childhood Flashcards
childhood as a social contruction - Pilcher
- childhood has become its own significant life stage thats defined by its seperateness from adulthood
- children are protected - seen as golden age of innocence
Western Notion of Childhood (1995) - Pilcher - how is childhood categorised by seperatness?
- clothing - tailored to their interests
- laws - apply differently to children e.g. cant be held criminally responsible until 10
- work - excluded from workplace which is supported via legislation
- education - compulsory for children till 18
- protection - considered as vulnerable and in need of adult protection - safe guarding etc
childhood as a social construction - Wagg
- childhood only exists in some societies
- childhood isnt natural and should be distinguished from mere biological immaturity
- no single universal childhood experienced by all
cultural differences in childhood - Benedict (1934) - how are things different in Western societies compared to other cultures
- Western - no responsibility from a young age / Bolivia - Punch found when theyre 5 they take on work responsibilities
- Western - follow orders from people above us / Tikopia - Firth found doing what youre told by an adult is seen as something to be granted by the child not expected by the adult
- Western - sexual behaviour is controlled and seen as inappropriate / Trobriand Island - Malinowski found they take a tolerant ammused interest of it
Globalisation - Bolivia article
Alicia age 12 doing a full day of work during her vacation of school to help her mum work - Bolivia legalizes work by children as young as 10 = arnt protected for as long as Western children are
what did Aries do and how and what did they find and evaluation
investigated childhood in medieval times via works of art - found that they appear without any of the characteristics of childhood, children and adults dressed the same/worked and played together
* eval = only painting so may not be accurate = lacks validity
Shorter - what is evidence for life changing for children over time
- before paents would name newborns after dead siblings and forget how many babies they have
- now children are provided woth education and taken to play areas etc
how has childhood changed over time for pre-industrial, industrial and modern
- pre-industrial = no different to adults, every age is expected to be working
- industrial = children worked in factories and mines, laws made to gradually seperate children from adults, children seen in need of discipline and protection
- modern = childhood is valued and protected and education is compulsory till 18
reasons for changes in childhood over time
- welfare state support for children
- childrens legal rights
- higher living standards
- shorter working week
- childrens consumer market
- smaller families
- growing parental fears for child safety
- early years education and compulsory schooling
- paediatrics and emphasis on parenting skills
- minister for children and childrens commissioner
- childrens legal rights
March of Progress view on childhood
todays children are more valued, better cared for, protected and educated, better health and more rights than previous generations
what is a child-centred family
parents invest a great deal into children emotionally and financially - have higher aspirations to have a better life and opportunities e.g. leasure acitivities are designed for children = society is child-centred
evaluations for child centred family
some have a toxic childhood - Palmer - technological and cultural changes have damaged their physical, emotional and intellectual development
what does Postman believe is happening to childhood
childhood is dissapearing at a dazzling speed - by dissapearance of childrens traditional unsupervised games and similarity of children and adults clothing
what is the information hierarchy and how does this impact family
a sharp division between adults who can read and children who cant, gave adults power to keep knowledge about sex, money, violence and death etc - keeping ‘adult matters’ a secret from children, TV blurs this distinction by destroying the info hierarchy
how does the postmodernist view of childhood differ to that of postman
Jenks doesnt believe childhood is dissapearing but changing as society moves from modernity to post modernity - relationships have become more unstable
what inequalities exist between children
status and experiences, children of different nationalities experience different childhoods - 90% of low birth weight babies are born in developing countries - also gender differences
what inequalities exists among children and adults
- neglect and abuse - adult control can take the extreme form of physical neglect or physical, sexual and emotional abuse - in 2013 43,000 children were subjected to child protection plans shows the dark side to families
- controls over space, time and bodies - may be signs saying no school children, forbidden in certain areas, control when they get up, eat, go to school, sleep etc - told what to wear, what parts of bodies not to touch etc
what is the new sociology of childhood
doesnt see children as adults in the making but as active agents who play a major part in creating their own childhood
what can we understand from taking the childs point of view
how they actively create their own definitions of who is family, chldrens try to make situations better for everyone
how does social policy impact childhood
- children are dependant for adults for longer - tuition fees, compulsory schooling
- childhood is dissapearing - educations impact upon mental health, divorce reform act = more conflict
- society is more child-centred = childens act + marketisation of eduction
- different childhood experiences - migration policies makes families unable to live together, civil partnership = same-sex parents
