British Youth Research Articles

The Emergence of a Lumpen-Consumerate: the Aesthetics of Consumption and Violence in the English Riots of 2011

Within hours of the outset of unrest in the August 2011 English Riots, the government asserted that they were the doings of “criminal gangs”. In doing so, government officials and journalistic commentators cited television images of rioting and plundering youths. Although this assertion was subsequently abandoned, it reflected an on-going process: the criminalization of youth in Britain. The recycled images of flames and hooded teenagers came to serve as the proof of youth “gone bad”. This paper explores both the actions supposedly captured in the images depicting the riots and the discourses surrounding the reproduction of those images. It seeks to connect the youth politics of the everyday—especially the problems of being ignored as political subjects—to the formal political structures that rely on youth to be socially unruly on one hand and disciplined consumers on the other. Segments of British youth are cast out, seen as unneeded or unwanted in this disciplinary project and constitute what I call here a “lumpen-consumerate”. The paper concludes with a comparative analysis of the consumer images that both discipline young people and serve as a model for framing the unrest. The paper builds upon Deleuze, Badiou, Bourdieu, Bauman and others in order to examine how spontaneous, uncoordinated action came to be read through mass media spectacle as dismissible and intolerable images of “criminal gangs” to be policed.

Geographies of education, volunteering and the lifecourse: the Woodcraft Folk in Britain (1925-75).

This article extends the current scholarly focus within the geographies of education and the geographies of children, youth and families through an original examination of the Woodcraft Folk – a British youth organization founded in 1925 that aimed to create a world built on equality, friendship and peace. This article illustrates how voluntary uniformed youth organizations had a much wider spatial remit and more complex institutional geographies than have been hitherto acknowledged, with their active involvement in the training of adults (namely parents and volunteers) as well as the education of children and young people. Drawing on archival research and a range of sources, the article explores the Woodcraft Folk’s philosophies and political activities across its first 50 years, and in doing so, makes two central academic contributions to the discipline. First, the article provides a timely focus on training and its analytical purchase for geographers as part of a growing body of work on the geographies of education. Second, the article shows how geographers can account for both children and adults’ geographies in institutional spaces, in this case through mapping out the enlivened historical geographies of voluntarism across the lifecourse. This article demonstrates the complex and often fluid relationship between formal and informal education, as well as the important connections between parenting and volunteering. Overall, the article reflects on the subsequent challenges and opportunities for researchers concerned with debates on education, youth and volunteering within geography and beyond.

Hunting gruffalo: ‘gangs’, unreason and the big bad coalition

But who is this creature with terrible claws/And terrible teeth in its terrible jaws?/He has knobbly knees and turned out toes/And a poisonous wart on the end of his nose/His eyes are orange, his tongue is black/He has purple prickles all over his back/Oh help! Oh no! It's a Gruffalo!(Donaldson, 1999)Youth violence, like most other forms of violence has been falling steadily in recent years. Despite – or perhaps because of this – recent policy responses have begun to rely increasingly on the spectre of ‘the gang’ as a trope for representing serious youth crime, invoking moral panic, and justifying greater police powers in socially marginalised communities (Hallsworth, 2013). The cynical disconnect between this and the growing weight of critical, empirical British youth gang research strains belief, and exposes the unreason at the heart of coalition policy. In this article, we analyse the release of several reports relating to the 2011 policy paper Ending Gang and Youth Violence (HM Government, 2011). Amid...

Looking at how social media can benefit school nursing practice

British Journal of School NursingVol. 9, No. 3 RepresentationLooking at how social media can benefit school nursing practiceMichelle SobandeMichelle SobandeSearch for more papers by this authorMichelle SobandePublished Online:20 Apr 2014https://doi.org/10.12968/bjsn.2014.9.3.151AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail View article References British Youth Council (2011) Our School Nurse. BYC, London Google ScholarDepartment of Health (2014) Maximising the School Nursing team contribution to the public health of school age children. The Stationery Office, London Google ScholarDuggan M, Smith A (2013) Social Media update 2013. www.pewinternet.org/2013/12/30/social-media-update-2013/ (accessed 4 April 2014) Google ScholarPew Research Internet Project (2013) Health Fact Sheet. www.pewinternet.org/three-technology-revolutions/ (accessed 4 April 2014) Google ScholarSobande M (2013) Connecting and driving School Nursing through social media. British Journal of School Nursing 8(4): 186–9 Link, Google ScholarWeNurses (2013) Challenges facing School Nursing. http://bit.ly/1k68e6F (accessed 4 April 2014) Google Scholar FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails 1 April 2014Volume 9Issue 3ISSN (print): 1752-2803ISSN (online): 2052-2827 Metrics History Published online 20 April 2014 Published in print 1 April 2014 Information© MA Healthcare LimitedPDF download

