Families- childhood Flashcards
What is a social construction and how is childhood one of these?
-it is something that is created/defined by society
-childhood is one because it isn’t a universal experience, but changes across the time and between cultures
What does Pilcher argue about modern childhood?
-that childhood is a clear, distinct life stage from adulthood where children have a separate status from adults
Why does children being in a ‘golden age of happiness’ limit the freedom that they have? (in western cultures)
-because this means they are also very innocent which leads to vulnerability and are in need of protection from dangers of adult life
What are 3 ways in which children are treated differently in cultures around the world? - sociologist?
-take responsibility at an earlier age- Punch found that in Bolivia once children are 5 years old, they are expected to take the work responsibilities in the home and community
-less value is placed on children showing obedience to adult authority
-children’s sexual behaviour may be viewed differently
sociologist is Benedict- says this shows that children are often treated the same as adults in some developing countries- not always a separate life stage
What is the globalisation of western childhood?- why might this not be good?
-some sociologists argue that IGO’s/NGO’s have imposed western norms of childhood on the rest of the world through campaigns against child labour.
-however, this is not always good because taking these children out of work at young ages may make these families poorer and suffer more
In Aries study, what did he find about the historical differences in childhood?
-how did he research into this study?
-found that in the middle ages, children were not seen as having a different nature to adults/having different needs
-the child enters wider society very shortly after they are able to walk and talk
-law often made no distinction between children and adults
-used works of art and documents (letters and diaries)
What does Shorter say about historical differences in parental attitudes towards children?
-high death rates encouraged neglect towards infants
-parents called babies ‘it’
-babies would have the same names as dead siblings - being replaced
What are 4 reasons for the change of position of children within our society?
-laws restricting child labour and exclusion from the workplace- economic asset to liability - protection from the outside world - 1889 prevention of cruelty to children act
-introduction of compulsory schooling- made children dependent for longer on parents
-growing children’s rights - children act defined parents as having ‘responsibilities’ rather than ‘rights’
-declining family size/lower IMR - parents make greater emotional/financial investment into child
What are 3 ways that show that childhood is disappearing? - sociologist?
-sees a trend towards giving children the same rights as adults
-growing similarity of clothes
-children are now comitting adult crimes such as murder
-sociologist is Postman
What is the information hierarchy are how has it been destroyed? - sociologist
-where adults could read and children couldn’t which created a hierarchy of information
-printed world gave adults power to keep knowledge about sex, money, violence ect
-however, tv world has destroyed this info- don’t need to be illiterate to understand- childhood is no longer innocent
-sociologist is Postman
Why do sociologists say that childhood is not disappearing? - sociologists?
-says that children have become a major economic force - taste in consumer goods have a major influence on what is purchased/produced - pester power - Buckingham is sociologist
-young adults now stay at home for longer
How is childhood changing as we move from modernity to post modernity? - sociologist?
-in post modernity, adults relationships are less stable (divorce is more common) and relationship with child becomes most stable part of identity
-this can lead to overprotection and ‘helicopter parenting’
-sociologist is Jenks
What is the march of progress view on position of children in society? - sociologists?
-view is that childrens position has improved
-Aries and Shorter believe that todays children are more valued, better cared for, protected, and educated, enjoy better healthcare and have more rights that previous generations
What is the child centred family and how does it support the march of progress view on childrens position?
-it is the believe that children are now the focal point of the family
-couples are now deciding to have less children and spend more financial and emotional investment on each child - quality over quantity
What is toxic childhood? - sociologist?
-the believe that rapid technological and cultural changes (junk food, drug/alcohol abuse) in the past 25 years have damaged childrens emotional, physical and intellectual development
-sociologist is Palmer
