childhood Flashcards
Childhood
Social construction because what we understand by the term is created and influenced by the attitudes, actions and interpretations of members of society. It only exists in the way we understand it because people define it as such. It is not a fixed or universal term
Social construction of childhood - cross cultural differences
The differing status, responsibilities and treatment of children in different contemporary cultures
Social construction of childhood - historical changes in childhood
The way the nature of children and childhood and their status and responsibilities and treatment have changed through history and continues to change today
Social construction of childhood - differences between children in the same society
The difference between children’s status and responsibilities even in the same society
Cross culture differences
- They take responsibility at a young age - eg children in Bolivia worked at home and in community when they were 5, Samoan villages children were never ‘too young’ to work; each was judged individually 2. Less valued was placed on showing obedience to adult authority - eg FIRTH found in Western Pacific doing what you were told by an adult was a concession granted by the child3. Children’s sexual behaviour is often viewed differently - eg Trobriand Islander adults took an attitude of ‘tolerance and amused interest’ in childrens sexual explorations
Historical changes in childhood
- the position of children differ over time as well as between societies- sociologists argue that childhood as we understand it today is a relatively recent invention - ARIES argues that in the Middle Ages the idea of childhood did not exist - parental attitude were also very different
Differences between children in the same society gender
- even within a society that not all children experience childhood in the same way - inequalities based on class, ethnicity and gender - eg around 27% of all children in the UK were growing up in poverty in 2012-13. Girls will often have a more restricted childhood than bots - BRANNEN and BHATTI found this to be especially true for Asian girls - MARGO pointed out richer parents are able to purchase activities like music or dance lessons and organise activities which enhance development
The future of childhood
With out understanding that childhood is a social construct, it’s inevitable that it will change as society evolves
The disappearance of childhood
- POSTMAN argues that childhood is ‘disappearing at a dazzling speed’- points out the thread towards giving children the same rights as adults, the disappearance of children’s traditional unsupervised games, the growing similarity of adults and children clothing and even to cases of children committing adult crimes, such as murder- the cause of the first emergence of childhood lie in the rise and fall of print culture & replacement from TV - during the Middle Ages, most people were illiterate and speech was the only skill needed for participant in the adult world. Children were enter adult society from an early age - childhood was not associated with innocence or the adult world - there was no division between the world of adult/child hood
The information hierarchy - postman
Argues that childhood emerged as a separate status along with mass literacy from the 19th century onwards. This is because the printed word creates an information hierarchy - adults were able to keep knowledge about sex, Monet, violence and illness a secret from children. Those things became mysteries to them and childhood became associated with innocence and ignorance - TV blurs the distraction between child/adult hood as you don’t need special skills to access it - the boundary between adult and child is broken down, adult authority diminishes and the ignorance and innocence of childhood is replaced by knowledge and cynicism
Evaluations of Postman
- OPIE conducted a lifetime of research into children’s unsupervised games, rhymes and songs and argues that there is strong evidence of the continued existence of a separate children culture - postman’s study is valuable in showing how different types of communication technology can influence the way in which childhood is constructed but he over emphasises a single cause at the expense of other factors that have influenced the development of childhood
Childhood in postmodernity - jenks ^ doesn’t believe childhood is disappearing but thinks it’s it’s changing
- agrees with ARIES that childhood was a creation of modern society - modern society was concerned with ‘futurity’ - childhood seen was preparation for the individual to become a productive adult in the future - to achieve this the vulnerable, undeveloped child needed to be nurtured, protected and controlled, especially by the ‘child centred family’ and by the education system which imposed discipline and conformity in children - childhood is undergoing change as society moves from modernity to postmodernity - relationships in postmodern society are more unstable than they were generating feelings of insecurity and puts more pressure on the adult child relationship - in postmodern society, relationships with their children become adult’s last refuge from the constant uncertainty and upheaval of life. Then adults become even more fearful for their childrens security and more preoccupied with protection them from dangers such as child abuse strengthening the prevailing view that children are vulnerable and in need of protection, resulting in greater surveillance and regulation of children’s lives - JENKS doesn’t agree with POSTMAN that we are seeing a disappearance of childhood. It continues to be a separate status and the legal and other restrictions placed on what children can do continuous to mark them off from adults
Evaluation of jenks
- evidence both for and against him is limited - some evidence that parents see their relationship with their children as more important than that with their partners and that parents are very concerned about the risks they believe their children face- evidence comes from small unrepresentative studies - JENKS is guilty of overgeneralising despite the greater diversity of family and childhood patterns found today he makes rather sweeping statements that imply all children are in the same position
March of progress view
- the position of children in western societies has been steadily improving and today is better than it has ever been - this view paints a dark picture of the past - “the history of childhood is a nightmare from which we have only begun to awaken. The further back in history one goes, the lower the level of childcare and the more likely children are to be killed, abandoned, beaten, terrorised and sexually abused” - ARIES and SHORTER hold a march of progress view - today’s children are much more valued, better cared for, protected and educated, enjoy better health and have more rights than those of previous generations
The child entered family
- higher living standards and smaller family sizes also means that parents can afford to provide for children’s needs properly - march of progress sociologists argue that the family has become child centred. Children are no longer to be ‘seen and not heard’ - instead they are now the focal point of the family consulted on many decisions - parents invest emotionally in their children as well as financially. They have high aspirations for them to have a better life and greater opportunities than they themselves have had - society as a whole is now child centred
