Contagious youth: deviance and the management of youth sociality

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to explore a particular conception of youth deviance and some of its practical implications. This conception is evident in the way that the media and human services construe phenomena like teen violence and “risky” sex in epidemiological terms: as contagious and spreading rapidly through a population.

Methodology/approach – This chapter broaches these questions through review and analysis of human services research and literature as well as their practical recommendations.

Findings – This chapter argues that the concern over transmission of deviant behaviors or characteristics is linked to anxiety over youth sociality and the spaces it occupies. While historically contingent in their manifestations, causal logics using sociality to explain youth deviance (peer pressure, e.g.) continue to resonate with a medicalized viewpoint of the very category of youth.

Contribution to the field – This chapter has contributed to the field through exploring changing conceptions of youth and the sociological question of the medicalization of social problems.

Citation

Jolley, M. (2010), "Contagious youth: deviance and the management of youth sociality", Mukherjea, A. (Ed.) Understanding Emerging Epidemics: Social and Political Approaches (Advances in Medical Sociology, Vol. 11), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 303-311. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1057-6290(2010)0000011020