childhood Flashcards
What does Jane Pitcher argue is the most important feature of the modern idea of childhood?
Jane Pilcher argues that the most important feature of the modern idea of childhood is separateness. Childhood is seen as a clear and distinct life stage and children in our society occupy a separate status from adults. Many sociologists argue that we are living in a golden age of childhood.
Which sociologist studied childhood in the middle age?
Aries - argues that in the middle ages the idea of childhood did not exist. Children were not seen as having a different nature or needs from adults.
What does Postman say about childhood?
Childhood is disappearing at a dazzling speed. Children have the same rights as adults, the disappearance of children’s traditional unsupervised games, and there are growing similarities between child and adult clothing. Childhood emerged as a separate status alongide mass literacy in the 19th century as the printed word creates an information hierarchy where adults can keep information. However, the boundary between adult and child is broken down due to a rise in technology such as television which requires no specialist skills to access.
How does Opie evaluate Postman’s view of childhood?
Childhood is not disappearing - there is strong evidence of the continued existence of a separate culture over many years based on a lifetime of research into children’s unsupervised games, rhymes and songs.
What does Jenks say about the nature of childhood in postmodern society?
Adults’ relationships are becoming increasingly unstable which generates feelings of insecurity. Relationships with children hence become an adult’s source of refuge from constant uncertainty and upheaval of life. Adults become even more fearful for children’s security which causes cotton wool parenting and helicopter parenting.
How much money is it estimated that a parent will spend on their child by their 21st birthday?
£227,000
What do march of progress sociologists argue has happened to the family?
The family has become child centred. Children are no longer to be seen and not heard as they were in the Victorian era. They are now the focal point of the family. Parents invest a great deal in their children emotionally as well as financially and often have high aspirations for them to have a better life and greater opportunities than they themselves have had.
Which sociologist opposes the march of progress view?
Palmer argues that we are now experiencing a toxic childhood. Rapid technological and cultural changes in the past 25 years have damaged children’s physical, emotional and intellectual development. These changes range from junk food, computer games, intensive marketing to children, long hours worked by parents and growing emphasis on educational testing.
Explain inequalities among children
Gender inequalities such as canalisation (girls being socialised into reading, housework and looking “pretty”), Ethnic differences such as asian families being more likely to be strict and hold higher expectations for their children, class inequalities such as children of unskilled manual workers being over three times more likely to suffer from hyperactivity and four times more likely to suffer from conduct disorders than children of professionals.
Explain the four ways that children are controlled by adults
Control over children’s space (close surveillance over children in public spaces such as shopping centres, especially at times when they should be in school), controls over children’s time (times when they get up, eat, go out, play, watch television, and sleep), controls over children’s bodies (control over children’s bodies (what clothes they wear, hairstyles, piercings), control over children’s access to resources (children remain economically dependent on adults)
What does Gittens argue within the conflict view of childhood?
He uses the term ‘age patriarchy’ to describe inequalities between adults and children
What did Smart et al find in her study of divorce?
Children are not passive victims but were actively involved in trying to make the situation better for everyone - used informal unstructured interviews which empower children to express their own values and allows researchers to see the world from their point of view.
