1) Is childhood socially constructed or is it part of our biology? Flashcards
3 stages of life
- infancy
- childhood
- adulthood
what do sociologists (mainly Wagg) agree on about childhood?
it is socially constructed by a particular society at a particular time
how does the west perceive children and therefore CH?
2 reasons how, its result, and another diff
-perceive children as different from adults. how?
1. psychologically more immature making them vulnerable
2. physically weaker
-this results in us having the illusion that children need protection from adults
-we perceive childhood as ‘golden age’
-time of innocence and happiness
Pilcher (1995)
SAS
related to idea of ‘golden age’ and ‘seperatness’
-children have a ‘seperate age status’
-in western society there is real emphasis on the ‘seperateness’ from adulthood and childhood, through various means:
1. laws (smoking, drinking)
2. consumer markets (products services)
how have sociologists shown that CH is SC/going from infancy to adulthood by the west?
done through:
1. comparative studies- comparing third world and western countries
2. in western parts, during the middles ages there was no childhood
3. even in post-modernity not all children have a childhood
(1) Benedict (1934)
-compared western society to third world, found that, unlike the west, there is no distinct CH- no distinct seperate age status
observations:
1. children work in the same jobs as adults at age 5- supported by Punch’s study: children responsible for tasks at 5, supported by Holmes’ study: children are never ‘too young’ to participate in tasks
2. adults attitudes towards children differ- in TTW, adults dont view children as inferior, compared to the way adults treat children in TW, there is inequality, adults expect children to do something- supported by Firth’s study: in TTW there is adult co-operation not adult domination, doing as you are told is not a right to be expected
3. different views on children’s sexual behaviour- supported by Malinowski’s study: in south-west pacific, in a tribal community, adults adopted an attitude of ‘tolerance and amused interest’ towards children engaging in sexual acts
this shows that TW SC CH
(1) additional support: Chagnon (1996),
studied yanomamo tribe in the amazonian rainforest, found:
-by age 10 girls run a household
-by age 12-13, they are married and have children
this shows CH is not universal
Globalisation of western CH
the exportation of humanitarian and welfare agencies to rest of the world has imposed the notion of what childhood ought to be like (e.g. campaigns against child labour or ‘street children’ yet this may be normal in other cultures, this suggests western-style childhood is spreading globally.
(2) Aries (1973)
-in the past, children did not have a ‘SAT’ (idea of CH didnt exist)
-Aries studied artwork of children in middle ages (secondary data)
summary:
-no childhood
-refers to them as ‘mini-adults’
observed:
1. adults and children worked together- children had and used for as economic assets
2. adults and children socialised together
3. same style clothing
4. same punishment and laws (recent phenomenon)
AO3 of Aries: Pollock
more correct to argue that society during the middle ages simply had a different notion of childhood from todays
what caused the SC of CH?
According to aries
1) schools specialised solely on education of the youth (reflecting church practices)
2) growing distinction of children’s and adult’s clothing
3) growing child-centredness of family life (e.g. child-rearing books available)
(3) why do some children not have a CH?
-CH is not a universal experience
-some children are ‘young carers’; have adult responsibilities e.g. caring for younger siblings
this shows CH is not a product of our biology
Reasons for changes in positions of children: Laws
labour, schooling, protection, rights, IMR, development, specific, IS
- laws restricting child labour and excluding children from paid work- went from economic assets to economic liability’s, financially dependant
- introduction of compulsory schooling- 1880 Education Act, school-leaving age extended period of dependancy
- Child protection and welfare legislation- laws introduced to protect children- 1889 Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act and 1989 Children Act- made welfare of children a fundamental principle
- growth of ‘childrens rights’- UN convention on Rights of Children (1989)- highlights children’s entitlements (e.g. education, healthcare, protection, etc.)
- decline in family size and lower IMR- Shorter:
-children did not have a name until the age of 5 (low status), because parents didn’t want to emotionally invest in them in case they died, during industrialisation, advancements led to improved living standards (better healthcare knowledge, sanitation and nutrition)/decline in IMR, decline in BR, encouraging parents to invest more financially and emotionally into the fewer children they have now - childrens development became the subject of medical knowledge- Donzelot: the emergence of child science (paedeatrics) stressed childrens need for supervsion
- laws/policies applying specifically to children- prohibiting them from engaging in adult behaviours- creates ideology that children are a different group to adults
the changes from pre-modernity to modernity (overall this caused the SC of CH):
shift from agriculture to factory production as basis of our economy during move towards industrial society, due to rapid technological advances meant:
-industrial society required a semi-skilled workforce, parents couldnt pass on skills required for it, this led to compulsory education
-better welfare meant lowere IMR
Marxist and Radical Feminist views on what caused the SC of CH
marxist: it was capitalism
-SC CH because of money
-consumer markets made for children
-cap target children for pester power
radical feminists (like Firestone): it was patriarchy
-SC CH to oppress and control women
-concept of CH emerged during the same time as motherhood; ‘children need their mothers
-psychological theories say children who lack mothers cause them to become dysfunctional
-forced mothers into being an UHW
last reason for the SC of CH: Postman
views this as the cause of the emergence and dissapearance CH
due to introducation of the printing press:
-before industrialisation, no CH because there was no division between adults and children because they had access to the same information (info was passed on by word of mouth since they were illiterate)
-information was easy to access, so they knew the same information
-then the access changed- mass print in forms of books and literature, which created an ‘information hierarchy’
-this meant childrens access to knowledge was restricted
-they no longer had access to the same information
