Childhood Flashcards
What does Wagg say about child being a social construction?
The term doesn’t have a definition that is applicable to all people in all contexts as there is no universal experience of being a child.
Pre industrial approach to childhood
Aries:
A child was characterised by being no different to an adult as everyone worked on the land and lived in the same way
Work was a central part of life and there was little leisure time
High infant mortality rates impacted their value
Industrial approach to childhood
Children worked in factories and mines
Laws gradually emerged to differentiate children from adults
Children were seen in need of both disciplining and protecting
Modern approach:
Pilcher : modern childhood is marked. Separate from other stages of life by differences of rights + responsibilities
Child centred culture
Reasons for changed in childhood
Compulsary education Medical and public health advances: lower infant mortality rates Increase in legal recognition Labour market Increased access to the internet
Butler act
Free secondary school for all
Bedroom culture
Concept coined by MCROBBIE AND GARBER which found that girls formed their own subcultures in the private realm which involved experimenting with appearance and gossiping
Foster act
Introduced primary schooling for children aged 5 to 13.
Death of childhood
Postman: The innnocence of being a young person is diminishing and children are forced to grow up more quickly than before .
Sexual offences act
2003, legal age of consent.
Child support act
- Duties and responsibilities of parents to children even if the parent is absent.
Gershuny’s finding of contemporary childhood:
Both parents working now hasn’t seen a distraction from parenting roles
The amount of time parents spend playing or reading with their children has increased 4x.
Commodification of childhood
Pugh - childhood itself has become a commodity which something to buy, experience or consume which a paren can give into and or deny the goods and bear the burden of their child not being able to fully participate in society.
Age patriarchy
Gittins = children are oppressed under an age patriarchy which s that there is unequal power relations between adult domination and child dependency .
Marxist perspective
Feeley argues that adults and families are an authoritarian unit where husbands and fathers shape children into consumers in a capitalist society
NSPCC and child abuse
Received a 15% increase i contact to their helpline in 2012/13
Poverty in children
Department for work and pensions - 3.5 million children living in poverty in the uk which is 27% of the population
Social class
Kohn - educational , cultural and material factors of families and parents shaped the environment children grow up in. E.g middle class families are more culturally child- centred as they have the economic capital to provide resources
Katz research on the effect of ethnicity
Found that Sudanese children were not spatially restricted and could explore the local area and Play whilst in western community children are often confined
Mental health
Mental health foundation found that 1 in 10 children experience a mental illness which can affect their education
Globalisation and childhood
Western globilisation has led to western childhood standards being imposed across the globe
Outcome of the UN convention on the rights of the child
Townsend et al ; how many children live in absolute poverty
646 million children
Townsend et al : how many children have never been to school
134 million
UNICEF : who many child labourers in the world
246 million - 70% Working in ‘hazardous conditions’
Toxic childhood
Palmer : children are being deprived of a traditional upbringing because their parents are not spending quality time with them instead parents are using modern technology and junk food to appease their children which is leading to inadequate socialisation
Philips : flight from parenting
Culture of parenting is being undermined by the amount of rights children have been given compared to adults and as a result children no longer have to accept authority and become deviant - children grow up too quickly as they fall into problems such as teenage pregnancy and therefore do not develop emotional maturity
Mason and Tipper
Children are active agents of their upbringing and can therefore shape their own experiences of family life as parents revolve their lives around the demands of their children
Womack
Most state policies have aimed to improve childhood based on the idea that if families are better off then the children will be happier , however research suggests that are few items in the governments list of what is important to children - own bedroom , holidays,- make a real difference to children’s lives
