1. A Level Media
G325: Collective Identity

2. Starter
• What does the following word mean?
Ephebiphobia

3. Final Exam
How will I be assessed?
• Media Studies Final Exam – 4th June 2013
• Section B
• 60 mins for Section B
• Answer Topic: Media & Collective Identity
• Answer 1 Question from a choice of 2
• You MUST discuss at least 2 Different Media Forms
• You MUST refer to historical, present and future
representations

4. Marks Awarded
How will I be marked?
• Total of 50 marks
• Marks are given for 3 different areas
1. Explaination/Analysis/Argument (max. 20)
2. Use of Examples (max. 20)
3. Terminology (max. 10)
• Examiners will be looking to see how well you:
– Answer the actual question asked – not just a general response!
– Create an argument and structure your response using case studies
and theories
– Apply theory you have learnt to the case studies
– Triangulation – how have your brought it all together

6. What is Identity?
• What do you understand by the term
‘Identity’?
• Spend 2 minutes discussing a definition with
the person sitting next to you
• Now make a 4 and discuss your definitions –
can you create a suitable group definition?

7. Tackling the Question
Remember the basic rules
• Always use at least 2 Media examples – 1 historic and 1
current
• Always use at least 2 theorists
• Try to quote them correctly
• All texts should be referenced like this:
• Title (Director Surname, year)

8. Essay Structure
• Two most important things to remember
• Hi 5 your Essay!
• Don’t forget to PEE!

9. Hi 5

10. PEE
Point
Evidence
Explain

11. PEE
Point
• Young people today are dangerous to society as they do not respect
society’s rules
Evidence
• Films such as Kidulthood (Huda, 2006) show their teenage cast to all be
drug taking, violent characters with no respect to each other or adults
Explain
• Giroux’s theory states that young people are empty vessels and will
respond to any input to create their identity. By viewing films such as
Kidulthood they are learning behaviours that they consider to be
correct., This is supported by Gerbeners cultivation theory. Gramsci’s
theory of hegemony tells us that those in power dictate the way that
certain ideals are created in society. By showing youth in this way the
dominant social power, wealthy adults, ensure that young people lack
influence in society.

12. Key Theories & Theorists
• Remember you MUST refer to 2 media
examples and 2 theorists in your answer!
• You can either write about the theorist or use
their quotes to support your point or do both!

13. “IDENTITY IS COMPLICATED.
EVERYONE THINKS THEY’VE GOT
ONE”
(GAUNTLETT, 2007)

14. “A focus on Identity requires us to pay closer attention
to the ways in which media and technologies are used in
everyday life and their consequences for social groups”
-David Buckingham

15. Collective Identity
• ‘A collective identity may have been first constructed by outsiders
who may still enforce it, but depends on some acceptance by
those to whom it is applied. Collective identities are expressed in
cultural materials – names, narratives, symbols, verbal
styles, rituals, clothing.’ Francesca Poletta, James M
Jasper, Collective Identity and Social Movements
• ‘Although there is no consensual definition of collective
identity, discussions of the concept invariably suggest that its
essence resides in a shared sense of ‘one-ness’ or ‘we-ness’
anchored in real or imagined shared attributes and experiences
among those who comprise the collectivity and in relation or
contrast to one or more actual imagined sets of ‘others’. David
Snow, Collective Identity and Expressive Form

16. Representation – some definitions
• Representation is the ability of texts to draw upon
features of the world and present them to the
viewer, not simply as reflections, but more so, as
constructions (O‟Shaughnessy & Stadler 2002).
• Hence, the images do not portray reality in an
unbiased way with 100% accuracy, but rather,
present „versions of reality‟ influenced by culture and
people‟s habitual thoughts and actions
(O‟Shaughnessy & Stadler 2002).

17. David Buckingham
• “our identity is something we uniquely
possess: it is what distinguishes us from other
people. Yet on the other hand, identity also
implies a relationship with a broader collective
or social group of some kind. When we talk
about national identity, cultural identity, or
gender identity, for example, we imply that
our identity is partly a matter of what we
share with other people.” (Buckingham, 2008)

18. Erik Erikson
• Concept
– Stages of Development
• Explanation
– Humans develop at 8 stages throughout their lives.
– Each of Erikson's stages of psychosocial development
is marked by a conflict for which successful resolution
will result in a favourable outcome, and by an
important event that this conflict resolves itself
around.

