This theoretical thesis employs critical discourse analysis to scrutinise the construction of video game addiction in Swedish press from 1991 to 2017, and examines its potential contribution to a moral panic. Our research is based on the assumption that media discourse influences societal norms, which in turn, can profoundly affect individuals and groups. Our primary results suggest that a small group of moral entrepreneurs, mainly treatment providers for gambling disorders, were given an ideological near-monopoly over the conceptualization of video game addiction in the Swedish press. They popularised diagnostic criteria and screening tools by paraphrasing those developed for substance addiction, thus implying that this new disorder was just like substance addiction and therefore warranted similarly aggressive interventions and possibly clinical treatment. Additionally, we found that the often alarmist concerns over players' health, education, social life and other presumed harms of video game addiction were not primarily rooted in the games themselves. Our sample shows that the discourse seamlessly expanded to incorporate new sources of addiction, treating video games, the Internet, computers, social media, smart phones, and, most recently, screens as functional synonyms.  Our analysis suggests that the moral panic might be a manifestation of deeper societal factors, including traditional patriarchal family values, prejudice against youth, expectations of neuro-normativity, and conservative views on digital media. Recognizing the influence of these underlying factors may help parents, teachers, social workers and gamers themselves navigate the still-ongoing media trend of using pop psychology and amateur neuroscience to justify patriarchal and capitalist morality tales.

No description available.

The aim of this essay is to examine how boys and girls between 9–14 years old are portrayed in pen pal ads from the latter part of the 20th century. The source material consists of pen pal ads published in the newspaper Expressen during the years 1976–1977 and 1986–1987. With a qualitative content analysisas selected method, and an intersectional perspective with focus on gender and age, the content of the pen pal ads has been studied and analysed. The result shows that themes like sports, music, idols, and animals are a part of the descriptions in almost all the ads. Based on the content of the ads, the themes and other descriptions, different ideals have emerged for boys and girls. The ideals shift between the different periods. For example, the boys’descriptions during 1976–1977 shows that sports are an interest that belongs to an ideal for boys. Not only do they mention sports more often than girls, they also, to some degree, mention different sports than girls. During 1986–1987 the result shows that the girls have increased their interest in sports, and the boys have developed a greater interest for music and idols. The girls also start to mention sportactivities that previously almost only were mentioned by boys. During both periods there are both girls and boys who go against the ideals of their own sex and mentions interests that belong to the ideal of the opposite sex. Age may have had an impact on who within the different sexes that breaks the ideal. There are also some areas within the different themes that are of more interest to a boy or a girl of a certain age. However, gender is the strongest factor, which create the biggest differences between how boys and girls are portrayed in their pen pal ads.

No description available.

This dissertation explores how social class matters in young men’s everyday relationship to digital media. The aim is to contribute to the existing knowledge about how young people incorporate digital media in their everyday lives by focusing on the structural premises of this process. It also presents an empirically grounded critique of popular ideas about young people as a “digital generation”, about the internet as a socially transformative force, and about class as an increasingly redundant category. The empirical material consists of qualitative interviews with 34 young men (16-19 years) from different class backgrounds, upper secondary schools and study programmes. Drawing on the conceptual tools of Pierre Bourdieu, three classes are constructed: the “cultural capital rich”, the “upwardly mobile”, and the “cultural capital poor”. The analysis shows that class, through the workings of habitus, structures the young men’s relationship to school and future aspirations. This also engenders class-distinctive ways of conceiving leisure and digital media use. Through their class habitus and taste, the young men tend to orient themselves and navigate in different ways in what they perceive as a space of digital goods and practices, endowed with different symbolic value in school and society. The “cultural capital rich” are drawn to-wards practices capable of yielding symbolic profit in the field of education and beyond, whereas the other classes gravitate towards the “illegitimate” digital culture but deal with this different ways. These findings indicate that there are social and cultural continuities at play within recent technological changes. They also expose the structural differences hidden by sweeping statements about young people as a “digital generation”. Finally, they show that class, contrary to popular beliefs about “the death of class”, still represents a pertinent analytical category.

Abstract : In this thesis, I explore the kids-take-charge (KTC) motif within recent school stories produced for young adult audiences, situated in terms of a genealogy of school stories. The corpus of school stories includes English- and French-language works produced as fiction, film, or life-writing, both for teens and adults in Canada, the US, and the UK. This thesis identifies the historical and ideological shifts that may have given rise to the motif. School stories lend themselves to the identification of some of the distinct models of selfhood and ‘coming into one’s own’ that have figured prominently in works about and for adolescents in various sociocultural contexts. The research question that is asked is: Why is this type of story emerging now, and what social purposes might it serve? The question is inspired by the possible impact of power relations on youth in society, discussed in Disturbing the Universe: Power and Repression in Adolescent Literature by Roberta Trites, who suggests that power is everywhere in young adult literature because power is the key category of the adolescent experience. The thesis also draws on the work of theorists such as Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Beverly Lyon Clark, Henry Giroux, George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley, among others. The corpus includes the following works: The Lightning Thief, part of the Percy Jackson series by American author Rick Riordan; Schooled, by Canadian-born author Gordon Korman; the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling; High School Musical, a film that appeared in movie theatres and was shown on the Disney Channel; Harriet’s Daughter by M. NourbeSe Philip; and variations on the classic residential and early school stories as they travelled to the New World, such as Louisa May Alcott's Jo's Boys; Thomas Hughes' Tom Brown School Days, LM Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables, and Ralph Connor's Glengarry School Days, among other works. iv Chapter One establishes the contours of the KTC motif via a variety of contemporary fictional works for young adults through contrasting the stories of change-making by young adults in these works with patterns found both in classic British school stories of the 19th century and in early Canadian and American variations on the theme. The chapter explores what it means for young people to achieve an adult sense of self, and what resources they are expected to engage in the process. The chapter also examines the kinds of models of youth selfhood and emerging adulthood that can be linked to the KTC motif. In Chapter Two, I argue that a qualitatively new motif concerning power and agency has emerged within a number of school stories produced over the past two decades. As I identify it, the KTC motif is characterized by three defining features, whether it appears in works of fantasy or realism. First, the central protagonist must confront a problem or crisis of systemic importance; how this challenge is resolved will affect an entire school, community, or even—in works of fantasy—the fate of entire worlds. Second, stories that feature the KTC motif generally de-emphasize the importance of adult mentors in preparing young people for, and guiding them through, these challenges. Third, the KTC motif enshrines a particular notion of the ‘authentic self’ as the source of personal power and agency: victory is assured only insofar as the central protagonist becomes and remains ‘true’ to himself or herself. Finally, I ask what the vision of power and agency implicit in the KTC motif could mean for young people as they move toward becoming adult actors in a complex and globalizing world. In Chapter Three, I examine questions that enable me to access the model of social change, comparing these accounts to a narrative of social change in the broader world. I also assess how adolescents are liable to view and interpret their own experiences through a global v lens as prodigious consumers of narratives produced in a global culture. This chapter assesses the extent to which social forms of difference and inequality, such as gender, race, and class, are integrated into presentation of the problem and strategy/solution within the KTC motif, and how social changes are encouraged by young protagonists. In the KTC motif, I find that self-actualization brings power—and power from within trumps power from without, at least within cultures based on Western individualism. Exceptions are discussed through the examples of narratives based on Caribbean-Canadian identities (Norbese-Philip) and on indigenous identities. Contemporary school stories that follow the KTC motif continue to have a moralizing or didactic bent, in keeping with a trend in YA literature that underlines the agency of youth protagonists over that of adults. Where the classic school story ultimately affirms the existing order, the KTC motif suggests that the existing power order is corrupt. I suggest that the KTC motif may in part reflect the needs of a post-industrial, knowledge-based economy, in which people are flexible, self-motivated, and willing to believe that whether they succeed or fail depends not on the soundness of institutions, but on the strength of their own unique talents and even their personal 'authenticity.' / Résumé : Dans cette thèse, j’explore le modèle de l’enfant qui prend charge "kids-take-charge (KTC)", à travers des récits produits pour des