Spring Break: An Analysis

The final weeks of February not only contains the promise of warmer weather, but it also brings about the inevitable countdown carried out by nearly every college student for one special week of relaxation: spring break. 

Spring break is the mid-semester hiatus that every student waits for with eagerness and expectation, and it is often the light at the end of the tunnel after a week of stress with midterms and papers. But spring break, in both popular culture and the media, has become a phenomenon in and of itself, one that is very risqué and sometimes dangerous. Movies and television have portrayed spring break as the annual propagation of debauchery, lewd behavior, and not to mention the abuse of alcohol, all located on the sunny beaches of Florida or other coastal towns. Of course, not every student does these things, but someone unfamiliar to American culture would probably think the majority of them participate in the insanity of the stereotypical spring break based on how pervasive the stereotypes are in our culture. One such recent example is the film “Spring Breakers” which depict the antics of a few girls who decide that decide early on that spring break will fulfill all their desires that their bleak life at school cannot and will do anything for this short vacation.

The idea of the typical spring break and why it occurs can be better analyzed using the concepts put forth by our theorists we have studied so far, like Sigmund Freud, Max Gluckman, and A.R. Radcliffe-Brown. Freud offers psychological ideas which could explain why the event occurs, and Gluckman offers some societal reasoning stemming from Durkheim’s concept of solidarity and his own idea of rebellion. A.R. Radcliffe-Brown, as a structural-functionalist, offers some insight into the function and purpose of the event through the lens of its benefit to society. 

Freud, based on his theories about the human psyche, would probably attribute the culture of spring break as that of the id running rampant among a group of people. Expressing the id is a way for spring break participants to express these wild desires in a place where others are doing the same, and where these wild impulses are not frowned upon. Also, the excuse of being intoxicated help to make the wild actions of the masses more acceptable. Freud would probably go further to say that the constraints of college and its stressful atmosphere manifest themselves in this week of catharsis which takes the form of spring break. Once this break is over, individuals retreat back into the world of the superego and rule-following behavior.

The idea of catharsis and release in the analysis of an event is also important in the work of Max Gluckman. In his work, Gluckman discussed the ritual of rebellion, and how the rituals provide a way of liberating social discontent in an acceptable fashion. Spring break, being an annual event where normal societal rules are broken (as well as actual laws on some occasion), would definitely constitute one of these rituals of rebellion. Gluckman discusses how these rituals do not become actual revolutions, and as a result strengthen social authority. Similarly, spring break is not an actual rebellion, as it is only a week out of the year, and afterwards students return to their universities and regular lives which are places of order. The media reports on the negatives and extremes of this event, such as deaths and abuse of alcohol, which cause people to place a higher value on order and the rules of society. Ultimately, spring break being a ritual of rebellion increases solidarity among the population overall, as it shows the benefit of societal order.

Deviating from the idea of catharsis and rebellion are the theories of Radcliffe-Brown. Radcliffe-Brown, a structural-functionalist, would try determine what the purpose of spring break is to society, unlike Freud and Gluckman who focus on the purpose for individuals. People participating in this affair often travel to coastal places and vacation areas where tourists provide the main source of monetary profit. In this way, spring break as a reliable annual event benefits society because it introduces money from students all over the country to these places which rely on tourism to sustain themselves. This benefits society overall since it helps communities thrive. Although this economic aspect of spring break is not often discussed, it is nonetheless an important result of the event.

These few theorists mentioned by no means have all the answers to why spring break is conducted. Ultimately, it is most likely a mix of many factors. But we must always wonder why this stereotypical vision of spring break exists and why it is propagated. I have no doubt that as the semester goes on we will discover more people who have theories that apply to this cultural phenomenon. Until then, I ask somewhat rhetorically, what will YOU be doing from March 8^th to the 15^th and more importantly, why?