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Structuring Knowledge of Subcultural Folk Devils through News Coverage: Social Cognition, Semiotics, and Political Economy
[journal article]
Abstract "The folk devil concept has been well used in subcultural studies, yet its importance might be better
served by distinguishing among multiple conceptual frames through which it is articulated. In this
article, I clarify how folk devils are made possible through the interaction of three concepts us... view more
"The folk devil concept has been well used in subcultural studies, yet its importance might be better
served by distinguishing among multiple conceptual frames through which it is articulated. In this
article, I clarify how folk devils are made possible through the interaction of three concepts used by
sociologists to study everyday life. The fi rst is the process of social cognition, where producers and
consumers of news construct and propagate a shared defi nition of who subcultural youths are and why
they should be the object of fear. The second are the semiotic structures of genre and narrative, which
narrow the interpretive process of producers and receivers alike and sustain discourses that limit how
subcultural youths can be understood in the news. The third has to do with political economy, where
the ideological features of mass mediated news-making keep the news industry in relative control
of meaning making. Social cognition, semiotics, and the political economy dialectically produce the
phenomenon of the subcultural folk devil and support its objective eff ects. I review several studies
of market and state-controlled media societies and note that, in both types, the objective eff ects on
youths are similar and signifi cant. In studying how subcultural youths are framed in the media output
of transitional states and societies, the conceptual value of social cognition, semiotics, and political
economy should be recognised." (author's abstract)... view less
Keywords
media; news; cognition; subculture; adolescent; young adult; morality; semiotics; political economy; scapegoat; social perception; media society
Classification
Impact Research, Recipient Research
Sociology of the Youth, Sociology of Childhood
Media Contents, Content Analysis
Free Keywords
Folk Devil
Document language
English
Publication Year
2011
Page/Pages
p. 3-13
Journal
Studies of Transition States and Societies, 3 (2011) 2
ISSN
1736-8758
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed
Licence
Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications