to "youth" published since 1995 and over 9000 relevant to "adolescence and youth"). This area cuts across all areas of sociology, including those in our own department like demography, health, gender, family, and social class.

We will cover a range of topics, but have some flexibility to accommodate the interests of specific students enrolled in the course. The preliminary list of topics below specifies two topics per week, with additional topics that can be covered if one or more students have a special interest in them. Thus, the actual topics we cover this term will be determined during the first class on the basis of discussions of student interests.

Students wishing a primer of this area can audit my undergraduate Sociology of Youth course (Soc. 105a/b).

Recommended Reading:

Tyyska, V., Long and winding road : adolescents and youth in Canada today

Canadian Scholars' Press, 2001.

HQ799.C2T99 2001 (Amazon.ca)

Jeylan T. Mortimer, Reed W. Larson (eds.) The changing adolescent experience : societal trends and the transition to adulthood Cambridge University Press, 2002. HQ796.C4514 (Amazon.ca)

Grade Breakdown:

Participation: 20%

Essay: 50%

Presentation(s): 30%

Topic outline with review readings

Week 1: Course Introduction and Overview

Course requirements and expectations

Student interests - topic selection

An overview of the sociology of youth

"The lost children of Rockdale County"

Topic Areas for Presentation

Week 2 - 3: What is "youth"?

• Overview

Tyyska, Vappu. Long and winding road: Adolescents and youth in Canada today,

Toronto, Canadian Scholars Press, 2001, ch. 1.

• Anthropological views

Schlegel, Alice & Barry, Herbert. Adolescence: An anthropological inquiry. The Free Press, 1991. Ch 1 & 3

• Psychological views

Arnett, Jeffrey. "Emerging Adulthood." American Psychologist, 55, 2000, 469-480.

• Sociological views

Wyn, Johanna & White, Rob. Rethinking youth, Sage, 1997, Introduction & Ch. 1 - "The concept of youth."

• Critical views - assumptions challenged

Lapsley, Daniel, Enright, R.D. & Serlin, R.C. "Toward a theoretical perspective on the legislation of adolescence." Journal of Early Adolescence, 5, 441-446.

AND/OR

Payne, Monica. "Limitations unlimited: Interrogating some finer points of the 'scientific study' of adolescence." Journal of Youth Studies, 4, 175-194.

Week 4: Cultural Differences in the Experience of Youth

• Ethnic Differences

Condon, Richard. Inuit youth: Growth and change in the Canadian Arctic. Rutgers, 1987. Ch. 2 & 9

Gabor, Peter, Thibodeau, S., & Manychief, S. "Taking flight? The transition experiences of Native youth." In Burt Galaway & Joe Hudson. Youth in transition: perspectives on research and policy, Thompson, 1996, ch. 9.

• International Comparisons

Brown, Bradford & Larson, Reed W. "The Kaleidoscope of adolescence: Experiences of the world's youth at the beginning of the 21^st Century." The World's Youth: Adolescence in Eight Regions of the Globe Edited by B. Bradford Brown, Reed W. Larson, T. S. Saraswathi, Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Week 5: Cohort & Generational Issues

• Adult-youth relationships

Schultze, Q. J. et al.. Dancing in the dark : youth, popular culture, and the electronic media, Eerdmans Pub. Co, Grand Rapids, MI, 1991, ch. 1.

• Current Cohort

Schneider, B. & Stevenson, D. The Ambitious Generation, Yale University Press, 1999, ch. 4 - AThe importance of aligned ambitions."

Week 6: Identity Issues

• Pioneering work: Erikson

Erikson, Erik. "Late adolescence" (1956). In Stephen Schlein A way of looking at things: Selected papers from 1930 to 1980 Erik H. Erikson, Norton, 1987, 631-643..

Erikson, Erik. "Psychosocial identity." (1968). In Stephen Schlein A way of looking at things: Selected papers from 1930 to 1980 Erik H. Erikson, Norton, 1987, 675-684.

• Contemporary concerns: Postmodernism

Rattansi, A. & Phoenix, A. "Rethinking youth identities: Modernist and postmodernist frameworks." In Bynner, J., Chisholm, L., & Furlong, A. (Eds.). Youth, citizenship and social change in a European context. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 1997.

Week 7: Family & Parenting

• Intergenerational relationships

Tyyska, Vappu. Long and winding road: Adolescents and youth in Canada today,

Toronto, Canadian Scholars Press, 2001, ch. 4.

• Parenting Styles

Steinberg, L. "We know some things: parent-adolescent relationships in

retrospect and prospect," Journal of Research on Adolescence, 11(1), 1-19.

Week 8: Health and Risk Factors

• Health Trends

Ozer, Elizabeth, MacDonald, T. & Irwin, C.E. "Adolescent health care in the United States," In The changing adolescent experience : societal trends and the transition to adulthood edited by Jeylan T. Mortimer & Reed W. Larson Cambridge University Press, 2002, Ch. 5 .

OR

Thiede Call, Kathleen. "Adolescent health and well-being in the Twenty-first century: A global perspective." Journal of Research on Adolescence, 12, 69-98.

• At-Risk Youth

McWhirter, Jeffries et al. At-risk youth: A comprehensive response Brooks/Cole, 1998, ch.1 & 11.

Tait, Gordon. Youth, sex, and government. Peter Lang, 2000, ch.3 "Governing the 'at-risk' youth

Week 9 - 10 : Education & Work

• High School

Tyyska, Vappu. Long and winding road: Adolescents and youth in Canada today,

Toronto, Canadian Scholars Press, 2001, ch. 2.