Cuddling and Spooning

This article examines the prevalence of homosocial tactility and the contemporary status and meaning of heteromasculinity among British male youth. Drawing on in-depth interviews with forty student-athletes at a British university, we find that thirty-seven participants have cuddled with another male. In addition to this cuddling, participants also engage in “spooning” with their heterosexual male friends. Demonstrating the pleasurable aspects of being a man in this culture, we argue that the expansion of esteemed homosocial behaviors for heterosexual men is evidence of an expansion of changing conceptions of masculinity in contemporary culture. We call for the discussion of heteromasculinities and contextualize our findings using inclusive masculinity theory.

Physical activity maintenance in the transition to adolescence: a longitudinal study of the roles of sport and lifestyle activities in British youth.

BackgroundPromoting physical activity in youth is important for health, but existing physical activity interventions have had limited success. We aimed to inform intervention design by i) describing drop-out, continuation and uptake of specific activities over the transition to adolescence; and ii) examining Variety (number of different activities/week) and Frequency (number of activity session/week) of activity participation and their associations with changes in objectively measured physical activity from childhood to adolescence.MethodsAt age 10.2±0.3 and 14.2±0.3 years, 319 children in the SPEEDY study (46% boys) wore GT1M Actigraph accelerometers for 7 days and provided self-reported participation (never, once, 2 to 3 times or four or more times, over the last 7 days) in 23 leisure-time activities. Associations of change in moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) (≥2000 counts/minute) and change in total physical activity (TPA) (average accelerometer counts/minute) with exposure variables Z-score transformed (change in) Variety and Frequency were examined using multilevel linear regression, clustered by school, in simple and adjusted models.ResultsThe number of children ever reporting a specific activity ranged from 30 (‘Hockey’) to 279 (‘Running or jogging’). Some activities were susceptible to drop-out (e.g. ‘Skipping’) but others were commonly continued or taken up (e.g. ‘Household chores’). Overall, Variety and Frequency declined (mean±SD ΔVariety −3.1±4.4 activities/week; ΔFrequency −7.2±12.0 session/week). ΔMVPA and ΔTPA were not associated with Variety or Frequency at baseline, nor with ΔVariety or ΔFrequency (p>0.29 in all models).ConclusionsPopularity of specific activities as well as drop-out, continuation and uptake should be considered in future intervention development. Activities that are commonly continued or taken up may be more valuable to encourage in interventions than those with low participation or high drop-out. We did not find evidence to support the idea that Variety and Frequency may be key elements to include in future interventions.

Mixed Masculinities in 1960sBritish andFrenchYouthMagazines

The Journal of Popular CultureVolume 47, Issue 1 p. 84-108 Article Mixed Masculinities in 1960s British and French Youth Magazines Chris Tinker, Chris TinkerSearch for more papers by this author Chris Tinker, Chris TinkerSearch for more papers by this author First published: 29 March 2014 https://doi.org/10.1111/jpcu.12109Citations: 3Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume47, Issue1February 2014Pages 84-108 RelatedInformation

Risk and transgression on holiday: 'new experiences' and the pied piper of excessive consumption

When British youth spend holiday abroad, they tend to engage in increased consumption of alcohol, drugs, violence and unprotected sex – collectively known as ‘risk’ behaviours. While numerous epidemiological studies have documented the extent of these risk behaviours in places like the Balearic Islands, few have taken a phenomenological approach with the participants who go there – to find out how they experience and attribute meaning to their transgressions on holiday. Our research reports on this matter and is based on ethnographic data collected in 2009, 2010 and 2011. We argue that individual and group holiday ambitions for a ‘blow out’ are actively complemented by aggressive commercial forces, which seek to capitalise on consumer spending, thus assisting in the production of risk. We show how this works by reporting from the resort of San Antonio, Ibiza.

