1. Sociology of Croatian society: Youth and Values
Siniša Zrinščak
April 25, 2017

2. „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.

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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)

9. 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?)

10. Representative sample – do we believe in surveys results (opinion poll)?
1500 respondents - from 14 to 27 years old (not as said in the text!)

11. 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!

13. 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 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. 

14. 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 full-time …. 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.

15. 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.
…..

16. 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

17. 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…

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. Ranking of values, %

22. Social distance – accepting as neighbours, %

23. Acceptance of ethnic groups – scale 1 to 8

24. EVS 2008 data; % of those who do not want to have as neigbours…
Croatia
Post-communist (withouth CRO)
South European countries 1.
Homosexuals %
Homosexuals %
Roma % 2.
Roma – 25.05%
Roma – 41.20%
Homosexuals % 3.
Muslims %
Muslims %
Muslims % 4.
Immigrants
Immigrants %
Immigrants %
Source: EVS 2008

25. But – huge variations among countries (I)
Četiri južnoeuropske zemlje pri dnu!!!!

26. But – huge variations among countries (II)
Azerbajdžan – dominantno muslimanska zemlja!!!
Dominantno muslimanska zemlja

27. „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. 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.