Critique essay

Nowadays our society witnesses appearance of different social youth groups, among which there is a number of shocking crowds such as Punks and Goths. In the paper writen by Nejra BeÅ¡ić and Margaret Kerr under the title “Punks, Goths and Other Eye-Catching Peer Crowds: Do They Fulfill a Function for Shy Youths?”, it is claimed that such radical youth groups are usually formed by individuals with inhibited behavior. In such groups they look for support and for communication as their peers with the same views are expected to understand them.

However, joining such radical groups they do not improve their emotional state and feel more depressed than before.

The authors of the article give a detailed report of their research, which shows the tendency in teenagers’ behavior. Today young people tend to escape from their fears avoiding social contact. They create repulsive appearance and unite in groups which protest against social rules.

Trying to cope with their problems like that, they become even more depressed and lose their self-esteem. Therefore, BeÅ¡ić and Kerr appeal to the society that “parents’ and teachers’ concerns for these youths might be well founded, but their concerns should be about these youths’ internal adjustment rather than about their makeup, hair, or any other aspect of their outer appearances” (120).

The research is notable for its breadth and scrupulous approach. One thousand and two hundred young people were asked to fill out the questionnaires and based on their answers the conclusions were made. The authors’ aim was to find out if radical groups help young people to cope with their problems was achieved and they made a conclusion that “if some inhibited youths are adopting Radical styles to cope with inhibition, their strategy does not seem to improve their emotional well-being” (120). The article shows us all the steps of the carried research, proved by tables and authors’ explanations.

This theme is also developed by other scholars, who agree that teenagers need sense of belonging, especially when they feel out of society. “Those rejected youth who continue to seek group membership tend to be part of smaller cliques comprised of other rejected youths” (Newman and Lohman, 242). Joining a group of peers they seem to solve the isolation problems.

This research might be continued in order to find out the reasons of choosing such radical groups as Punks and Goths. The authors of the article do not explain why teenagers with psychological problems and inhibited behavior choose Radical groups and not other groups where peers might have the same problems. On the one hand, Punks and Goths frighten off the society by their appearance. That helps them to stay apart from other people. On the other hand, choosing other group of peers, they could also be in a small group of people sharing their views but do run to extremes. Consequently, they would not feel so depressed and abandoned.

To make a conclusion, the given article is a bright example of carefully done research, which gives a complete picture of current tendencies in the society of young people. The authors have chosen a significant and urgent topic, which is under discussion nowadays. The aim of the study was achieved though it might have been wider and comprised not only the consequences of joining radical groups but also its reasons.