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Rethinking Youth
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Rethinking Youth


February 1997 | 184 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
Challenging the conventional wisdom surrounding the position and opportunities of young people today, Rethinking Youth offers a provocative critique of the mainstream conceptions of youth, the programs and strategies designed for "at-risk" young people, and policy development in youth affairs. The authors demonstrate how the concept of youth involves a tension between the social significance of age, which gives young people a common status, and the significance of other social divisions. Drawing upon studies from different societies, they examine debates surrounding youth and economy, youth development, youth subcultures, youth transitions, and youth marginalization. Rethinking Youth calls for a greater sensitivity to the complexities of youth, and greater emphasis on democracy and equality in dealing with the problems experienced by young people in a rapidly changing world. A thoughtful examination of todayÆs youth, Rethinking Youth is a relevant study for academics and students in family studies, social work, and sociology.

 
Introduction
 
The Concept of Youth
 
Youth and Economy
 
Youth Development
 
Youth Subcultures
 
Youth Transitions
 
Youth Marginalization
 
Conclusion

`Rethinking Youth should prove useful for practitioners as well as academic researchers. It was also a welcome change to see a detailed discussion of social relations around ethnicity. "race" and class from the perspective of Australian society, as well as the more usual and dominant focus on Britain and the USA' - Sociological Research Online

`This is a well written book which introduces several new theoretical ideas for the analysis of `youth' as a life stage. The authors promote refreshing ideas about how youth should be reconceptualized and how class should not be ignored in youth research. I think Wyn and White put forward a strong case for the reintroduction of class analysis into youth research and also for more consideration of the social processes which affect young people. I would suggest that the book should be read by anyone working in the youth field as there are some stimulating new ideas on how youth research can progress. Rethinking Youth will provide many readers with food for thought on how the ideas put forward by Wyn and White can be expanded upon and also incorporated into future empirical youth research projects' - Journal of Youth Studies


Useful, provocative and refreshingly confrontational of the conventions and received wisdoms that are often promoted in relation to young people.

Mr Cris Mepham
Health, Community & Social Care, Bradford College
December 4, 2014

A very clear, plain English book that explores different aspects of youth work.

Miss Caroline Mckeever
Health and Social Care, North West Regional College
September 26, 2014

Excellent text from Learning Matters, the activities provide an additional learning aid for students.

Miss Natalie Dowling
Institute of Eucation and Public Services, Gloucestershire University
February 20, 2013

This book will be an essential element in the reading list. It will enable students to get a thorough grounding in the issue of 'youth'.

Mrs Susan Skipper
Law Justice & Community Studies, East Lancashire Institute of HE at Blackburn
November 14, 2012

A fantastic book which would support trainee youth work students with their studies and beyond. Some really interesting discussions and current debates.

Mrs Alana Enoch
Education Studies and Social Inclusion, Trinity College Carmarthen
October 2, 2012

For instructors

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ISBN: 9781446265567

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