Change in objectively measured physical activity during the transition to adolescence

BackgroundPhysical activity (PA) declines during adolescence but change in different PA intensities across population subgroups is rarely explored. We describe change in sedentary (SED) time, light (LPA), moderate (MPA) and...

Adolescent health needs

Journal of Paediatrics and Child HealthVolume 49, Issue 11 p. 984-984 Heads UpFree Access Adolescent health needs First published: 20 November 2013 https://doi.org/10.1111/jpc.12423_4AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey of 5018 Taiwanese adolescents aged 12–18 years found their main health concerns were weight and height, diet, acne, sports and injury prevention, and academic stress.1 These rated higher than mental and emotional well-being. Only 4.3% of Taiwanese adolescents used health-care services for mental and emotional problems.1 These data might be interpreted as suggesting that Taiwanese adolescents have a narrow view on health and do not see low mood as depression, let alone make the connection that doctors and others can help them. Taiwanese adolescents did not report as many concerns about sexual health and substance use as American and European adolescents, but their health needs were otherwise similar to Australian, British, other European and North American youth. The authors’ conclusion regarding an unmet health need and that health promotion and youth health services should adopt a ‘youth-friendly’ approach to target adolescents is echoed around the world.2 References 1 Tsai M-C et al. Arch. Dis. Child. 2013; 98: 9– 15. CrossrefPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar 2 Viner RM. Arch. Dis. Child. 2013; 98: 2. CrossrefPubMedWeb of Science®Google Scholar Reviewer: David Isaacs, Children's Hospital at Westmead, david.isaacs@health.nsw.gov.au; Simon Denny, University of Auckland Volume49, Issue11November 2013Pages 984-984 ReferencesRelatedInformation

The perceptions of UK youth of branded and standardized, 'plain' cigarette packaging

Tobacco packaging is an important form of promotion. Standardizing cigarette packages ('plain' packaging) represents a novel tobacco control policy. This study examined perceptions of branded and standardized cigarette packages among British youth. Seven hundred twelve youth aged 11-17 completed an online survey. Participants viewed pairs of packages altered using a 3 × 2 factorial design: health warning type (40% text, 40% pictorial or 80% pictorial) × standardized pack colour (white vs. brown). A discrete-choice task was used in which participants selected packs based on attractiveness, taste, tar, health risk, impact of health warning and enticement to start smoking. Participants also compared regular Silk Cut and 'Superslims' Silk Cut packs. Participants completed a final selection task from two standardized and two branded packs. Warning type was significantly associated with all six outcomes: packs with larger pictorial warnings were more likely to be perceived as less attractive, less smooth, greater health risk, higher tar delivery, more effective health warnings and less likely to encourage initiation. The same pattern was found for brown vs. white standardized packages, with the exception of attractiveness and initiation. Compared with the regular Silk Cut pack, the 'Superslims' Silk Cut pack was perceived as significantly more favourable on all six outcomes. Finally, among respondents who selected a pack in the pack selection task, 95.1% selected a branded pack vs. 4.9% who selected a standardized pack. Increasing the size of pictorial health warnings and standardizing the appearance and shape of packages may discourage smoking initiation among young people.

Being Boys: Youth, Leisure and Identity in the Inter-War Years, by Melanie Tebbutt

British social history is in a transitional phase at present. No longer, as in the 1970s and 1980s, a radical discipline brimming with innovative and wide-ranging scholarship on, for example, the role of music hall in late nineteenth century British imperialism; the historical significance of apprentices’ strikes of the 1930s, or spending and saving in the context of working-class life and culture, 1870–1939, it is now a hybrid form; less concerned with social questions and far more preoccupied with ‘cultural’ and sociological agendas—with ‘gender’, ‘masculinity’ and, to take the key buzzword of this study, ‘identity’. In effect, much British social history has been turned into women’s and gender studies. Melanie Tebbutt’s new book is a case in point. Belonging to a Manchester University Press series on ‘Gender in History’ which claims to have ‘changed the face of history’ since the 1970s, it sits oddly in a series dedicated to revealing ‘the lived experience of women in the past and the present’. The book deserves to be unshackled from this feminist agenda and to be marketed as a monograph in its own right. It is one of the most stimulating books to appear on British youth history in recent years—though it is not an easy read and is marred by modish sociologising at several points.

CONTEMPORARY ARAB MUSIC VIDEO CLIPS: BETWEEN SIMULATING MTV’S GENDER STEREOTYPES AND FOSTERING NEW ONES

MTV was the first 24-hour cable network to continuously broadcast music videos in the 1980s, thus establishing the genre. Generally, Arab music video clips differ from Western-produced music videos, because artists are compelled to abide by the conservative cultural norms of Arab societies. However, most Arab music videos, particularly those produced in the last decade, reaffirm Western gender stereotypes intrinsic to those produced by MTV. Contemporary Arab music videos for the most part simulate an MTV aesthetic vocabulary of a gaze that features female sexuality and narratives of seduction. Some new Arab producers, nonetheless, have attempted to avoid reproducing MTV-based gender clichés, but have instead created new gender misconceptions. These productions emphasize depictions of women as untrustworthy and impetuous. Finally, I discuss how young Arab singers have constantly been confronted by the ire of regionally prominent religious figures who denounce the music videos’ endorsement of “anti-Islamic” principles. I contend that Stuart Hall and Paddy Whannel’s early analysis of reactions against popular music styles among British youth as a form of cultural transgression remains relevant to understanding the cultural style of Arab youth as expressed through popular musical performance.

Legitimating status: perceptions of meritocracy and inequality among undergraduates at an elite British university

Given the frequent critiques of elite universities for admitting low numbers of state school graduates and, more recently, British Afro‐Caribbean students, how do students attending those universities make meaning of the admissions process? Through an analysis of 46 one‐on‐one in‐depth interviews with undergraduates attending Oxford University, we show that students believe in the fairness of the admissions process, while lamenting the lack of opportunities for educational advancement faced by some disadvantaged youth in British society. Despite their understanding that many British youth do not have access to educational experiences that make Oxbridge an attainable goal, most students do not support changes to make access more equitable across class or racial/ethnic lines. This perspective, which legitimates the status students gain through matriculation at an elite university, supports the maintenance of unequal access to an Oxford education despite the advantages that education is known to confer to graduates. The findings demonstrate elites acknowledging the disadvantages of particular groups in society without acknowledging their own advantages in the same system. They do so by recognizing two elements of merit: (1) intelligence, which most students assumed led to their own admission; and (2) cultivation of that intelligence, which requires elite secondary schools and which most students see as disadvantaging particular groups in society. In the paper we highlight differences in meaning‐making between graduates of grammar, comprehensive and private schools.

Getting young people involved in school nursing

British Journal of School NursingVol. 8, No. 3 ProfessionalGetting young people involved in school nursingHeidi PouneyHeidi PouneySearch for more papers by this authorHeidi PouneyPublished Online:16 Aug 2013https://doi.org/10.12968/bjsn.2013.8.3.132AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail View article References Department of health (2012) Getting it right for children, young people and families. Maximising the contribution of the school nursing team: Vision and call to action. The Stationery Office, London Google ScholarBritish Youth Council (2011) Our school nurse. Young people's views on the role of the school nurse. British Youth Council, London Google Scholar FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails 1 April 2013Volume 8Issue 3ISSN (print): 1752-2803ISSN (online): 2052-2827 Metrics History Published online 16 August 2013 Published in print 1 April 2013 Information© MA Healthcare LimitedPDF download

White Heat, Guide Blue: The Girl Guide Movement in the 1960s

This paper examines the reinvention of Britain's largest uniformed youth organisation, the Girl Guides Association, during the 1960s. It will be argued that the movement's leaders initiated a successful reform process that both analysed and assimilated predominant social mores and tastes amongst British youth. In doing so, they forged a modern, voluntary organisation with mass membership that has remained an integral part of mainstream youth culture. Recent historiography has questioned many perceived orthodoxies regarding the social and moral revolutions associated with the 1960s. The renaissance of Guiding, a movement designed as a rampart for the social order, casts doubt on popular portrayals of the 1960s as a decade of youthful radicalism.

