American Youth Cultures

American Youth Cultures

Author: Neil Campbell

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 9780415971973

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Ten essays by British, US, and Canadian academics explore popular books, films, and television shows for clues to the meanings of youth representation in American culture. Drawing on a framework of ideas from cultural and social theory, they consider themes such as race, class, gender, power, and sexuality as well as the ideological nature of youth and its centrality to American popular culture. Originally published in 2000 as The Radiant Hour: Versions of Youth in American Culture (U. of Exeter Press). Annotation : 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).


Clueless

Clueless

Author: Lesley Speed

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2017-07-14

Total Pages: 129

ISBN-13: 1317189280

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Clueless: American Youth in the 1990s is a timely contribution to the increasingly prominent academic field of youth film studies. The book draws on the social context to the film’s release, a range of film industry perspectives including marketing, audience reception and franchising, as well as postmodern theory and feminist film theory to assert the cultural and historical significance of Amy Heckerling’s film and reaffirm its reputation as one of the defining teen films of the 1990s. Lesley Speed examines how the film channels aspects of Anita Loos’ 1925 novel Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the 1960s television series Gidget and Jane Austen’s Emma, to present a heightened, optimistic view of contemporary American teenage life. Although seemingly apolitical, Speed makes the case for Clueless as a feminist exploration of relationships between gender, comedy and consumer culture, centring on a contemporary version of the ‘dumb blonde’ type. The film is also proved to embrace diversity in its depiction of African American characters and contributing to an increase in gay teenagers on screen. Lesley Speed concludes her analysis by tracking the rise of the Clueless franchise and cult following. Both helped to cement the film in popular consciousness, inviting fans to inhabit its fantasy world through spinoff narratives on television and in print, public viewing rituals, revivalism and vintage fashion.


America's Teenagers--Myths and Realities

America's Teenagers--Myths and Realities

Author: Sharon L. Nichols

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2004-07-19

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 1135615942

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The media's presentation suggests that American teenage culture today is the most violent, sexual, and amoral youth culture in history. In this book, Nichols and Good deconstruct the negative images held by large numbers of adults. Recognizing that many teenagers are left by adults to socialize themselves and the consequences of this "careless indifference," the authors' goal is to influence a more positive view leading to stronger social policies and better services, resources, and programs to meet the needs of America's youth. Unique features of America's Teenagers--Myths and Realities: Media Images, Schooling, and the Social Costs of Careless Indifference include: *powerful analytic lenses used to revisit typical depictions of youth; *a wealth of information brought to bear on understanding teenagers' behavior; and *consideration of a broad range of adolescent behaviors across critical socializing settings. The book begins with a discussion of the continuing myth of adolescence--how and why youth are devalued, and an overview of current beliefs about youth drawn from two 1990s Public Agenda Polls. This is followed by chapters on youth and the media, and the pressures that youth face in various dimensions of their lives. Topics include youth violence; the sex lives of teenagers; tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and teens; healthy living and decision making; working teens; and youth and education. The concluding chapter pulls together themes generated throughout the book and provides examples of policies that would underscore the value of viewing youth as a social investment. General guidelines are provided for teachers, parents, policymakers, and citizens to facilitate responding to youth in meaningful, proactive ways that improve the quality of life for teenagers and the broader society.


American Youth Violence

American Youth Violence

Author: Franklin E. Zimring

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2000-10-19

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 019514063X

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On juvenile delinquency in America


America's Youth in Crisis

America's Youth in Crisis

Author: Richard M. Lerner

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 175

ISBN-13: 0803970692

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Our nation's youth are at risk for drug and alcohol abuse, unsafe sexual practices, teen pregnancy, academic underachievement, delinquency, and crime and violence. What can be done to prevent these problems from occurring? Outlining a vigorous "call to arms," this volume describes the steps needed to overcome these potential problems by enhancing academic researchers' responsiveness to the needs of the community and encouraging them to apply the results of research findings to community outreach. After reviewing the problems that beset today's youth, Lerner offers a model - developmental contextualism - that provides a theoretical framework for viewing child and adolescent development in relation to specific features of environmental "context," such as family, neighborhood, society, and culture. This model is used to describe the problems and the potentials that are associated with the bidirectional relationships between youth and their contexts. Lerner asserts that, by altering the context in which youth live, researchers can test the effectiveness of policies and/or programs in creating desired changes in children's and adolescents' behavior and development.


Attitudes, Aptitudes, and Aspirations of American Youth

Attitudes, Aptitudes, and Aspirations of American Youth

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2003-01-01

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 0309169186

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Recruiting an all-volunteer military is a formidable task. To successfully enlist one eligible recruit, the Army must contact approximately 120 young people. The National Research Council explores the various factors that will determine whether the military can realistically expect to recruit an adequate fighting force-one that will meet its upcoming needs. It also assesses the military's expected manpower needs and projects the numbers of youth who are likely to be available over the next 20 years to meet these needs. With clearly written text and useful graphics, Attitudes, Aptitudes, and Aspirations of American Youth offers an overview of important issues for military recruiters, touching on a number of important topics including: sex and race, education and aptitude, physical and moral attributes, and military life and working conditions. In addition, the book looks at how a potential recruit would approach the decision to enlist, considering personal, family, and social values, and the options for other employment or college. Building on the need to increase young Americans' "propensity to enlist," this book offers useful recommendations for increasing educational opportunities while in the service and for developing advertising strategies that include concepts of patriotism and duty to country. Of primary value to military policymakers, recruitment officers, and analysts, Attitudes, Aptitudes, and Aspirations of American Youth will also interest social scientists and policy makers interested in youth trends.


Language, Identity, and Stereotype Among Southeast Asian American Youth

Language, Identity, and Stereotype Among Southeast Asian American Youth

Author: Angela Reyes

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-09-25

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 1351560867

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This book—an ethnographic and discourse analytic study of an after-school video-making project for 1.5- and second-generation Southeast Asian American teenagers—explores the relationships among stereotype, identity, and ethnicity that emerge in this informal educational setting. Working from a unique theoretical foundation that combines linguistic anthropology, Asian American studies, and education, and using rigorous linguistic anthropological tools to closely examine video- and audio- recorded interactions gathered during the video-making project (in which teen participants learned the skills for creating their own video and adult staff learned to respect and value the local knowledge of youth), the author builds a compelling link between micro-level uses of language and macro-level discourses of identity, race, ethnicity, and culture. In this study of the ways in which teens draw on and play with circulating stereotypes of the self and the other, Reyes uniquely illustrates how individuals can reappropriate stereotypes of their ethnic group as a resource to position themselves and others in interactionally meaningful ways, to accomplish new social actions, and to assign new meanings to stereotypes. This is an important book for academics and students in sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, discourse analysis, and applied linguistics with an interest in issues of youth, race, and ethnicity, and/or educational settings, and will also be of interest to readers in the fields of education, Asian American studies, social psychology, and sociology.