Steinberg, Lawrence. Beyond the classroom: Why school reform has failed and what

parents need to do. Simon & Schuster, 1996, Ch. 1 & 4.

• University

Levine, Arthur & Cureton, J.S., When hope and fear collide, Jossey Bass, 1998, ch. 6 -

"Academics: Search for an insurance policy."

• Education-Work Transition

King, Alan, & Peart, M. "Factors inhibiting the transition of youth to work and to adulthood." In Burt Galaway & Joe Hudson. Youth in transition: perspectives on research and policy, Thompson, 1996, ch. 18.

Alan Kerckhoff, "The transition from school to work" In The changing adolescent experience : societal trends and the transition to adulthood edited by Jeylan T. Mortimer & Reed W. Larson Cambridge University Press, 2002.

• Wages and Opportunities

Tyyska, Vappu. Long and winding road: Adolescents and youth in Canada today,

Toronto, Canadian Scholars Press, 2001, ch. 3

Shanahan, Michael, Mortimer, J., & Kruger, H. "Adolescence and adult work in the twenty-first century. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 12, 99-120.

Week 11: Youth Culture

• Peer and Media Influences

Tyyska, Vappu. Long and winding road: Adolescents and youth in Canada today,

Toronto, Canadian Scholars Press, 2001, ch. 6.

Davis, N. "The gang as pseudo community." Youth crisis: Growing up in the high-risk society. Westport, CT: Praeger, ch 9.

• Critical Approaches

Tait, Gordon. Youth, sex, and government. Peter Lang, 2000, ch. 1, "Beyond subcultures.

Week 12: Policy Issues

• Positive Youth Development

Catalano, Richard F., M. Lisa Berglund, Jeanne A. M. Ryan, Heather S. Lonczak, and J. David Hawkins "Positive Youth Development in the United States: Research Findings on Evaluations of Positive Youth Development Programs. with 4 commentaries and a response." Prevention & Treatment, 5, http://journals.apa.org/prevention/ (via Weldon online)

Youniss, James & Allison Ruth. "Approaching policy for adolescent development in the 21^st century." In The changing adolescent experience : societal trends and the transition to adulthood edited by Jeylan T. Mortimer & Reed W. Larson Cambridge University Press, 2002, ch. 8 .

Week 13: The Future & Intergenerational Relations

Jeffrey Arnett "Adolescents in Western countries in the 21^st century: Vast opportunities - for all?" In The World's Youth: Adolescence in Eight Regions of the Globe edited by B. Bradford Brown, Reed W. Larson, & T. S. Saraswathi, Cambridge University Press, 2002.

• Intergenerational Justice

Lee, Daniel, Generations and the challenge of justice. University Press of America, 1996, Intro., ch. 1 & 2.

Other topics that can be covered if there is student interest:

 

Demographic Issues

Elizabeth Fussell & Margaret E. Greene "Demographic trends affecting youth around the world" The World's Youth: Adolescence in Eight Regions of the Globe Edited by B. Bradford Brown, Reed W. Larson, T. S. Saraswathi, Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Elizabeth Fussell "Youth in aging societies." In The changing adolescent experience : societal trends and the transition to adulthood edited by Jeylan T. Mortimer & Reed W. Larson Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Political Participation

Kimberlee, Richard. "Why don't British young people vote at general elections" Journal of Youth Studies, 2002, 3, 85-98.

Youniss, James, et al. "Youth civic engagement in the twenty-first century." Journal of Research on Adolescence, 2002, 12, 121-148.

Deviance Issues

Cullen, F.T. & Wright, J.P. "Criminal justice in the lives of American adolescents." In The changing adolescent experience : societal trends and the transition to adulthood edited by Jeylan T. Mortimer & Reed W. Larson Cambridge University Press, 2002.Ch 4, pp. 88-129.

Cognitive & Moral Development

Kegan, 1994. "The hidden curriculum of youth," Ch. 1 In over our heads

pp. 15-36.

Gender Differences in the Experience of Youth

Varpalotai, Aniko. "Canadian girls in transition to womanhood." In Burt Galaway & Joe Hudson. Youth in transition: persepctives on research and policy, Thompson, 1996, ch. 10.

Huston, A.C. & Alvarez, M. "The socialization context of gender role development in early adolescence," in G. R. Adams, R. Montemayor and T. P. Gullotta (ed.), Biology of adolescent behavior and development (Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1990).

Hill, John & ME Lynch, "The intensification of gender-related role expectations during early adolescence," in J. Brooks-Gunn and A. C. Petersen (ed.), Girls at puberty: Biological and psychological perspectives (New York: Plenum, 1983).

Heilman, Elizabeth "The struggle for self: Power and identity in adolescent girls." Youth & Society, 30, 182-208.

Harris, Anita, Sinikka Aapola & Marnina Gonick. "Doing it differently: Youth women managing heterosexuality in Australia, Finland, and Canada. Journal of Youth Studies, 2000, 3, 373-388.

Global perspectives

T. S. Saraswathi and Reed Larson "Adolescents in global perspective: An agenda for social policy." The World's Youth: Adolescence in Eight Regions of the Globe Edited by B. Bradford Brown, Reed W. Larson, T. S. Saraswathi, Cambridge University Press, 2002, ch 11.

Jeylan T. Mortimer & Reed W. Larson "Macrostructural changes and the reshaping of adolescence" In The changing adolescent experience : societal trends and the transition to adulthood edited by Jeylan T. Mortimer & Reed W. Larson Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Evaluation sheet for SOC 582 seminars.

Presenter's name: _______________________

Your name: _______________________

COMMENTS (use overleaf if needed):

Comprehensiveness of reading review: