Childhood Flashcards
What is childhood?
Sociologists see childhood as socially constructed
- something created and defined by society
Is the position children occupy in society fixed?
No- it differs in time, place and culture
Compare Western idea of childhood todays past in other societies
What is social construction?
Human characteristics made by the society we grow up in
- people’s behaviour moulded by surroundings
What is biological determinism?
Most human characteristics, physical and mental, are determined at conception by hereditary factors passed from parent to offspring
DNA/genetics
Who/what gives historical evidence that childhood is a social construct?
1- Aries ‘cult of childhood’
2- Age of leaving education UK
3- Age of marriage UK
4- Pitcher
Aries cult of childhood
- children were represented as mini adults
- CH didn’t exist
- Middle Ages expected to act in adult way exposed to information
Contemporary society - not natural or inevitable
- less infant mortality
- parents invest more time
- nuclear family took form
Age of leaving education UK
Britain moved from 12-18 in the last century
- socially unacceptable and illegal to leave school and work full time at the age of 12
Age of marriage UK
1929- rose to 16
12, girls 14, boys
England and Wales needed parental permission
- age at which childhood ends and adulthood begins
Pitcher
Separateness of CH from other life phases
- children have different rights and duties from adults
- regulated/protected by special laws
Girls want sex just as much as boys
- start having sex at a very young age
G, 6-10 B, 10-12
Who/what give cross cultural evidence that childhood is a social construct?
1- Wagg
2- Punch
3- Katz
4- Benedict
Wagg
Construction of CH varies across historical/cultural societies
- cross cultural differences
- children not always seen as vulnerable, can have a similar status to adults
Punch
Bolivia
- children in countryside given responsibilities and work at 5
- contrasts Western attitudes towards child labour that have developed since industrialisation
Katz
Sudanese children have far more freedom to explore/travel round their local area compared to Western
Benedict
1- responsibility at an earlier age
Holmes, Samoan village, children never too young to perform a task
2- less value placed on child showing obedience
Firth, Tikopia, doing as your told isn’t a right to be expected by an adult
3- children’s sexual behaviour viewed differently
Malinowski, Trobiand islanders, ‘islanders seem like case study in ultimate consequences of sexual revolutions
What did Aries do?
Looked at paintings
Medieval- took the role of an adult as soon as it was physically able
‘mini adults’
Industrialisation- children valued, needed specialised care and nurturing
- reinforced role of the housewife
How does Pollack criticise Aries?
Says Aries work looks weak because it uses paintings for its main evidence
What did Ennew argue?
That humanitarian welfare work is often based on the belief that Western childhood is the ‘correct childhood’
- idea that childhood should be a separate, more innocent stage of life can be projected through this work on cultures that may have different views on the needs of children
What is meant by the globalisation of Western childhood?
Children in less industrialised societies are often treated differently to children living in Western societies
- ideas of Western childhood are projected onto different cultures
Why is the concept of Western childhood ethnocentric?
Believe that everyone else is wrong
- criticised for holding back their independence
What 4 reasons are responsible for the ‘creation of childhood’?
1- Declining family size/lower infant mortality rate
2- Industrialisation
3- Child protection and children’s rights
4- Laws restricting child labour and other activities
5- The introduction of compulsory schooling
How did Declining family size and lower infant mortality rate lead to the ‘creation of childhood’?
Encouraged parents to make a greater financial and emotional investment in the fewer children that they now have
Emotional not Economic
How did industrialisation lead to the ‘creation of childhood’?
Shift from agriculture to production as the basis of economy
- modern industry needs educated workforce
- requires compulsory schooling of the young
- higher standards of living/better welfare provision that industry makes possible, leads to lower infant mortality rate
- changed status of children
How did Child protection and children’s rights lead to the ‘creation of childhood’?
Protection/welfare legislation
1889- prevention of cruelty act
1989- children act made the welfare of the child the fundamental principle underpinning the work of agencies such as social services
- defines parents as having ‘responsibilities’ over ‘rights’ in relation to children
- UN convention lay down basic rights
- healthcare, education, protection from abuse
- participation in decisions affecting the, (custody case)
How did laws restricting child labour and other activities lead to the ‘creation of childhood’?
> excluding children from paid work
- economic assets to economic liability
- financially dependent on their parents
- minimum wages, sex & smoking
- reinforced idea that children are different to adults so different rules must apply to their behaviour
How has compulsory schooling lead to the ‘creation of childhood’?
In 1880, had a similar effect, especially for children of the poor
(MC/UC) already received an education
- raising of school leaving age has extended this period of dependency
Could childhood be worse?
- abuse
- divorce
- technology over attention (playing)
- beauty pageants
- both full time parents, less care and attention
What is the conventional approach to childhood?
- NR and functionalist
Sees children as a vulnerable group, both under threat from and in need of protection from adult society
- successful childrearing requires 2 parents of the opposite sex
- ‘right’ way to bring up a child
- blame working and single mothers/inadequate parents for social problems such as delinquency
What 2 ways is the ‘innocence’ of childhood being undermined according to Phillips?
1- The media such as pop music videos encourages young girls to sexualise themselves at an earlier age
2- They do not have emotional maturity to cope with the rights and choices they have
(self harm, depression, eating disorders)
What are the consequences of these 2 trends?
