ABSTRACT
This chapter sets out the theoretical landscape which underpins the exploration of adult misrecognition of young people. It sets out the framework for understanding the processes involved based upon the work of Bourdieu and Cohen. It establishes the nomenclature of Bourdieu and how that vocabulary can assist in explaining the process of ‘becoming’, reflected in the concepts of social world, fields and doxa and how that transition to adult is reflected in Bourdieu’s conceit of the alchemy of consecration. It goes on to contextualise how Cohen’s concepts of folk devils and moral entrepreneurs can be adapted to explain the deviance of a generation as a whole.
