Childhood Flashcards
What is Childhood?
The social construction, the care free innocence and protected individual early life, childhood as we know hasn’t always existed how we know it
Childhood varies for children in other countries and therefore it’s a social construction
What is biological determination?
Most human characteristic, physicals and mental are deterministic at contraceptive by hereditary factors passed from parents to offspring DNA/geneti
What is social construction?
Human characteristics are made by the society we grow up in.
Peoples behavior molded by their surroundings
Historical evidence: Aries cult of childhood?
Published a study in the 1961 of painting, gravestones and found that children were repressed as mini adults
Childhood didn’t exist
-It emerged as a social construct from the 17th century
Arguing that before children were treated as adults as they were exposed to adult information arguing childhood is neither inevitable nor natural
-This was due to infant mortality
Historical evidence- age of leaving education?
Age you can leave education went from 12 to 18
Socially unacceptable and illegal to work full time at the age of 12
Historical evidence- age of marriage in the UK?
Minimum age you can get married in Britain rose to 16 in 1929
Before that girls aged 12 and boys 14 could with parental permission this was the age in which childhood ends an adulthood
Historical evidence- Jane Pitcher 1995?
Highlights the separateness of childhood from other phases
Children have different rights and duties from adults and are regulated and protected by special laws
Cross cultural evidence- Wagg?
Construction of childhood varying across different history and cultural society
Because of these cross cultural differences
Children are not always seen as vulnerable and can have a similar status to adults
Cross cultural evidence- Punch?
Children found that in the countryside in Bolivia were given the responsibility to work and preform at age 5
Contrasting to western attitudes towards child labour that have developed since industrialisation
Cross cultural evidence- Katz?
Sundanese children have far more freedom to explore and travel around their local area than children in western society
Cross cultural evidence- Ruth Benedict 3 ways childhood can be different?
1) Responsibility at an early age (Home, samen village children to young to preform tasks)
2) Less value is placed on children showing obedience to adults (Firth Tripona, doing as you to bliss not a right to be expected as an adult)
3) Children’s sexual behaviour is often viewed differently (Malinowski- trobriand island girls want sex as much as boys, children start having sex at a young age 6-8 girls 10-12 boys)
Creation of childhood- industrialisation?
The process of industrialisation, this shifts from agricultural to factory production as the basis of the economy
Underlies many of the above changes e.g. modern industry needs an educated workforce and this requires compulsory schooling of the young
-The higher standard of living and better welfare provisions that individual masks possible lead too lower infant mortality rates
Industrialisation is the key factor in bringing about the modern idea of childhood and the changed status of childhood
Creation of childhood- child protection and children rights?
Child and welfare legislation such as 1889 prevention of culture to children’s act
Exactly a century later the 1989 children act made the welfare of the children’s fundamental principle of underpinning the war of agencies such as social services
-The growth of children’s rights, the children’s act defines parents as having responsibility rather than rights, in relation to child laying down basic rights such as entitlement of healthcare and education, protect from abuse and their right to participate on decisions that affect them such as custody case
Creation of childhood- Laws restricting child labour and other activity?
From economic affects who could earn a wage, children became an economic liability
Financially dependant on the parent laws and policy
Specifically for children such as minimum ages for a smoking have reinforced the idea that children are different from adults and so different rules must be applied to their behaviour
Creation of childhood- introduction of computers at school?
In 1880 had similar effect especially for the children of the poor (middle and upper class already receiving education)
The raising of the school leaving age has extended the period of dependency
Creation of childhood- Declining family size and lower infant mortality rate?
Have encouraged parent to make a greater financial and emotional investment in the fewer children in the fewer children that they now have
How does Phillips say the innocence of childhood is being undermined?
-Parents distorted by liberal ideas giving to much power to younger generation, by socialising children into a healthy dynamic of authority. Liberal ideas are now that punishment should be smaking due to children’s rights
-Media more influential than parents, media targets younger children such as when they create young girls to sexalise themselves via pop music due to targetisation
2 consequences of the undermining of childhood?