1- Girls encouraged to see themselves as sexual beings at much younger ages through using clothes and make up
2- Increase in social problems such as self harm, depression and eating disorders, childhood is getting shorter
How can ‘children as consumers’ undermine parental authority?
Encourages ‘pester power’
- train/manipulate their parents into spending money on consumer goods
- increases the status of their children in the eyes of their peers
- marketing makes rebellion look ‘cool’
- increased antisocial behaviour
What is meant by the ‘Golden Age’ of childhood?
Commentators go back to their childhood which they view as much less pressurised and complex
- shift into a more consumer-orientated society
- resulted in children cynically manipulating their parents in order to buy consumer goods
What concept does Postman discuss?
The disappearance of childhood
Key points on Postman and the ‘disappearance of childhood’
- ‘disappearing at dazzling speed’
- similarity of clothing, committing ‘adult’ crimes (murder)
- print culture, TV culture, more exposure, less mystery
- Middle Ages, illiterate, speech only skill needed for adult world, NO div
- A and C style indistinguishable
What did Postman mean by the information hierarchy?
- CH separate status mass literacy from the 19th century
- printed words create IH
- adults can read, children cannot
- power to keep knowledge sex, violence, money
- mysterious creating innocence
- TV no skill required, exposure cynicisms
- Adult authority diminishes
What are the criticisms of Postman?
X children are a major force in the market place
- indicates that they remain a distinct group
Iona Opie
- strong evidence distinct/separate culture
(GAMES, RHYMES, SONGS)
What concept does Palmer discuss?
Toxic childhood
What are the key point of toxic childhood?
C suffering, CH experiences pollutes by technology
- lifestyle choices/modern world
- less time reading, deprived of what they need most, time
- ‘electronic babysitter’
- junk food to keep them quiet
- dire warnings
- distractible, impulsive, self-obsessed, less able to enjo life, learn, thrive socially
- sees is as threatening
What are the criticisms of Palmer?
X parents lives are more child centred than the past
X TV, computer games are a resource but not dominant
X less change in the 21st century than previous generations
X opportunity of expansion of mind, knowledge, mental development
X essential to read and write
Is childhood getting better?
Functionalists and the march of progress
SHORTER
Society has a functional need for better-educated citizens and lower infant mortality rates, so school leaving age has increased and child protection has been improved
What is the March of Progress view?
Men and women have more equality in the responsibilities they share within the family
- for CH is it getting better or has it worsened
`Social class differences in childhood
Children from poorer families are more likely to have lower birth weight
- delays physical and intellectual development
- more likely to die in infancy, long term illnesses
- fall behind at school
- placed on child protection register
Ethnicity differences in childhood
BRANNEN
- Asian parents much stricter towards children, particularly girls
BHATTI
- ideas on family honour in some cultures could restrict behaviour of children, particularly girls
Gender differences in childhood
HILLMAN
- boys are more likely to be given freedom by families
- go out after dark
BONKS
- girls more likely to do more domestic labour
- especially in lone parent families
What is post modernists Jenks view?
Childhood is changing, not disappearing
PM society- relationships are less stable, more family breakdown
- changes the relationship adults have with their children
- more protective and fearful for their child’s security
- resulting in greater regulation of children’s lives
What evidence is there of greater regulation of children’s lives?
Over-compensating
- ‘helicopter parenting’/paranoid
- feel guilty and become too involved
- apps on phone, tracking a child’s messages
Why has Jenks been criticised for overgeneralising?
They are assuming all families have broken down and become less stable
- does not apply to all families
- some parents are like it without having a relationship break down or the complete opposite
What concept does Gittins discuss?
Age patrairchy
What is the age partriarchy?
Describes the inequalities between adults and children
Adult domination and child dependency
- adults exert more control over girls than boys
What 6 ways can an adult dominate a child?
1) Bodies
- clothes, hair, piercings, nose picking
2) Time
- School, clubs, screens, speed of growing up, too young to do things
3) Space
- restricting movements, lifts to school, child free zones
4) Resources
- child benefit goes to parents
- pocket money for good behaviour
5) Neglect/abuse
- 20,000 plus calls to child line a year
6) Child labour laws
- Firestone argues this keeps children dependent
How does liberationist views criticise the age patriarchy?
The need to free children form adult control
How can we criticise the liberationist view?
Children have less knowledge, experience and understanding of the wider world
- need to be guided by adults in order to protect them as the outside world is dangerous
What is the new sociology of childhood?
A social action view
- rather than looking at CH as socially constructed by society an adults
- consider the role that children play in shaping their own childhoods
What des MAYALL mean by the ‘adultist view’?
It sees children as mere ‘socialisation projects’ for adults to mould, shape and develop
- no interest in themselves but on what they will become in the future
How does MASON and TIPPER see children as active in creating an understanding of the family?
They show how children actively create their own definitions of who’s ‘family’
- may include not ‘proper’ aunts or grandfathers etc but who they regard as close
What does SMART say about children and divorce?
That children were far from passive victims and actively involved in trying to make the situation better for everyone
Why is it important to use methods such as unstructured interviews with children in these studies?
They empower children to express their own views and allow researchers to see the world from a child’s point of view
