Het beeld van de jeugd als criminaliteits- en veiligheidsprobleem. Een discourstheoretische verklaring

Abstract

In order to give an explanation for the negative framing of youth as a problem related to crime and unsafety, we examine public images of youth. This article argues that such an examination requires a theoretical approach within the frame of discourse analysis. A historical discourse analysis shows that youth as a social construction has been related to issues of crime and violence. Understanding public debates as discourses of agencies of interpretation allows us to explain why the images of youth are as a rule negatively connected to moral concerns.