Sociology of Croatian society:
Youth and Values
Siniša Zrinščak
April 25, 2017
[email protected]
http://www.sinisazrinscak.com/
• „A referendum on the European Union accession of the
Republic of Croatia, held on January 22,2012, resulted in
66.27% ‘yes’ vote. … however… young voters were not
only sceptical, but straightforwardly against the EU
accession …
• … a report using data from a reliable national survey … in
November 2010, concluded that young people aged
between 15 and 24 were the only age group in the
overall Croatian society in which those ‘against’
outnumbered those who were in favour of accession….”
• I. Tomić-Koludrović, M. Petrić, Ž. Zdravković (2012) Changing Identities:
Croatian youth at the threshold of the EU. In: H. Scheck (ed.) Changing
Identities in South East Europe. Vienna.
Concepts….
• Culture = way of life of people; human-created
strategies for adjusting to their surroundings and to
those creatures (including humans) that are part of
those surroundings
• Material culture – all the natural and human-created
objects to which people have attached meaning
• Nonmaterial culture – intangible human creations,
which we cannot identify directly through senses =
beliefs, values, norms, symbols, language
• Beliefs – conceptions that people accept as true,
concerning how the world operates and where the
individual fits in relationship to others – influences
on actions
• Values – general, shared conceptions of what is
good, right, appropriate…with regard to conduct,
appearance, and states of being; conceptions of the
desirable which are not directly observable but are
evident in moral discourse and relevant to the
formulation of attitudes + evidence of pattering
among attitudes = value orientations
• Socialization – the process by which people develop
a sense of self and learn the ways of the society in
which they live…. a lifelong process through
internalization = people take as their own and accept
as binding the norms, values, beliefs, and language
that their socializers are attempting to pass on
• Socialization – importance of social contacts
• Agents of socialization – significant others that (1)
shape our sense of self or social identity; (2) teach us
about the groups to which we do and do not belong;
(3) help us to realize our human capacities; (4) help
us negotiate the social and psychical environment we
have inherited
• Group – two or more people who share a distinct
identity, feel a sense of belonging, and interact
directly or indirectly with one another
• Primary group – face-to-face contact and strong
emotional ties among members
• In-groups – a group to which a person belongs,
identifies, admires… / out-groups
• Institutions
• Mass and social media
•
•
•
•
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•
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Socialization across the life cycle:
Stages 1-3 (infancy, toddler, preschool)
Stage 4 (ages 6 to 12)
Stage 5 (adolescence)
Stage 6 (young adulthood)
Stage 7 (middle age)
Stage 8 (old age)
Research on youth 2012
• Youth – a distinct social group (unfavourable social
position) + social stratification
• Hypotheses :
• 1) youth are a recognizable social group by their
lifestyle, attitudes, values and behaviour patterns;
• 2) there is a difference among various segments of
youth with regard to their socio-demographic
characteristics.
• 15-24 (29, 34) – extended youth
• Croatian social circumstances (# global?)
• Representative sample – do we believe in surveys
results (opinion poll)?
• 1500 respondents - from 14 to 27 years old (not 1417 as said in the text!)
Socio-economic situation
• Strong influence of a social background (father’s
education) = limited social mobility
• Employed – from lower social status / lower
education (forced to go into professions) + higher
education
• Unemployed – older cohorts + those from very low
social status
• Unemployment - the highest social risk today!
• Youth unemployment rates are generally much
higher, even double or more than double, than
unemployment rates for all ages. As for the rate for
the total population, the youth unemployment rate
in the EU-28 sharply declined between 2005 and
2007, reaching its minimum value (15.1 %) in the first
quarter 2008. The economic crisis, however, severely
hit the young. From the second quarter of 2008, the
youth unemployment rate has taken an upward
trend peaking in 23.9 % in the first quarter 2013,
before receding to 19.7 % at the end of 2015.
• High youth unemployment rates do reflect the
difficulties faced by young people in finding jobs.
However, this does not necessarily mean that the
group of unemployed persons aged between 15 and
24 is large, as many young people are studying fulltime …. For this reason, youth unemployment ratios
are also calculated, according to a somewhat
different concept: the unemployment ratio calculates
the share of unemployed for the whole population.
….. youth unemployment ratios in the EU are much
lower than youth unemployment rates; they have
however also risen since 2008 due to the effects of
the crisis on the labour market.
Elements of social stratification
• Households without PC: oldest youth, unemployed,
smaller towns, three-year secondary school
education, father – low education level
• #
• 18-22, Zagreb, secondary school education +
students, highly educated fathers.
