Social Construction Of Youth Essay

This essay will look into the social construction of youth, arguing whether sociology can help us understand the nature of adolescents. This will be done by first finding the definitions of adolescents and sociology, secondly it will discuss the different sociological perspectives (Marxist, Functionalist and Post-modernist) on what their perspective on youth and youth subcultures are and how they can help people to understand the nature of adolescents. Leading on to the analysation of social construction; what it is all about and how society has socially constructed youth. Lastly I will be putting across a suggestion that youth can be seen as a Morden invention by some sociologists.

According to the dictionary adolescents is described as
“A period in life following the onset of puberty during which a young person develops from a child into an adult” (dictionary, 2016). However, sociologist define adolescents as the biological, social, economic and psychological development transitions between childhood and adulthood (S Nicholls, 2009). The term adolescents vary dramatically across different countries, which can have a significant effect on how people define youth. …show more content…
Meaning that their respective life courses would involve different paths to adulthood, some unwarranted than others. When discussing youth culture, it is important to keep these differences in mind. Sociologist believe that the word youth has become a public institution; that has been objectified by the state, preserved in law and commodified by businesses (Davies, 2014). Youth has become socially constructed through the education system, government legislation and the media, this is how subcultures are formed especially among the working class as they share the same norms and