Childhood! Flashcards
According to Pilcher (1995), what is the most important feature of modern childhood?
Separate life stage from adulthood
What is another major feature of childhood?
It is the golden stage of happiness and innocence e.g. being protected from danger by adults
Which sociologist states that childhood is socially constructed (societies at a particular time and place think) and not universal?
Wagg (1992)
State the 3 different cross-cultural differences in childhood in simpler, non-industrial societies
- Take responsibility at an earlier age Punch (2001) - age 5 without any question
- Less value is placed on children showing obedience to adult authority - Firth (1970) - Tikopia (Western Pacific) - doing as you’re told is a choice is a child conceding to an adult, not expected to by an adult.
- Children’s sexual behaviour is viewed differently Malinowski Trobriand Islanders - adults took a ‘tolerance and an amused attitude’ towards children’s sexual exploration and activities
What does Benedict (1934) say about cultural differences of childhood?
non-industrial societies have a less dividing line between childhood and adulthood
How has globalisation influenced childhood worldwide?
Western notions of children are spreading, e.g. child labour laws
What is an example of the globalisation of western childhood?
2015 - Labor Amendment Act - raised minumum working age from 15 to 16 BUT according to US statistics 14.8% of 5-14 year olds work (primarily in agriculture)
What does Aries (1960) argue about childhood in the Middle Ages?
It did not exist - children had the same rights, responsibilities and duties as an adult, they were treated as ‘little adults’ e.g. being depicted in art as being physically smaller than adults
What does Shorter (1975) say about parental attitudes towards childhood?
Parents = indifferent and neglectful of children due to high mortality rate e.g. giving a new born the same name as its dead sibling and forgetting how many children they had
After the 13th century, how did childhood change?
Aries - modern cult of childhood
Schools - specialised in educating the young (influence of the Church viewing children as innocent creatures)
Clothing - distinction between adult’s and children’s clothing
Handbooks on childrearing (child-centredness)
What is a critique to Aries’s idea that childhood did not exist in the past?
Pollock (1983) - the Middle Ages had a different notion of childhood today
State 4 reasons for the changes of the position of children today
Laws restricting child labour - Employment of Children Act 1903 - minimum working age made 16
Compulsory education/industrialisation 1880 (1880 Education Act) - became more economically dependent on their parents
Child protection and welfare legislation - Children Act 1989 (New Right) - welfare of the child fundamental to public services
Declining family size and infant mortality rate
Which sociologist said that childhood was disappearing and why?
Postman (1994) - children and adults having the same rights, similar clothing and unsupervised games
What is the information hierarchy?
Division between adults and children emerging from the former being literate in the 19th century - Adults kept knowledge from children about sex, money, violence and death
How has the information hierarchy been destroyed?
TV since it doesn’t require specialist skills to use it and it has become widely accessible - information is easily available to children - the innocence of childhood is replaced by knowledge and cynicism