• …..
Poor kids who do everything right don’t do better than rich kids
who do everything wrong: By Matt O'Brien October 18 , 2014 –
the Washington Post
• Cultural capital (Bourdieu)
• But, of course, it's not just a matter of dollars and
cents. It's also a matter of letters and words. Affluent
parents talk to their kids three more hours a week on
average than poor parents, which is critical during a
child's formative early years…. rich students are
increasingly entering kindergarten much better
prepared to succeed in school than middle-class
students…
Social capital (Putnam)
• = social networks and norms of reciprocity associated
with them
• The core of the theory = social networks matter
• Dense networks of social interactions foster norms of
generalized reciprocity
• A society characterized by generalized reciprocity is
more efficient than a distrustful
society…Trustworthiness lubricates social life
Bonding and bridging s.c.
• Bonding – brings together people who are like one
another in important aspects
• Bridging – social networks that brings together
people who are unlike one another
• Bonding – not bad, but external networks of bridging
networks are likely to be positive
• How to measure? Social trust and involvement in
organizations – as indicators
Some results…
• The highest level of trust toward close persons –
particularized trust more likely than generalized
• Only 13% of youth have had experience in
volunteering in last 12 months
• Mostly in informal way – to persons with special
needs and senior citizens, and peers in learning
Ranking of values, %
Social distance – accepting as
neighbours, %
Acceptance of ethnic groups –
scale 1 to 8
EVS 2008 data; % of those who do not want to
have as neigbours…
Croatia
Post-communist
(withouth CRO)
South European
countries
1.
Homosexuals - 51.76%
Homosexuals - 56.52%
Roma - 42.64%
2.
Roma – 25.05%
Roma – 41.20%
Homosexuals - 21.62%
3.
Muslims - 17.47%
Muslims - 26.11%
Muslims- 16.80%
4.
Immigrants - 13.28
Immigrants - 23.82%
Immigrants -10.86%
Source: EVS 2008
But – huge variations among countries (I)
Azerbajdžan
Gruzija
Moldovija
Litva
Crna Gora
Bjelorusija
Rusija
BIH
Kosovo
Ukrajina
Makedonija
Rumunjska
Albanija
Srbija
Bugarska
Poljska
Hrvatska
Armenija
Latvija
Slovenija
Slovačka
Grčka
Mađarska
Portugal
Češka
Italija
Španjolska
Litva
Italija
Bjelorusija
Češka
Rusija
Ukrajina
Slovačka
Moldovija
Bugarska
Portugal
Azerbajdžan
Latvija
Rumunjska
Mađarska
Albanija
Slovenija
Armenija
Grčka
Poljska
Gruzija
Španjolska
Kosovo
Hrvatska
Srbija
BIH
Crna Gora
Makedonija
0
20
40
60
80
% ne homoseksualce kao susjede
100
0
20
40
60
% ne Rome kao susjede
80
But – huge variations among countries (II)
Litva
Gruzija
Armenija
Moldovija
Češka
Slovenija
Latvija
Makedonija
Albanija
Srbija
Poljska
Bjelorusija
Ukrajina
Slovačka
Italija
Rusija
Rumunjska
Bugarska
Kosovo
Grčka
Hrvatska
Portugal
Španjolska
BIH
Crna Gora
Mađarska
Azerbajdžan
Armenija
Kosovo
Rusija
Češka
Azerbajdžan
Albanija
Litva
Slovenija
Gruzija
Bjelorusija
Srbija
Latvija
Makedonija
Moldovija
Rumunjska
Ukrajina
Poljska
Bugarska
Slovačka
Grčka
Mađarska
Italija
BIH
Hrvatska
Crna Gora
Portugal
Španjolska
Dominantno muslimanska zemlja
0
10
20
30
40
% ne Muslimane kao susjede
50
0
10
20
30
% ne imigrante kao susjede
40
• „Likewise, the intolerance of present-day secondary
school students could be connected with their growing
up in the context of economic and political crisis….
Nevertheless, one should keep in mind that highly
educated (aged 19-30) are … in many respects still the
most tolerant and self-expression values-oriented
group… This leads to the conclusion, that public policy
emphasis on education, as well as symbolic actions and
rewarding of behavior consistent with the desired
objectives, could have some beneficial effect… „I. TomićKoludrović, M. Petrić, Ž. Zdravković (2012) Changing Identities: Croatian
youth at the threshold of the EU. In: H. Scheck (ed.) Changing Identities in
South East Europe. Vienna.