19. Stages of Development
1. Purpose - Initiative vs. Guilt - Preschool / 3–6 years - Does the child have the ability to or do
things on their own, such as dress him or herself? If "guilty" about making his or her own
choices, the child will not function well. Erikson has a positive outlook on this stage, saying that
most guilt is quickly compensated by a sense of accomplishment.
2. Competence - Industry vs. Inferiority - School-age / 6-11. Child comparing self-worth to others
(such as in a classroom environment). Child can recognize major disparities in personal abilities
relative to other children. Erikson places some emphasis on the teacher, who should ensure that
children do not feel inferior.
3. Fidelity - Identity vs. Role Confusion - Adolescent / 12 years till 20. Questioning of self. Who am
I, how do I fit in? Where am I going in life? Erikson believes, that if the parents allow the child to
explore, they will conclude their own identity. However, if the parents continually push him/her
to conform to their views, the teen will face identity confusion.
4. Intimacy vs. isolation - This is the first stage of adult development. This development usually
happens during young adulthood, which is between the ages of 20 to 24. Dating, marriage, family
and friendships are important during the stage in their life. By successfully forming loving
relationships with other people, individuals are able to experience love and intimacy. Those who
fail to form lasting relationships may feel isolated and alone.

20. Self-Identity and Social Identity
• Self-identity refers to how we define ourselves. Self-identity forms the
basis of our self-esteem. In adolescence, the way we see ourselves
changes in response to peers, family, and school, among other social
environments. Our self-identities shape our perceptions of belonging.
• Social identity is constructed by others, and may differ from self-identity.
Typically, people categorize individuals according to broad, socially-
defined labels. For example, if you have dark skin, you may be labelled
"black" by others even though you may not have adopted that identity for
yourself.
• A positive self-identity is correlated with positive self-esteem [5, 6]. All
identities are not equally valued by society, so some adolescents may
especially need reinforcement to help them construct a positive sense of
self.

21. Tafjal & Turner
Concept
• Social Identity Theory
Explanation
• In the Social Identity Theory, a person has not one, “personal
self”, but rather several selves that correspond to widening
circles of group membership. Different social contexts may
trigger an individual to think, feel and act on basis of his
personal, family or national “level of self”
• Apart from the “level of self”, an individual has multiple
“social identities”. Social identity is the individual’s self-
concept derived from perceived membership of social groups

22. How is Youth Identity Constructed?
Shared Experiences:
• Adolescence – physically and emotionally
maturing
• School/ Education
• Finding work - Choosing a career
• Finding love/friendship/acceptance
• Creating an identity that isn’t created by
school/parents/authority
• Experimentation – drugs, culture, crime
• Leaving home
CAN YOU ADD TO THE LIST?
Shared attributes:
• Innocence
• Frustration
• Enthusiasm
• Awkwardness
• Hope
• Anger Powerlessness
• Stress
CAN YOU ADD TO THE LIST?

23. Henry Giroux
Concepts
• Youth as empty category
• Explanation
Giroux's theory addresses the media's influence on
youths. He believes that youths act as a sort vessel
open to influences of adult culture and how the
media chooses to represent them, therefore
shaping the youths cultural contexts.

24. Henry Giroux
Concepts
• Youth as empty category
• Explanation
The media chooses the way they represent race, class, gender,
ethnicity, sexuality, occupation, age and so on, therefore leaving an
influence on the youths that are not necessarily true. The media acts
upon what it's audience wants. When appealing to a adult audience,
the media will reflect fears and anxieties that adults may find
entertaining, therefore giving an unrealistic view on youths.
Giroux suggests that the media influences them in a certain way as
youths are so impressionable, for example, if they are represented as
loud and abusive in films, they will act on this because they are being
told to act in such a way.