audiences de jeunes adultes, en termes de généalogie de récits scolaires. Le corpus des récits scolaires inclut des travaux en anglais et en français produits comme science-fiction, film ou faits vécus, pour les adolescents et les adultes du Canada, des États-Unis et le Royaume-Uni. Cette thèse identifie les changements historiques et idéologiques qui ont pu causer la naissance de ce modèle. Les récits scolaires ont mené à l’identification de certains modèles distincts d’individualité et "coming into one’s own" qui ont figurés principalement dans les travaux sur et pour les adolescents dans des contextes socioculturels variés. La questionrecherche qui est posée est : pourquoi ce genre d’histoire émerge maintenant, et quel but social peut-il servir ? La question est inspirée par l’impact possible du pouvoir des relations sur la jeunesse dans la société, examiné dans Disturbing the Universe : Power and Repression in Adolescent Literature par Roberta Trites, qui suggère que le pouvoir est partout et la littérature de jeunes adultes parce que le pouvoir est la catégorie clé de l’expérience des adolescents. Cette thèse nous amène aussi au travail des théoriciens comme Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Beverly Lyon Clark, Henry Giroux, George Herbert Mead et Charles Horton Cooley parmi tant d’autres. Le corpus inclut les travaux suivants : The Lightning Thief, partie de la série Percy Jackson des auteurs américains Rick Riordan; Schooled, de l’auteur canadien Gordon Korman; la série des Harry Potter de JK Rowling; High School Musical, un film qui est apparu sur les écrans de cinéma et qui a été diffusé sur la chaine Disney ; Harriet’s Daughter de M. NourbeSe Philip; et variations des classiques sur les pensionnats et récits scolaires qui ont voyagé dans le temps, comme Louisa May Alcott's Jo's Boys; Thomas Hughes' Tom Brown School Days, LM Montgomery's Anne of vii Green Gables, and Ralph Connor's Glengarry School Days, pour ne nommer que ceux-là. Le chapitre 1 établit les contours du motif "KTC” à travers une variété d’œuvres de fiction contemporaines pour jeunes adultes en contrastant les histoires des changements faits par les jeunes adultes dans ces travaux avec des modèles trouvés dans les classiques récits scolaires britanniques du 19e siècle et dans les premières variations canadiennes et américaines sur le sujet. Le chapitre examine également les types de modèles d’individualité des adolescents et jeunes adultes qui peuvent être liés au motif “KTC”. Au chapitre 2, je soutiens qu’un relativement nouveau concept concernant le pouvoir et l’agence est apparu dans un certain nombre de récits scolaires produits dans les deux dernières décennies. Comme je conceptualise le motive KTC, 3 fonctions bien définies que ce soit dans les ouvres de fantaisie ou le réalisme. Premièrement, le personnage central doit confronter un problème ou une crise d’importance systémique ; comment ce défi est résolu affectera une école entière, une communauté ou même – dans les œuvres de fantaisie – le destin du monde entier. Deuxièmement, les récits qui représentent le concept KTC insistent généralement moins de l’importance de mentors adultes dans la préparation et la supervision des jeunes à affronter ces défis. Troisièmement, le concept KTC conserve la notion particulière du "soi authentique" comme source du pouvoir personnel et agentivité : la victoire est assurée seulement dans la mesure où le protagoniste central devient et demeure "vrai" pour lui et elle-même. Finalement, je demande qu’est-ce que la vision du pouvoir et de l’agentivité du concept du KTC implique pour les jeunes lorsqu’ils deviennent des acteurs adultes dans un monde complexe et globalisé. Au chapitre 3, j’examine les questions qui me permettent d’accéder au modèle du changement social en comparant les explications du changement social dans un monde plus large. J’évalue aussi comment les adolescents sont susceptibles de voir et d’interpréter leur propre expérience à viii travers une lentille globale comme consommateurs prodigieux de récits produits dans une culture mondiale. Ce chapitre évalue la mesure dans laquelle les différentes formes sociales et l’inégalité, comme le sexe, la race et la classe sociale sont intégrés dans la présentation du problème et la stratégie/solution dans le motif KTC et comment les changements sociaux sont encouragés par les jeunes protagonistes. Dans le motif KTC, je constate que le développement personnel apporte le pouvoir – et le pouvoir de l’intérieur est un atout du pouvoir de l’extérieur, au moins dans les cultures basées sur l’individualisme occidental. Les exceptions sont traitées dans les exemples de récits basés sur les identités Cara𝑖𝑖𝑖bes-canadiennes (Norbèse-Philip) et sur les identités indigènes. Les récits scolaires contemporains qui suivent le motif KTC continuent d’avoir un penchant moralisateur ou didactique, conformément à une tendance dans la littérature jeunesse qui souligne l’agentivité des jeunes protagonistes sur celui des adultes. Où l’histoire scolaire classique affirme en fin de compte l’ordre établi, le motif KTC suggère que le pouvoir établi est corrompu. Je suggère que le motif KTC peut en partie refléter les besoins d’une économie post-industrielle basée sur la connaissance dans laquelle les gens sont flexibles, motivés et décidés à croire que s’ils réussissent ou non de dépend pas de la force des institutions, mais de leur force de caractère et même de leur propre "authenticité".