Childhoods coming to end earlier than expected as innocence is taken away as children don’t have social skill to deal with the leading to an increase of suicide rates, eating disorder, self harm and drug and alcohol abused
Why do children as consumers undermine the authority of parents?
Children make £70 mill a year so TV marketing targeting children who watch or see things and use pester power to make parents spend money
Undermines authority as parents switches the role and parents controlled by children
What’s meant by the golden age of childhood?
Remaining back to the old times when childhood wasn’t determined by media and there was less pressure due to its shift into a more consumerist society
Children manipulator parents with regards to consumer goods
What did Neil postman mean by the disappearance of childhood?
‘Childhoods disappearing at a dazzling speed’
Children now being given similar rights to adults via the childrens games, clothing and children offenders via adult crime
-The rise and fall of print culture and rise in television culture
-In middle ages you were classed as an adult if you could read
But now due to education and television, children are now being exposed to the adult world e.g. sex war etc
So childhood is ultimately disappearing
Critics of Postman?
Iona Opie?
Childhood is a long way from disappearing e.g. children still in the market place indicating that their still a distinct group
Iona Opie below distinct groups due to kids games e.g. song rhymes
What did sue palmer mean by toxic childhood?
Adults benefit from a wealthy healthy society
Where elections enriched their lives
Childhood suffers due to polluters of range of technologies and life style choices offered by modern world
-Parents don’t read to children they sit them in front of TVs, buy them games, give them junk food depriving them of a good old fashioned childhood upbringing
‘Every year a child gets more distractable and self obsessed, less able to enjoy life and thrive in society’
Criticism of Toxic Childhood Sue Palmer?
Parents seemed more centered from children everywhere you go you will see swarms of family
-TV is just a recourse in life, we still have education
-People in 1900 experienced huge life changes developing cars, ww2 and tv
Childhood and social class?
Children from poorer family more likely to have lower birth weight delaying their physical and intellectual development
-Child in poorer family’s more likely to die in infancy, long term illness, fall behind in school and be placed on the protection register
Ethnicity differences- Brannen?
In asia parents stricter to children specifically daughter
Ethnicity difference- Bhatti?
Ideas on family can restrict behaviour in children specifically girls
Gender differences- Hillman?
Boys are more likely to be given more freedom than girls in the family e.g. go out after dark
Gender differences- Bonke?
Girls more likely to do domestic labour especially in lone parent familys
Jenks postmodernist view on childhood?
Rather than disappearing, childhood is changing
Relationships are less stable leading to more family breakdown
-Jenks believes that this changes the relationship adults have with their children
Become even more protective and fearful for their child’s security, resulting in even greater regulation of children’s lives
(Curfews, The children’s acts 1989, Free school meals, apps on phones e.g. life 360)
Critics of Jenks?
Over generalising
That not every adult and children relationship changes
Not all adults are protective and fearful of children
What did gittens mean by age patriarchy?
Hierarchy between ages
Older more superior
Examples of adults dominating children?
-Neglect and abuse- 20000+ calls to childline a year
-Control over space e.g. lift to school
-Control over body e.g. hair
-Control over recourse’s- pocket money
-Control over time- school
-Child labour laws- keeps children out of work
What is child liberation and how can it be challenged?
Need to free children from adult control
but challenged as children need to be controlled to develop
What does Mayall mean by the adultist view?
Adults see children as more socialisation projects they can mould, shape and develop, no interest in themselves only the future
Mason and Tippers view?
Children create understanding of family by including people who aren’t proper aunts or grandfather etc but are regarded close when describing family
Smart on children and divorce?
Although their passive victims of divorce children are involved in making situation better for everyone
When studying children why should we use unstructured interviews?
Empowering children to express own view points allowing point of view from a child in research
Enables sociologist to explore divorce childhood and draws attention to adult child power dynamic
