Children and Childhood - 2.4 Flashcards
Childhood as Social Construction
> Varies historically & culutrally defined by society
Modern Ideas of Childhood
> Distinct e.g. GA w/right to happiness, opp to adults
e.g. diff laws, dress, product & services
> Vulnerable need adults 2 provide & protect from outside world
> Period of socialisation in family & education, excluded from £ work
Childhood as a Social Construct (KS)
> Wagg (Separate Age Status)
> Punch (Cross-Cultural Differences)
Firth (Cross-Cultural Differences)
Malinowski (Cross-Cultural Differences)
> Aries (Historical Differences in Childhood)
Shorter (Parental Attitudes 2 Kids in MA)
> Postman (Disappearance of Childhood)
Jenks (Childhood in Postmodernity)
Wagg (Separate Age Status)
> Not universal & should be distinguished from biological immaturity
Punch (Cross-Cultural Differences)
@ 5 take work roles in home & society w/out Q/hesitation (Bolivia)
Firth (Cross-Cultural Differences)
> Respect to adults choice of kid not expectation (Tikopia)
Malinowski (Cross-Cultural Differences)
> Adults w/ tolerance & amusement to kids’s sexual explorations (Trobiand)
Globalisation of Western Childhood
> Trying to impose western notions of childhood on tw
> e.g. Campaigns vs child labour = no impact on kids position in LEDC’s - prepare kids 4 adult life.
Aries (Historical Differences in Childhood)
> Childhood recent invention non-existient in MA e.g. artwork shows kids as ‘mini-adults w/ = roles
> No distinction in punishments
> But now obsessed w/ childhood e.g. 1900’s century of child
Shorter (Parental Attitudes 2 Kids in MA)
>
- DR = neglect 2 infants parents gave newborns recently dead sibling name, forgot NO of kids
Aries & Historical Diff in School, Church, Clothing from 13th C
> Schools: Only 4 adults initially
> Church: Saw kids as fragile creatures needing protection
> Clothing: By 17th C distinction vs kids & adults clothing
A03 Childhood as a Social Construct (KS)
> Pollock (Aries)
> Opie (Postman)
Pollock (A03 Aries)
> Diff notion of childhood > non-existence
Reasons for Kids Changing Position
> Laws Banning Child Labour
> Compulsory Schooling
> Child Protection & Welfare Laws
> Industrialisation
Laws Banning Child Labour - Reasons for Kids Changing Position
> Not eco assets, but liabilities, dependent on parents
Compulsory Schooling - Reasons for Kids Changing Position
>
- period of dependency, cost + 2 maintain
Child Protection and Welfare Laws - Reasons for Kids Changing Position
Emphasised kids vulnerability, made welfare main concern.
Industrialisation - Reasons for Kids Changing Position
> Modernity needs educated workforce need 4 compulsory educations
>
- living standards so - IMR.
Opie (AO3 Postman)
Not disappearing but changing, still evidence of separate kids culture e.g. games, books, songs etc.
Postman (Disappearance of Childhood)
> Collapse of info hierarchy. due to TV culture adult info + visible to kids.
> During print culture less visible due to need 4 literacy skills, so can’t access themes e.g. sex, money violence
> So blurs adulthood e.g. kids doing adult crimes e.g murder or rape.
General Criticisms of Postman
Overemphasises TV > laws/higher living standards.
Jenks (Childhood in Modernity & Postmodernity)
> Changing not disappearing + child-centeredness
> Need 4 childhood as prep to be future productive adults.
> But in PM due to + divorce, adults relationships + unstable, so relationship w/kids last refuge from insecurity
> So + fearful of kids safety = + regulation
General Criticisms of Jenks
> Overgeneralises that all in = position, ignores diversity of family/childhood patterns.
Has the Positions of Children Improved (KS)
> Aries & Shorter (MOPV)
> Palmer (Toxic Childhood)
> Hillman (Inequalities Among Children in Gender)
Brannen (Inequalities Among Children in Ethnicity)
Woodroffe (Inequalities Among Children in Class)
> Firestone & Holt (Adult and Child Conflict & Inequality)
> Gittins (Age Patriachy)
James & Hockey (Resistance to Age Patriarchy by Kids)
> Myall (NSOC)
Smart (Kids in Divorce)
Aries & Shorter (MOPV)
> Life now best ever, + valued & protected + health & rights - IFM etc
>
- child-centred, + ILS & - so can afford to provide 4 them better
> Now + emotional & financial investment by parents
Palmer (Toxic Childhood)
> Tech/cultural changes damaged kids development, so deprived of geniune childhood
> e.g junk food, video games, parents long wrking hrs tests @ skl
> UK + rates in obesity, teen pregnancies, drug/alcohol abuse
General Criticisms of Palmer
> Trends not applicable to all WC + affected.
> Only cause of + understanding of mental health it looks toxic
Hillman (Inequalities Among Children in Gender)
> B&G’s diff exp due to diff in socialisation.
> B + freedom younger e.g. going out late, G restricted to bedroom culture
Brannen (Inequalities Among Children in Ethnicity)
Asians + strict & restrictive on daughters
Woodroffe (Inequalities Among Children in Class)
> WC mums + lkikely to have low birth-weight babies, w/ delayed development.
>
- likely to die as infant shorter in height, hyperactivity, IQ etc
Firestone & Holt (Adult and Child Conflict & Inequality)
> MOPV’s overgeneralised, + kids neglected
> Childhood + oppressive, adults use excuse of protection limit activities
> e.g. excluded from paid work, so dependent & powerless to adult control - but control rational?
Gittins (Age Patriachy)
> Adult domination = kids subordination, adults control kids TIME, SPACE, BODIES, RESOURCES
> Eco dependent on them, as they can’t work
>
- Control abuse e.g. 40K kids are on protection register.
James & Hockey (Resistance to Age Patriarchy by Kids)
> Act older engaging in adult acts e.g sex, smoking
> Want to escape childhood.
Myall (New Sociology of Childhood)
> Kids just seen as passive “socialisation projects” for adults to shape
> But kids actually play + role, creating own childhood.
> NSOC looks @ kids viewpoints, exploring diverse childhoods
Smart (Kids in Divorce & NSOC)
> Kids not passive V’s actively trying to make situation better 4 everyone.
