View/Open - CORA - University College Cork

We do not think it is easyor wise to speak glibly of a delinquent younger generation
or a law-abiding older generation. This is onlyhalf of the story. What, to a person
of forty or fifty, may show itself as a general malaise, a sense of emptiness, a quiet
rejection of social responsibilities or a cautiouslycontrolled cynicism, mayshowitself
in an adolescent as an act of wanton violence, a bout of histrionic drunkenness or a
grasping at promiscuous sexual experience. There does not seem to be at the heart
of societya courageous and exciting struggle for a particular moral and spiritual life –
onlya passive neutral commitment to things as theyare. One cannot, in fact, indict
the young for the growth of delinquencywithout also indicting the older generations
for apathyand indifference to the deeper things of the heart. (Ministry of Education
1960: para.6.3).
But public perception, fuelled no doubt by media agendas (Cohen 1971:229-230)
conceived this emergent youth culture as a threat to the established order. The
phenomenon of the Mods and Rockers which comprised two lifestyle movements in the
early 1960s is a case in point. 15
Such was the pace of change generally during the 1960s
and early 1970s, that the older generation could not connect with the emergent youth
culture. Crime and vandalism were perceived as newand threatening features of everyday
life, where the younger generation were perceived to be out of control (Pearson 1983:4-11).
Despite these fears, whether justified or not, which were held bythe older generation, their
response to crime and vandalism and howsocietyshould treat such offenders was not one
of condign retribution. Strong disapproval was expressed by this older generation but
ultimatelythe restoration of propertywhether byrestoring broken windows or cleaning up
public areas damaged during public disorder was the preference of citizens to the
punishment of vandalism and criminality. Instead of disposing of criminal cases by way
of custodial sentences in respect of those belonging to this newly emergent grouping,
public sentiment preferred the integration of the deviant within his/her own environment
(Cohen 1985:77).
15 The “Mods” or “Moderns” adopted certain “cool” clothing such as zoot suits and hairstyles and professed an affinity for jazz. The “Rockers” on the other hand dressed quite
differently in a biker style. Some clashes occurred between these two groups in Margate in the South of England in August of 1964. The print media exploited the event as a
sensation bycreating a moral panic in the minds of their traditional readership. Cohen reports that the sum total of Criminal Damage at Margate amounted to no more than £100
(Cohen: 1971).
38