25. Henry Giroux
Concepts
• Youth as empty category
• Quote
“Youth as a complex, shifting, and contradictory category is rarely
narrated in the dominant public sphere through the diverse voices of
the young. Prohibited from speaking as moral and political agents,
youth become an empty category inhabited by the desires, fantasies,
and interests of the adult world. This is not to suggest that youth don't
speak, they are simply restricted from speaking in those spheres where
public conversation shapes social policy and refused the power to make
knowledge consequential with respect to their own individual and
collective needs.” (Giroux, 1998)

26. Subcultures
“Subcultures try to compensate for the failure
of the larger culture to provide adequate
status, acceptance and identity. In the youth
subculture, youth find their age-related needs
met.”
(Tittley, p.2).

27. Subcultures
• Thrasher (1927) studied gangs in the jails and on the streets of
Chicago. He found various reasons for young people joining
gangs, including:
1. A sense of family – mostly from broken homes so desired a group
of people to feel part of.
2. Guidance – again, because of lack of family guidance they seek
someone to teach them and to help structure their belief system.
3. Solidarity – giving them the self-esteem and security that they
longed for.
• Gangs were forming in Chicago as a result of urban neglect. These
young people represented the “inner cracks of identity that occur
in the turbulent years of adolescence”.

28. Subcultures
• Jordaan & Jordaan (1993) gathered information
from lots of other studies of youth subcultures
and found, among other things, the following
special characteristics which the collection of
people share, including:
– An awareness of membership/a sense of
belonging, i.e. shared interests etc.
– A reason for being in the group/an internal
motive, i.e. hippies spreading the message of peace
and love and punks spreading anarchy.
– Pressure to conform, i.e. Jimmy not wanting to talk
to his old friend who is now a rocker.

29. Subcultures
• A group of people within a larger culture who differentiate themselves from that culture.
• Ken Gelder’s provides 6 key ways to identify a Subculture:
1. often negative relations to work (as 'idle', 'parasitic', at play or at leisure, etc.);
2. negative or ambivalent relation to class (since subcultures are not 'class-conscious' and don't
conform to traditional class definitions);
3. association with territory (the 'street', the 'hood', the club, etc.), rather than property;
4. movement out of the home and into non-domestic forms of belonging (i.e. social groups other
than the family);
5. stylistic ties to excess and exaggeration (with some exceptions);
6. refusal of the banalities of ordinary life and massification

30. McMillan & Chavis
• Concepts
Sense of Community
• Explaination
McMillan & Chavis (1986) define sense of
community as "a feeling that members have of
belonging, a feeling that members matter to one
another and to the group, and a shared faith that
members' needs will be met through their
commitment to be together."

31. McMillan & Chavis
• Concepts
Sense of Community
• Explaination
McMillan & Chavis's (1986) theory (and instrument) are the most broadly validated and widely
utilized in this area in the psychological literature. They prefer the abbreviated label "sense of
community", and propose that sense of community is composed of four elements.
Four elements of sense of community
There are four elements of "sense of community" according to the McMillan & Chavis theory:
Membership
Membership includes five attributes:
boundaries
emotional safety
a sense of belonging and identification
personal investment
a common symbol system

32. McMillan & Chavis
• Concepts
Sense of Community
• Explaination
Influence
Influence works both ways: members need to feel that they have some influence in the group,
and some influence by the group on its members is needed for group cohesion.
Integration and fulfillment of needs
Members feel rewarded in some way for their participation in the community.
Shared emotional connection
The "definitive element for true community" (1986, p. 14), it includes shared history and shared
participation (or at least identification with the history).

33. Some Dominant Ideologies
• Capitalism. The production of capital and
consumption of surplus value as a life goal.
• Patriotism. To love, support and protect
one‟s country and its people.
• Marriage and family. The “right way” to live
is to marry an opposite-sex partner and
have children.
• Male superiority. Men are more suited to
positions of power, and more suited to
decision-making at work and at home.

34. Hegemony
• Hegemony is the way in
which those in power
maintain their control.
• Dominant ideologies are
considered hegemonic;
power in society is
maintained by
constructing ideologies
which are usually
promoted by the mass
media.

