Childhood Flashcards
What did Punch discover about children in Bolivia in 2013?
5 year old’s and up are expected to take on work responsibility’s at home and the community without question or hesitation
What did Firth discover about the island of Tikopia in 1970?
Doing what you were told by an adult is a choice that the children can choose to follow rather than a given right expected by an adult.
What is Globalization?
The way in which countries/cultures are influenced from the media, trade, people of other countries (especially the western countries)
How is the western idea of childhood being Globalized?
International Humanitarian and Welfare agency’s are imposing the views of a nuclear family with innocent children which may not fit into other countries cultures and traditions
Campaigns against child Labour or street children in developing countries reflect western views whereas that may be the cultural norm of childhood in that culture
How was childhood argued to be much different in the past, by a sociologist?
Aries argues between the 10th and 13th century childhood did not exist and children were treated as ‘miniature adults’ with laws and punishments often being same as adults
this is based on paintings, diaries and historical documents of the time.
What might be some problems with Phillipe Aries research methods into 10th-13th Century childhood?
Paintings were often made by the rich and depicted scenes in a biased way.
The researcher could have biases/interpret the data in the way he wants to.
What did Neil Postman 1994 argue about the Printing press?
Agreed with Aries that children treated as miniature adults as there was no individual identity and everyone follwed the collective through town speakers or gossip, there was no censorship for adult and child media and high infant mortality meant no connection to child
Printing press in mid 15Cth allowed for high literacy rates and mass production of material that informed people on the roles of adults and how to bring up children.
So notion of childhood became constructed through literacy
What is the March of progress view of childhood?
The view that quality of childhood (in Western societies) over the past few centuries has been improving.
Lloyd de Mause says “history of childhood is a nightmare in which we only recently begun to awaken” which less being killed, abandon DED and abused
What is some critiscm of the march of progress view?
People like Palmer label childhood as “toxic childhood” and she argues things like increase in self harm, drugs, suicides etc.
point to a decline in emotional and family stability while parents rely “electronic babysitters” phones and TV to occupy children.
What are some inaqualities between children and adults? (Firestone!!!)
Firestone and Holt Say that childhood involves opression, control and dominance of children by adults and see need to free child from adults control called “child liberationism”
This can take form any, physical emotional and sexual abuse as well as many other things.
Eg childline gets 20,000 called a year from children saying they been psychically or sexually abused
What is Age Partriarchy?
Gittins (1998) argues that Adults have power over children. Eg control over childrens time, space and bodies.
Also they make them ecomomically dependent through labour laws as they cannot get their own income.
Adult control can lead to sexual or emotional abuse as examples by 40,000 children in child protection register
What are some strengths and limitations of the conflict view of chilhood?
It disregards how childrens brains work compared to adults and generalises every child into one group.
Fails to appreciate the positive affect of control e.g child labour laws.
However it helps explain the large child protection numbers and sheds a light on the darker side of childhood.
What is the postmodernist view of childhood?
People like Chris Jenks believes that childhood is changing as society moves to postmodernism.
Parents are trying to protect their child more due to instability in society and protect children from perceived dangers like child abuse. So childhood continues to be a seperate status from adulthood
What is Neil postaman’s theory about the disapperance of childhood?
He argues childhood is disappearing shown by dissaperenve of traditional children’s games as well as children committing adult crime like murder
Television distorts informational hierarchy and leads to child and adult lines being blurred and innocence of children replaced with cynicism
What do personal life perspective sociologists think about childhood?
Smart sims to include perspective of children by interviewing them,
Her study found children in divorce proceedings weren’t just passive victims but actively tired to make things better for everyone
