Childhood Flashcards
Why sociologists use separation as reason for childhood being socially constructed?
AO1/2
- Cunningham: In the west there is a belief that children are fundamentally different from adults in terms of vulnerability, dependency, maturity, what they can consume, etc
- Pilcher: The most important feature of western childhood is the supposed separateness enforced by western society e.g. workplace VS nursery. This separation is enforced due to the belief that children and adults are fundamentally different
How can we analyse Cunningham
AO3
Relevant today - clubs require ID to enter, playcenters often have a height or age limit - reinforces the idea that children and adults belong in separate spaces
How does childhood being different across the world suggest its socially constructed?
AO1/2
- Punch found that in rural Bolivia children as young as 5 were working and doing tasks
- Malinowski: children in Trobriand Island were allowed to be sexually curious and adults were amused by it
- Holmes found in a Samoan village a child was never too young to work and take responsibility
How can we analyse cultural variation?
AO3
- Wagg: “childhood is socially constructed. It is what members of particular societies, times, and places say it is”
- Relevant today - companies like Shein are able to create sweatshops in areas like Guangzhou were child labour is legal
How can we evaluate cultural variation as a reason why childhood is socially constructed?
AO3
Globalisation has led to the spread of views and beliefs across the world leading to the western perspective of childhood becoming the dominant global consensus - when children are put to work there are often campaigns against this and the countries that allow this are heavily criticised e.g. boycotting of electrics due to Apple exploiting children in Congo
Why does Aires argue childhood is socially constructed?
AO1/2
- Childhood varies across time
- Aires conducted a content analysis of paintings and found that in pre-industrial society children were seen as ‘little adults’ who would take on adult responsibilities
- He gathered this as there was often little difference in the way children were presented to adults outside of size as they were often depicted in the same clothes or working jobs
How can we analyse Aires?
AO3
- Benedict: in non-industrial societies, childhood is a very different experience as children are often expected to help work to contribute to the family
- Wagg: “childhood is socially constructed. It is what members of particular societies, times, and places say it is”
- Relevant today - children’s clothes are now entirely separate from adults often on a separate floor/section or even their own stores
How can evaluate Aires?
AO3
- Based on subjective interpretations of paintings
- Pollack: paintings were typically only made of the upperclass - Aires’ sample was unrepresentative of midieval society as a whole
- Wilson: eurocentric - Aires claims that children were once ‘little adults’ but now there is a distinction between adults and children, but this is only true in the west - children are still ‘little adults’ expected to work and marry from very young ages in some cultures
Why does Wyness argue childhood is not socially constructed?
AO1/2
Common sense thinking makes childhood an inevitable part of life due to the biological differences between children and adults which is the same regardless of culture, time, or place
Why does Shorter argue childhood has improved?
AO1/2
- Parents are now more affectionate to their children
- Due to the high infant mortality rate in the 18th century mothers had no interest in bonding with their children and often referred to their children as ‘it’ or by the names of their past dead sibling
- Discipline was also much harsher and babies were often left to cry rather than be picked up
- Today, parents show far more affection to their children - physical punishment is rare and generally frowned upon while ‘gentle parenting’ is on the rise
How can we analyse Shorter?
AO3
- Gabb: parents are now more intimate with their children - greater level of displayed emotion to past generations e.g. more physical touching
- Infant mortality is 10% higher in the UK’s most deprived areas
- Physical punishment is still normalised in many black and asian households even if frowned upon by western society
- Rousseau - parents are now less likely to beat their children due to the belief that all children are born good and this innocence must be preserved
- Giddens: transformation of intimacy - parents are now more affectionate and emotionally active in children’s lives
Why does Rousseau argue childhood has improved?
AO1/2
- Relationships are now more focused on love from parent to child
- Parents now believe that all children are born good and they must show children love to keep this goodness
- Thus parents are less likely to use physical punishment as they see it as beating someone innocent
- Instead, parents prioritise positive reinforcement in socialisation to ensure children continue to be good into adulthood
How can we analyse Rousseau?
AO3
Physical punishment is still the norm in many cultures e.g. black and asian - doesn’t apply to all CAGE groups
How can we evaluate Rousseau?
AO3
Rousseau assumes changing ideas were the main cause of the change in childhood but this could be due to other factors e.g. changes in laws which force parents to treat their children better rather than this being reflective of a genuine shift in ideology. Donzelot - policing of the family
Why does Aires argue childhood has improved?
AO1/2
The Modern Notion of Childhood which first emerged in the 13th century:
- The influence of the church led people to see children as fragile ‘creatures of God’
- Schools have become specialised in educating the youth thus making them dependents e.g. compulsory education
- By the 18th Century handbooks on child rearing were available - shows child centeredness
- All of this has led to the ‘modern cult of childhood’
- Aires describes the 20th Century as the century of the child
How can we analyse Aires?
AO3
Poorer people have higher infant mortality rates, fall behind in school, and are more likely to be placed on the child protection register
How had industrialisation led to childhood improving?
AO1/2
- Shift from agricultural to factory production led to higher living standards, welfare provision, and allowed the spread of wealth
- 1833 Factory Act: made it illegal for children to work in factories
- 1880 Compulsory Education: children are now seen as dependents as they cannot work full time
- 1889 Provention of Cruelty to Children Act and Children Act made child welfare the main principle underlying the work of social services
- 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of a Child
How can we analyse industrialisation causing childhood to improve?
AO3
Standard of living has not raised for all classes - poorer children are more likely to suffer ill health and have a low birth weight
Why does Giddens think childhood has improved?
AO1/2
Transformation of intimacy - parents are now more affectionate and emotionally active in their children’s lives.
How can we analyse Giddens?
AO3
- Shorter: parents are now more affectionate to their children
- Gabb: parents are now more intimate with their children
- Not applicable to all CAGE groups e.g. ethnic minorities remain distanced from their children and more likely to use physical displine
How can we evaluate Giddens?
AO3
- Chapman: families experience childhood differently based on family type (nuclear, same-sex, lone parent, reconstituted) and class, gender, ethnicity, education, religion
- Ignores the dark side of the family
Why does Cunningham believe society is child centred?
AO1
3 Major features of child centred society:
1. Childhood is seen as the opposite of adulthood - 18 onwards
2. The social worlds of adults and children are physically and symbolically separated e.g. park VS pub
3. Children have certain rights like the right to be safe - enforced through DBS checks
How does Wells analyse Cunningham?
AO3 or AO2 if used Wells as his own AO1 point
The state enforces these features of child centred society through policies e.g:
- compulsory education until 18 ensures children are dependents and only expected to be independent when adults
- ban on underage drinking enforces adult social places like pubs and bars being distinctly adult
- modern gov are very concerned with keeping children safe e.g. Every Child Matters
Why does Jenks believe childhood has improved?
AO1/2
- Childhood is more protected
- Class solidarity has broken down and family life is now more insecure due to increase in divorce
- Husbands and wives have now become ‘disposable’ whereas children are not the making the parent-child relationship most important
- Children have become the final source of ‘primary relationships’ - the most fulfilling and unconditional relationships
- This increases how much children need to be protected
