What is meant by the claim that 'youth is socially constructed'? Illustrate your answer to the issue of the 'problematization' of young people's lives.

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Sharon Ebanks        T274910X        TMA01

What is meant by the claim that ‘youth is socially constructed’?  Illustrate your answer to the issue of the ‘problematization’  of young people’s lives.

Youth is a transition period between childhood and adulthood that includes personal, social, political, cultural and economic influences, these transition periods can have a deep affect on the lives of young people, they become dependent , they have to make changes in their lives and it is also an emotional and psychological time then they could be very vulnerable.

Humans according to different social, historical or cultural contexts have socially constructed meanings of youth; this representational labour has made the phase of youth meaningful and constructed qualities that relate to that of a teenager.

To claim that youth is socially constructed is claiming that images, stereotypes and representations of youth are built up within the society they live.  Young people’s lives are stereotyped by organisations such as the media, politicians, priests and expert opinion influencing ideas and opinions within society. They decide what should be done, what services need to be created etc, this is vital in the treatment of young people.

Social construction is not just a phase given to different interpretations of a material thing, it is a theory that it is the reality itself that is constructed, and it is manufactured by social and cultural processes.

The dominant representation of young people is that they are ‘problematic’, the way that young people’s lives are socially constructed and the way that they are viewed in society reflects what services are offered to them.

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Power is almost always in the hands of adults, young people have to submit to adult authority, which can lead to abuses of power.  Social exclusion can also be apparent because of the problematization of young people as discrimination can act as a barrier to the development of social justice.

This negative representation of young people’s lives and behaviour is an issue that has been going on for decades and research bases its investigations on these negative stereotypes making it difficult to address the problems that young people really face.

How we as a society make sense of a thing ...

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