ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates the positive as well as potentially negative features of popular music within family settings. Social problems are instead seen as outcomes of negotiations over the meaning and moral value of an event, a state of being, or a situation. The chapter examines the kind of social problem work done by moral entrepreneurs in relation to family and popular music. Pop music serves as a symbolic tool for family members to cross boundaries generally associated with their roles as family members. The chapter also provides an inventory specifically of rock'n'roll music as a tool for reciprocal socialization, and for blending experiences across generations. Rock'n'roll is seen as a weapon in conflicts between adults and adolescents. Rock'n'roll functions as a mechanism for teaching religious beliefs and values in families, whether or not rock'n'roll is compatible with the particular family's religious orientation. Rock'n'roll, in particular, functions as a mechanism for articulating general moral rules and values for particular groups.
