Social group Representations Theories

Tessa Perkins Theory
A stereotype is an idea that is adopted about specific types of individuals/'groups of people. The thoughts may not always accurately reflect reality. Stereotypes are assumptions made as a result of the way media portrays certain individuals or groups.
Tessa Perkins belives stereotyping is not a simple process and contains a number of assumptions that can be challenged. Perkins identifies 5 such assumptions

• Stereotypes are not always negative
• They are not always minority groups or the less powerful
• They can be held about ones own group
• They are not rigid or unchanging
• They are not always false.

Hebdige Theory
The Hebdige theory is one that presents the youth as either one of 'Fun' or 'Troubled'.
Youth subcultures resist hegemony through style. Hedbige studied youth subcultures in late 1970's focusing on the reality of youth cultures, Hebdige then argues that the representation of youths is very limited suggesting media representation of youths is not reality. Therefore this would effect the representation of youth dramatically as in the medias it suggests that we never get to see the good and hardworking teens of society who just fade into the background. This theory shows that the media in society tends to ignore the good and hardworking and focuses on the fun and troubled. Therefore leading to the stereotypical assumption that all youths behave in either the manner of 'fun' or 'trouble'.




Gerbner- Cultivation theory
The Gerbner theory suggests that the media overestimate crime therefore influencing the perception of crime and society. This shows that youths are always the victims of being involved within crime throughout many different media platforms. This therefore exaggerates the perception that youths commit crimes, automatically effecting the representation of youths portraying them in a negative light. This theory shows that the representation of youths is closely linked to what we see on different media products on television, these then cause peoples perceptions to change on representations depending on what has been shown on the television.