The purpose of this study is to survey the song lore of the American youth culture, beginning with the rock Int roll era of the fifties, treating the topical-folksong movement of the early sixties, and finally focusing upon the folk-rock genre that resulted from an amalgamation of the two forms of expression. In addition to the art of folk rock and the cultural values reflected in the lyrics, attention will be given to the folk aspects of the performance, the life-style of the performer, and the participation of the youth as a cultural group.

L’objet de notre recherche est d’étudier la dynamique subjective du parcours universitaire des enseignants en vue de la construction d’une identité professionnelle et de leur préparation à l’enseignement. Nous analysons les expériences, les représentations et les méthodes de travail des futurs professeurs de l’enseignement secondaire en milieu universitaire ainsi que la transition de l’expérience universitaire à la formation. Notre enquête porte sur un échantillon de 170étudiants (et professeurs stagiaires) préparant les concours de recrutement (CAPES, CAPEPS, Agrégation), futurs enseignants du second degré dans trois disciplines : Lettres, EPS et Sciences physiques. Nous avons utilisé pour le recueil des données un questionnaire qui nous a permis de collecter les données nécessaires (données quantitatives)puis nous avons conduit 35 entretiens complémentaires afin de collecter des données qualitatives. Nous dégageons ainsi sur la base des résultats obtenus les particularités de leurs représentations par rapport à leur discipline d’appartenance.Nous nous intéressons plus spécifiquement aux méthodes de travail des futurs enseignants selon certains concepts pédagogiques (l’efficacité des enseignants, l’évaluation des élèves, le comportement en classe et dans différents contextes, la préparation des cours, les connaissances relatives aux disciplines, les compétences pédagogiques). Il es tégalement intéressant d’examiner la question du choix du métier des enseignants candidats ainsi que d’étudier la position culturelle des nouveaux enseignants entre la culture académique-scolaire et la culture des jeunes. En outre,nous envisageons les modalités actuelles de la professionnalisation et des nouvelles contraintes du métier ainsi que les stratégies possibles en vue de la construction d’une culture professionnelle commune des enseignants du secondaire / The aim of our research is to study the subjective dynamics of teachers during their course of university study in an effort to build a professional identity and prepare themselves for teaching. We analyse the university experiences, the representations and the work methods of future secondary school teachers, as well as their transition from the university experience to professional training. Our research is carried out on a sample consisting of 170 students (and trainee teachers) who are preparing for the examinations for appointment (CAPES, CAPEPS, Agregation). It concerns future teachers in three disciplines: Literature, Physical Education and Natural Sciences. In order to collect data, we used a questionnaire that allowed us to collect quantitative data and we also conducted 35 interviews that allowed us to collect qualitative data. Consequently, from the results, we are able to identify the special particularities of the prospective teachers’ representations according to their specialty. We are particularly interested in the work methods of these prospective teachers in accordance with specific pedagogical conceptions (teacher effectiveness, student assessment, behaviour in the classroom and in different environments, lesson preparation, knowledge of subject matter, pedagogical ability). It is worth considering the question of choice of the teaching profession, as well as studying the cultural attitude of new teachers between academic culture and youth culture. Finally, we are interested in the contemporary dimensions of professionalisation, as well as in the new constraints placed on the teaching profession, and also in possible strategies for the creation of a common professional culture among secondary school teachers

