NCJ Number
162558
Date Published
1993
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Although youth subcultures in Australia are said to form in opposition to the dominant culture of society, the lives and interests of young people, including their friendships and relationships with others, develop along complex cultural lines and are not necessarily related to a conscious desire to oppose dominant social values.
Abstract
Young people seek solutions to problems which concern them in their immediate world. Their access to knowledge and power and their opportunity to develop life skills will influence the way in which they perceive themselves, their world, and problem solutions. Research is reported on a tertiary education access program designed for young people who have experienced life on the streets, known poverty and dislocation, and suffered educational and social disadvantages. The author shows that many students in the program exhibited remarkable resilience and resourcefulness, considering life circumstances and obstacles they faced. Students were able to maintain a grip on their hope for a productive life. The use of theoretical concepts of youth subcultures and resistance in describing needs and interests of young people is critiqued. The importance of further analysis to reformulate resistance and youth subculture theory and to help teachers and youth workers work more effectively with young people is emphasized. 12 references