35. Antonio Gramsci
Concepts
• Cultural hegemony
Explanation
• Gramsci developed the idea of "cultural hegemony". As I mentioned
before, this is the idea that one social class within a culture
dominates society, therefore making their views and values
acceptable and "normal" behaviour.
• Gramsci believes hegemony is constantly causing problems within
societies arguing what is actually a "normal" way of life. For
example, this arguing is shown through negative and positive
representation of youths from different classes, most commonly
underclass

36. Antonio Gramsci
Concepts
• Cultural hegemony
Quote
• So one could say that each one of us changes
himself, modifies himself to the extent that he
changes the complex relations of which he is the
hub... If one's own individuality means to acquire
consciousness of them and to modify one's own
personality means to modify the ensemble of
these relations. (Gramsci)

37. "We will call young any individual, no matter what his
age, who does not yet coincide with the function
which has been planned for him... The young, who
have nothing to lose, are the attack. They are the
adventure!”
» Isidore Isou, 1949

38. Stanley Cohen
Concepts
• Moral panic
Explanation
• He argues that occasionally what he calls "folk devils" emerge
within society, reflecting the anxieties and fears of adult culture.
"Moral Panic" emerges when exaggerated media coverage appears
of these "folk devils" leading to politicians and police to act. When
this occurs, the aim is to return the social values of hegemony,
clearly stating what is not a socially acceptable way to behave.
• Cohen's theory suggest that youths have become a cultural "folk
devil" leading media to exaggerate their behaviour.

39. George Gerbner
• Concepts
Cultivation Theory
• Explanation
Gerbner studies the effect of television on the audience's perception
of crime. His theory suggests that people who watch a large amount of
television have an over exaggerated opinion on crime and how much it
occurs as well as how severe the crimes actually are. He called this
"mean world syndrome". His theory states that because media forms
such as news reports, television programmes and films contain over
exaggerated representations of crimes, mostly negative, people's
perceptions are dramatically influenced. The term used by Gerbner to
describe this is "cultivation theory".

40. George Gerbner
• Concepts
Cultivation Theory
• Quotes
Fearful people are more dependent, more easily manipulated and
controlled, more susceptible to deceptively simple, strong, tough
measures and hard-line postures... They may accept and even welcome
repression if it promises to relieve their insecurities. (Gerbner)
Who tells the stories of a culture really governs human behavior. It
used to be the parent, the school, the church, the community. Now it’s
a handful of global conglomerates that have nothing to tell, but a great
deal to sell. (Gerbner)

41. Charles R Acland
Concepts
• Ideology of protection; deviant youth and reproduction of social
order
Explanation
• Acland argues in his theory that the representation of deviant
youths reinforces hegemony, the idea that a culture is ruled by one
social class. Media creates the image of "normal" youth and adults,
then contrasting this with behaviour that contrasts against what we
deem to be socially acceptable. This is what the audience finds
entertaining and interesting, as it is going against these "normal"
views of society. Acland also makes the point that by the media
representing youths in such a way, it allows the state to have more
control over them.

42. Charles R Acland
Concepts
• Ideology of protection; deviant youth and reproduction of social
order
Explanation
• For example, the mass of media reports about negative youth
behaviour led to the introduction of ASBO's, which then led to even
more media coverage. Acland calls this "ideology of protection"
which is the idea that youths need this constant surveillance and
monitoring in order to "protect" them. Similar to Giroux's theory,
youths are impressionable it is a time in their life when they learn
about roles and values from adult culture. Media coverage of
negative behaviour allows the state to reinforce hegemonic values
and tell youths what is wrong and socially unacceptable.

43. Charles R Acland
Concepts
• Ideology of protection; deviant youth and
reproduction of social order
Explanation
• For example, the idea in "hoodie horrors" that
youths are like monsters often included in horror
themes leads some youths to relate these
representations to things they fear, such as
demons, which moves them in the opposite
direction of this sort of behaviour.

