Media theories about youth culture

Theorist	Year	Concepts	Your explanation	How it fits into the films we have studied.
Giroux	1997	Youth as empty category	Adults give their own meaning to youth and create their own fear. The category is filled with the interests of the adult world.	In Attack the Block, the youths are actually heroic and kind and regret their actions.
Acland	1995	Ideology of protection; deviant youth and reproduction of social order	Plays on the comparisons between a normal adult and a normal youth and their relationships. Adults want to protect youths. Acts like a boundry	In Eden Lake, the adults are an average happy couple and the youths are totally opposite. the use as an example of how not to behave.
Gramsci	1971 (1929-1935)	Cultural hegemony	One class is in charge and presents the ideologies that everyone else should live by.	In Harry Brown, the policemen and investigators are all of a higher class than the youths.
Cohen	1972	Moral panic	Every so often, a certain category of people is perceived by the media as a threat and creates a panic among moral beliefs.	This is present in all three films, as the youth are all perceived as threats and act without morals.
McRobbie	2004	Symbolic Violence	Symbolic violence among the working class is part of social reproduction helping to redefine their identity. creating a sense of violence with a particular lower male class. Helps to define a boundary between the lower class and the middle class	In Harry Brown, the youths are often seen fighting with each other, often for their survival.
Gerbner	1986	Cultivation Theory	The repetitiveness of the media’s text and images influence public understanding. Influencing society through media repetition cultivating this idea about how the youth are.	All films show quite an over exaggerated view of youth and don’t represent the silent majority.