Juvenile Delinquency

• Antisocial or criminal behavior of young people

• Rose by 45% between 1948-1953

• More street gangs, muggings, and murder

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DEw6V_x68g

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_Dh50nzrZ0&list=PL70D3508FC95D6E7E

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5Uft-DZLPs

Statistics: Delinquency• As of 1953, juveniles committed 53.6

percent of all car thefts; 49.3 percent of all burglaries; 18 percent of all robberies, and 16.2 percent of all rapes.

• About 1 million teens got into some criminal trouble in 1954

• DQ: What reasons account for the rise in juvenile delinquency?

• Blamed the rise on poverty, television, racism, and a rising divorce rate

• Young people were rebelling against conformity

• Crossed class and racial lines• Education system was suffering

due to the baby boom– Blackboard Jungle (1955)—film

depicted crime and violence in city schools

Symbols of Youth Rebellion

Symbols of Youth Rebellion

Marlon BrandoMarlon Brando inin

The Wild OneThe Wild One (1953)(1953)

James DeanJames Dean in inRRebel Without a ebel Without a

CauseCause (1955) (1955)

Teen CultureTeen Culture

Behavioral Rules of the Behavioral Rules of the 1950s:1950s:U Obey Authority.Obey Authority.

U Control Your Emotions.Control Your Emotions.

U DonDon’’t Make Waves t Make Waves Fit Fit in in with the Group.with the Group.

U DonDon’’t Even Think About t Even Think About Sex!!!Sex!!!

Social Discontent• Although the 1950s are portrayed

as a decade of affluence, what social problems do you think may have existed that led to criticism of this period?

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSLu0GT5ggg

7C. Teen Culture

7C. Teen CultureThe The ““BeatBeat”” Generation Generation::

f Jack Kerouac Jack Kerouac On The RoadOn The Road

f Allen Ginsberg Allen Ginsberg poem, poem, ““HowlHowl””

f Neal CassadyNeal Cassady

f William S. Burroughs William S. Burroughs

““BeatniBeatnikk ””

““CleanClean”” TeenTeen

The Other America• Poverty—30 million lived below

poverty line by 1959• 1962—Michael Harrington’s The

Other America chronicled the lives of 50 million Americans living in poverty.– The “invisible” poor

• White, middle-class Americans were unaware of the lives of ¼ of poor Americans

Social Problems • Deteriorating inner cities

– Whites left for suburbs—money left– Poor “ghettoes” in northern cities

• Unfair treatment of Af-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans– Hispanic migration to north and

southwest– Increase of unskilled labor due to

automation in blue-collar field

• Competition from commercial agriculture