44. Henry Jenkins
• Concepts
Participatory Culture
• Explanation
• As technology continues to enable new avenues for communication, collaboration, and circulation of
ideas, it has also given rise to new opportunities for consumers to create their own content. Barriers like
time and money are beginning to become less significant to large groups of consumers.
• For example, the creation of movies once required large amounts of expensive equipment, but now movie
clips can be made with equipment that is affordable to a growing number of people. The ease with which
consumers create new material has also grown. Extensive knowledge of computer programming is no
longer necessary to create content on the internet.
• Media sharing over the Internet acts as a platform to invite users to participate and create communities
that share similar interests through duplicated sources, original content, and repurposed material

45. Henry Jenkins
• Affiliations — memberships, formal and informal, in online communities
centered around various forms of media, such as Friendster, Facebook,
message boards, metagaming, game clans, or MySpace).
• Expressions — producing new creative forms, such as digital sampling,
skinning and modding, fan videomaking, fan fiction writing, zines, mash-
ups).
• Collaborative Problem-solving — working together in teams, formal and
informal, to complete tasks and develop new knowledge (such as through
Wikipedia, alternative reality gaming, spoiling).
• Circulations — Shaping the flow of media (such as podcasting, blogging)

46. Galtung & Ruge
Concept
• Information is filtered by those who deem it
worthy
Explanation
• Selective Gatekeeping.
• Galtung and Ruge selective gatekeeping theory
suggests that news from around the world are
evaluated using news values to determine their
newsworthiness.

47. Hyperdermic Needle Theory
Concept
• Audience is passive. They receive information and react to
it with no influence from other sources.
Explanation
• This approach focuses on content. The audience receives
the information directly. The "Hypodermic Needle Model”
suggests that the media injects its messages straight into
the passive audience. This passive audience is immediately
affected by these messages. The public essentially cannot
escape from the media's influence, and is therefore
considered a "sitting duck”.

48. Bulmer & Katz
Concept
• Uses and Gratifications. Audience is active. Audience
chooses media for different reasons which effects how
they respond to text
Explanation
• This approach focuses on why people use particular
media rather than on content. In contrast to the
concern of the 'media effects' tradition (Hyperdermic
Needle), it focuses on 'what people do with media',
allowing for a variety of responses and interpretations.

49. Bulmer & Katz
Information
• finding out about relevant events and conditions in
immediate surroundings, society and the world,
seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and
decision choices, satisfying curiosity and general
interest, learning; self-education, gaining a sense of
security through knowledge
Personal Identity
• finding reinforcement for personal values, finding
models of behavior, identifying with valued other
(in the media), gaining insight into one's self

50. Bulmer and Katz
Integration and Social Interaction
• gaining insight into circumstances of others; social
empathy, identifying with others and gaining a sense of
belonging, finding a basis for conversation and social
interaction, having a substitute for real-life
companionship, helping to carry out social roles,
enabling one to connect with family, friends and society
Entertainment
• escaping, or being diverted, from problems, relaxing,
getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment, filling
time, emotional release

51. Stuart Hall
Concept
• Active audiences interpret texts in different ways depending on their
needs
Explanation
• This theory points out that meaning of any text is created by the audience
- not the producer. Meaning is encoded into the text but it is up to the
audience what they take from it depending how they decode the signs
within the text. Encoding-decoding is an active audience theory which
examines the relationships between text and it's audience
• Encoding is a process by which a text is constructed by it's producers
• Decoding is the process by which the audience reads, understands and
interprets text
• Hall states that texts are polysemic, meaning they may be read differently
by different people, depending on their identity, cultural knowledge and
opinions

52. Stuart Hall
Concept
• Active audiences interpret texts in different ways
depending on their needs
Explanation
• Preffered Reading
• When an audience interprets the message as it was meant
to be understood, they are operating in dominant code.
• The position of professional broadcasters and media
producers is that the messages are already signified within
the hegmonic manner to which they are accustomed.
• The producers and the audience are in harmony

53. Stuart Hall
Concept
• Active audiences interpret texts in different ways depending on
their needs
Explanation
• Negotiated reading
• Not all audience may underatand what media producers take for
granted. There may be some acknowlwedgment of differences in
understanding.
• Decoding within the negotiated version contains a mixture od
adaptive and oppositional elements: it acknowledges the legitimacy
of the hegemonic definitions to make the grand significations
(abstract) while at the more restricted situational (situated) level it
makes it own ground rules

54. Stuart Hall
Concept
• Active audiences interpret texts in different ways
depending on their needs
Explanation
• Oppositional Reading
• When media consumers understand the
contextual and literary infections of a text yet
decode the message by a completely
oppositiional means.