Teen TV Meets T4: Assimilating The O.C. into British Youth Television

This article explores the presence of imported US Teen TV in the schedules of British youth television and the relationship between the two national forms. Focusing on the broadcast of The O.C on Channel 4 youth strand T4, it considers the role of the spaces in-between programmes in framing the audience’s experience of the imported US text. It demonstrates how the T4 supertext employed presenter performance, critique and parody to assimilate the glamorously aspirational US Teen TV text into the cynically engaged flow of British youth television.

Neighbourhood deprivation and adolescent self-esteem: Exploration of the ‘socio-economic equalisation in youth’ hypothesis in Britain and Canada

Material deprivation is an important determinant of health inequalities in adults but there remains debate about the extent of its importance for adolescent wellbeing. Research has found limited evidence for an association between adolescent health and socio-economic status, leading authors to suggest that there is an ‘equalisation’ of health across socio-economic groups during the adolescent stage of the life-course. This paper explores this ‘equalisation’ hypothesis for adolescent psychological wellbeing from a geographical perspective by investigating associations between neighbourhood deprivation and self-esteem in Britain and Canada. Data from the British Youth Panel (BYP) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) on adolescents aged 11–15 for the time period 1994–2004 were used to estimate variations in low self-esteem between neighbourhoods using multilevel logistic regression. Models were extended to estimate associations between self-esteem and neighbourhood deprivation before and after adjustment for individual and family level covariates. Moderation by age, sex, urban/rural status, household income and family structure was investigated. There were no significant differences in self-esteem between the most deprived and most affluent neighbourhoods (Canada unadjusted OR = 1.00, 95% CI 0.76, 1.33; Britain unadjusted OR = 1.25, 95% CI 0.74, 2.13). The prevalence of low self-esteem was higher (in Canada) for boys in the least deprived neighbourhoods compared to other neighbourhoods. No other interactions were observed. The results presented here offer some (limited) support for the socio-economic equalisation in youth hypothesis from a geographical perspective: with specific reference to equalisation of the relationship between neighbourhood deprivation and self-esteem and psychological health in early adolescence. This contrasts with previous research in the United States but supports related work from Britain. The lack of interactions with key social and economic variables suggests that findings might apply across a range of family circumstances and different communities in Britain and Canada. Policy implications are discussed.

Two-year longitudinal changes in screen-time and different elements of physical activity in British youth from 11 to 13 years

Introduction: The decline in physical activity (PA) from childhood to adolescence is stark and often accompanied by an increase in sedentary behaviours. Preventing or attenuating this decline represents a potential public health intervention strategy. While an overall decline is well-documented, little is known of how different elements of PA change. Using individually-validated items from a standard questionnaire (Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents: PAQ-A) and self-reported screen-time we investigated changes in different elements of PA and sedentary behaviour over two years in participants aged eleven at baseline.

Classed Femininity, Performativity, and Camp in British Structured Reality Programming

This article explores the representations and tonal qualities of British “structured reality” programming. Focusing on The Only Way Is Essex and Made in Chelsea, it investigates their glocalizing of the model established by MTV’s Laguna Beach and The Hills. It argues that while they blur boundaries between docusoap, drama, and soap opera, the British programs also recognize and foreground issues of construction for their reality TV-literate youth audience. It suggests the programs play a key role in their respective channel identities and the ideologies of British youth television, connecting to larger issues of class, gender, and taste. This is articulated through their regional and classed femininities, with the article exploring how the programs draw on classed ideologies surrounding “natural” and “excessive” femininities and of the role of this in their engagement with construction and camp play. This play contributes to the tonal shift offered by the British programs, mixing the melodrama of the MTV programs with a knowing, at times comic edge that can tip into mockery. In doing so, the programs offer their audience a combination of performative self-awareness and emotional realism that situates them clearly within British youth television.