Childhood in British society Flashcards
Prout James (1997) dominant framework - common sense understandings of childhood
the study of childhood is relatively recent as they believe that there is little to study about childhood expect in thinking about what sort of adult young children will grow up to be
The dominant framework directly compares childhood to adulthood, it explores children as ‘deficit adults’ - meaning look at what children lack that they will have when they are adults.
> childhood can be explored as something ‘fixed’ and something ‘universal’.
Differences in child and adults:
Child > Adults
governed by instinct or biology > governed by culture
simple > complex
amoral > moral
asocial > social
becoming > being
EVALUATION - culture is overlooked due to excessive focus on biology, they ignore the cultural differences all around the world, there are social class differences, religious differences etc. between children.
The social construction of childhood
in rejecting the ‘dominant framework’ some sociologists say that childhood is socially constructed.
> Huge differences exist in child hood across the world.
> cross-cultural comparisons in the way that childhood lived have formed the basis of much research.
Ruth Benedict (1934) Cross-cultural experiences of ‘ childhood’
Benedict found that in Samoa children are never considered too young to engage in ‘dangerous’ activities.
> Also in Tikopia islands, a child’s individuality is a given right and they are not expected to be subservient to adults and adult authority.
> children doing as they are told by an adult is not automatic assumption but a privilege a child grants the adults in their life.
> this is a huge contrast the childhood in the western world.
Phillipe Aries (1962) Centuries of childhood
what ‘childhood’ means has changed over the centuries in societies such as Britain.
> before the 15th century, there was no notion of the term ‘childhood’ as a separate age status.
> for example in medieval paintings, children were hard to distinguish from adults - he said children were ‘mini-adults’ as they dressed the same, received same punishments and worked alongside adults.
> for this reason childhood didn’t exist.
> children were biologically immature, however they were expected to act the same as adults.
EVALUATION - Aries evidence is subjective, medieval paintings are open to interpretation, therefore he may make wrong interpretations etc.
EVALUATION - he mistakes no childhood with different childhood, as childhood was only very different but it did exist.
Reasons for changing position of childhood:
Declining infant mortality rates
infant mortality rates were exceptionally high in the past.
> parents rarely attached love and emotional attachment to their babies as there was no point as they would not last long.
> As life expectancy increased however, so did the will to parent attaching themselves emotionally with their child.
> this allowed the ‘separate age status’ and ‘childhood’ to emerge
Reasons for changing position of childhood:
Chaning attitudes in society
As life expectancy began to fall in Britain, a change began to occur in the way that adult relationships formed.
> love rather than reproduction, formed the basis of relationships.
> where children were born they tended to be planned, wanted and nurtured as result - this also led to ‘childhood’ and ‘separate age status’