Tendo em vista o amplo acesso às tecnologias de informação e comunicação (TICs) na sociedade contemporânea, com a promessa de um mundo virtual sem limites exercendo intenso poder de atração sobre os jovens, faz-se necessária a análise dos mecanismos ideológicos de manipulação psicológica postos em ação pela indústria cultural global no seio da subjetividade juvenil. Assim, o presente estudo teve como objetivo identificar os hábitos e os interesses dos adolescentes no ciberespaço, buscando apreender os possíveis efeitos em sua constituição subjetiva. A pesquisa empírica foi dividida em duas etapas desenvolvidas simultaneamente: a primeira constou de um percurso etnográfico na cibercultura com o intuito de desvendar os interesses econômicos subjacentes aos sites frequentados pelos jovens; a segunda etapa foi realizada em uma escola pública e em uma escola privada, localizadas em um mesmo bairro de São Paulo, onde foram aplicados 108 questionários aos estudantes do último ano do Ensino Fundamental, com idade entre 13 e 16 anos, de ambos os sexos. Na escola pública, foram realizadas observações participativas nas aulas de Informática Educativa. Em ambas efetuaram-se entrevistas com alunos considerados por seus colegas como os mais conectados à internet, bem como entrevistas complementares com professores, coordenadores e diretores. A interpretação e a análise dos dados fundamentaram-se na filosofia da educação, teoria crítica e psicanálise. Constatou-se que as atividades preferidas dos adolescentes consistiam em frequentar as redes sociais, jogar, assistir a vídeos, visitar home pages de celebridades e de pornografia. Concluiu-se que os jovens são atraídos pelo ciberespaço principalmente pela possibilidade de exercitar fantasias virtuais e se sentirem aceitos pelo grupo. Entre os meninos, prevaleciam as fantasias onipotentes e sádicas, com as seguintes temáticas: o terrorista/policial, o herói/sobrenatural, o hacker/expert. Entre as meninas, eram frequentes as fantasias românticas, cujos temas principais envolviam: a amada/escolhida, a mãe/bebê, a celebridade. Observou-se que as fantasias virtuais são produzidas pela indústria audiovisual, geralmente, a partir de componentes perverso-polimórficos reeditados, identificados pelo que T. W. Adorno denominou de psicanálise às avessas. Ao se fixarem nas fantasias virtuais por meio das próteses digitais imagéticas, a capacidade dos jovens de apreensão das experiências de suas vidas sofrem alterações significativas, dificultando a reflexão sobre estas. O investimento libidinal nos dispositivos televisuais, reduzido às satisfações escopofílicas e à excitação constante dos sentidos, não contribui para a assunção epistemofílica, resultando no empobrecimento do imaginário e do simbólico. No ciberespaço os adolescentes têm seus direitos de proteção violados, uma vez que seus psiquismos ainda se encontram em desenvolvimento. Os interesses no lucro parecem prevalecer em relação a qualquer dimensão ética envolvida. Nesse contexto, a internet, ao invés de ser um importante instrumento de ampliação do conhecimento e de participação social, da maneira como tem sido utilizada, tem contribuído para a alienação e fixação em satisfações narcísicas. Assim, conclui-se ser importante não somente a inclusão digital, no sentido de apropriação das TICs nos ambientes escolares, mas também uma efetiva formação crítica dos jovens em relação às mídias, fornecendo-lhes condições para que possam refletir sobre as ficções nas quais estão inseridos. / In light of the wide access to the information and communication technologies (ICT) in the contemporary society, which by promising limitless virtual world exert strong power of attraction on the young people, we consider it is necessary to analyze the ideological mechanisms of psychological manipulation in action by the global culture industry in young subjectivity. Thus, the present study aimed to identify the adolescent habits and interests in cyberspace in order to understand the possible consequences in their subjective constitution. This empirical research was divided into two phases performed simultaneously: the first one was composed by an ethnographic journey through cyberculture, aiming to find out the economic interests behind the sites most visited by the adolescents; the second phase was carried out in one public and one private school placed in the same neighborhood in São Paulo, where 108 questionnaires were applied to the 13 to 16-year-old boys and girls students in the last year of Secondary School. In the public school, participant observation was the approach used in the Educational Computing classes. Interviews were done in both schools with the students known as the most connected to the internet as well as additional interviews with the teachers, coordinators, and principals. Data interpretation and analysis were based on philosophy of education, critical theory and psychoanalysis. We have found that the adolescent favorite activities consisted of frequently going to social networks, playing games, watching videos, visiting celebrities home pages and pornography. We concluded that the adolescents are mainly attracted to cyberspace for their possibility to exercise virtual