Families and households - Childhood Flashcards
Generally describe the Western notion of childhood.
Children are fundamentally different from adults so require a lengthy protected period of nurturing and socialization to gain the skills necessary to enter adult society and become good citizens.
Pilcher (1995) and ‘separateness’:
The most important aspect of Western Childhood is ‘separateness’, with children occupying a different status from adults; emphasized through restrictions on activities, language, choice, expression, etc.
How is Western childhood a ‘golden age’?
Children are more innocent and happier than adults, but they are also more vulnerable so require protection, living largely in the the sphere of family and education where they can be watched.
Wagg (1992) and the construction of childhood:
“It is… what members of particular societies, at particular times and in particular places, cay it is.”
Give two ways, with studies, that childhood is different outside the West.
- Responsibility at an early age - Punch (2001): once Bolivian children reach 5, they are expected to take on responsibilities without question
- Sexual behaviour - Malinowski (1957): adult Trobriand Islanders take a ‘tolerance and amused interest’ towards children’s sexual exploration
How are Western notions of childhood being globalized?
International humanitarian and welfare agencies have imposed the Western childhood onto other nations, viewing theirs as ‘unconscionable’ and ‘inhumane’; ideas of economic dependence, innocence, vulnerability, etc.
Give an example of the globalisation of Western childhood.
‘Street kids’ or child labour may seem like inhumane conditions to be ameliorated to us but they may also be normal, prepatory positions for children.
Aries (1960) and Childhood in the Middle Ages:
Children in the Middle Ages entered wider society shortly after being weened and were viewed quite similarly to adults - entering the workforce, having similar responsibilities, and being punished equally severely for crimes.
Shorter (1975) and ‘it children’:
Views on children in the Middle Ages were likely affected by the high infant mortality rate, with parents not being as attached to children who had a reasonable chance of dying; many were named after recently-dead siblings or just ‘it’.
According to Aries (1960), give one way that the modern childhood began to emerge.
In the 13th century, handbooks on child bearing were pubished - a sign of the gowing child centredness of society.
Aries (1960) and child-centredness:
Aries argues that we have moved from children being no different from adults, to the ‘modern cult of childhood’ that is obsessed with children.
Give a critism of Aries (1960).
Pollock (1983) argues that childhood did exist in the Middle Ages, just in a different form to ours.
How did the 1933 Child and Young Persons Act affect the position of children?
It outlawed child labour, forcing children into a state of dependency on their parents and becoming an economic liability rather than asset.
How did the 1880 Education Act affect the position of children?
Children would attend compulsory education between 5-10, this further creates a ‘seperateness’ to childhood and makes them an economic liability.
How did declining family size and infant mortality rate affect the position of children?
As families became smaller and children were expected to live longer, parents begin to make a greater financial and emotional investment in what they see as both more precious and more likely to last.
How did the 1991 Children and Young Persons (Protection from Tobacco) Act affect the position of children?
Acts that restrict children’s ability to do things that adults are allowed to do, further creates ‘seperateness’ as children are believed to be needed to be treated differently.
What is the wider change that has led to the current position of children?
Industrialisation has required certain things of society that mean children need to be adequately prepared to enter the worforce, such as a proper education or to live longer.
What does Postman (1994) believe are the signifiers of childhood “dissappearing at a dazzling rate”?
- Children gaining the same rights as adults
- Similarity between children’s and adults’ clothers
- Children committing ‘adult crimes’, like murder
Postman (1994) and the information hierarchy:
As TV does not require special skills (literacy) to be viewed, it destroys the distinction between what children and adults can learn; print media could distingush because children couldn’t read so couldn’t find out about drugs and sex, TV has no distinction.
