ABSTRACT
In Chapter 3, I argued that the study of childhood and children has been, until recent years, neglected in sociological research and literature. Nothing could be further from the truth when considering sociological interest in youth and young people. There has been a huge investment of sociological time and energy in scrutinising youth, much of this based on the assumption that youth and young people are problems requiring analysis. This chapter aims to ‘unpack’ ideas of youth as a social problem and young people as ‘troubled’ and ‘troublesome’, developing further the thesis that age is best understood not simply as a biological fact, but as a social, historical and cultural construction, mediated by relations of power in society.