fantasies and feel accepted by their group. Among the boys prevailed omnipotent and sadistic fantasies with the following thematic features: the terrorist/policeman, the hero/supernatural, the hacker/expert. Among the girls, romantic fantasies were usual and involved mainly these themes: the beloved/chosen, the mother/baby, the celebrity. We noticed that the virtual fantasies are produced by the audiovisual industry generally out of perverse-polymorphic components reedited, identified by T.W. Adorno as psychoanalysis in reverse. When the adolescents get fixed to virtual fantasies by means of imagetic digital prostheses, their capacity of apprehending their own experiences in life suffers significant changes, hindering their reflection about them. The libidinal investment in televisual devices, reduced to scopophiliac gratification and constant excitement of the senses, doesnt contribute to the epistemophilic assumption - which results in imaginary and symbolic impoverishing. In cyberspace the adolescents have their protection rights violated since their psychism are still in process of development. Interests in making money seem to prevail over any ethical dimension involved. In this context, rather than being an important instrument to expand knowledge and social participation, the way the internet has being used it has contributed to the alienation and fixation in narcissistic gratification. Therefore, we have concluded that digital inclusion is important - meaning ICTs appropriation in the school environment - but also young peoples effective critical thinking formation with regard to the media, in order to offer them conditions to reflect about the fictions where they are inserted in.

A presente dissertação de mestrado tem como objetivo pesquisar em que medida o rap, música característica do movimento hip-hop, é capaz de possibilitar o processo de letramento de jovens provenientes das classes menos favorecidas, que habitam na periferia de São Paulo, enriquecendo suas experiências linguísticas e subjetivas. A dissertação é o resultado de uma pesquisa-ação realizada na ONG Casa do Zezinho, localizada na região do Capão Redondo, extremo sul da cidade de São Paulo, com jovens entre 13 e 15 anos, regularmente matriculados em escolas públicas do entorno. O trabalho empírico desenvolvido, por meio de oficinas, privilegiou a interdiscursividade do rap para discutir as desigualdades sociais e raciais, às quais está submetida uma importante parcela da população, a fim de analisar a construção da identidade dos jovens urbanos, aproximando a cultura de sua comunidade das intervenções propostas como situações de ensino. Buscou-se, ainda, oferecer por meio do rap e toda sua oralidade formular, situações significativas de letramento para que o funcionamento social da linguagem e os conteúdos relacionados à língua pudessem ser compreendidos em suas dimensões discursivas. Tomando como base as letras de rap e a escuta da imagem sonora da palavra, entendemos que a linguagem adotada pelo rap também possibilitou a reinterpretação das experiências vividas na comunidade, ao dar novos significados ao imaginário do adolescente, conferindo à palavra a força da experiência vivida, individual e coletivamente. / This dissertation aims to investigate the extent to which rap, the characteristic music of the hip-hop movement, is able to facilitate the process of literacy in young people who inhabit the low-income periphery neighborhoods of São Paulo, enriching their linguistic and subjective experiences. The dissertation is a result of research conducted at Casa Zezinho, an NGO located in the Capon Redondo region, in the extreme southern area of the city, with young people between the ages of 13 and 15, enrolled in public schools in its surrounding areas. Through workshops, the empirical work focused on the interdiscursivity of rap to discuss social and racial inequality, to which a significant portion of this population is subjected, in order to analyze the nature in which urban youth construct their identities, using the culture of their communities in the aforementioned workshops as teaching tools. We also attempted to offer, through rap and its utterly oral nature, significant focus on literacy so that the social function of language and the content relating to language could be understood in their discursive dimensions. Using rap lyrics as our basis and listening to the sound image of the words, we understood that the language adopted by rap also allows for a redefinition of the experiences of the community by giving adolescents the chance to imagine the world in a new way, giving the word the force of individually and collectively lived experiences.