Family 2 - Childhood Flashcards
Why is childhood a social construct?
Different childhoods across cultures
Different childhoods in different places
Different childhoods across different times
Modern Western view on childhood?
Children should be protected and nurtured
Pilcher (1995) childhood is ‘separate’ from adulthood
Evidence of childhood being different across cultures?
Child soldiers
Child labour
Forced marriage
Trokosi
Punch (2001) children in Bolivia take responsibility from an early age
Firth (1970) Tikopia child obedience is not expected from the child
Malinowski (1957) Trobriand Islander adults were tolerant towards children’s sexual exploration
How are Western norms being globalised?
Non-profit organisations
Evidence of different childhoods in different places?
Class difference What food their eating What activities they’re doing Support they get from parents Resources they can get
Differences in childhood over time?
Child labour Age of leaving education High mortality More children per family Child carers Stricter towards children
What is Aries (1960)s theory?
Childhood never existed before recently
What is Pollocks (1983) criticism of Aries’ theory?
Society just had a different notion of childhood to today
Why did childhood change over time?
Industrialisation meant:
- need for educated workforce
- laws against child labour as most people were earning enough
- lower infant mortality due to healthcare advancements
What evidence does Postman (1994) have that childhood is disappearing?
- trend towards children getting the same rights as adults
- the disappearance of children’s traditional games
- similarity in clothing
- children are able to commit adult crimes
Why does Postman believe this?
Mass literacy caused childhood to become separate as it created an information hierarchy
The shift from print culture to TV culture is the cause for this change
Who disagrees with Postman?
Opine (1993)
Jenks (2005)
Why does Jenks (2005) disagree with Postman?
Childhood is not disappearing but changing because society is becoming post modern (e.g. divorce rates increasing, children feel insecure so even more protection put on them)
Who believes childhood has improved?
Lloyd DeMause (1974) Aries (1960)
Why does Aries (1960) believe it has improved?
Children are more valued (child centred families)
More protected (Children’s Act (2004) Every Child Matters)
Better educated (government spending)
Are healthier (NHS)
Have more rights (UN Rights of the Child)
Why are families child centred?
Children are the focal point
They are consulted on decisions
They are invested in (emotionally and financially)
There’s a desire for them to have a better future
Why does Palmer (2004) believe childhood is toxic?
Rapid technological and cultural changes have damaged childrens physical, emotional and intellectual health (stress, addiction to screens, etc.)
What is the conflict view on childhoods?
Feminists and Marxists say the march of progress view ignores inequalities between children and between adults and children
What is the evidence for the conflict view?
Neglect and abuse (2013 43,000 children on child protection plans)
Control over their space (Cunningham (2007) ‘home habitat’ of 8 year olds has shrunk to a 1/9th of what it was 25 years)
Control over their time (daily routines, whether they can or can’t do certain things)
Control over their bodies (how they sit, walk, etc. are washed, fed, dressed, etc. and are restricted over how they touch their own bodies)
Control over resource access (limited money earning opportunities, pocket money depends on ‘good behaviour’)
Inequalities between children?
90% of the worlds low-weight babies are born in developing countries
Jens Bonke (1999) girls do more domestic labour especially in lone-parent families
Julia Brannen (1994) Asian parents are more likely to be strict to their daughters
Ghazala Bhatti (1999) izzat (family honour) could be a restriction, especially for girls
Children of unskilled manual worker are 3 times more likely to suffer from hyperactivity and 4 times more likely to have conduct disorders
Inequalities between children and adults?
Firestone (1979) and Holt (1974) say new laws to ‘protect’ children oppress them
What is age patriarchy?
Gittins (1998) inequalities mean there is adult domination and child dependency
Humphrey and Thiara (2002) 25% of 200 women left their abusing partner because they ‘feared for their child’s life’
Children try to act older or younger than they are to escape this oppression
What do critics say of age patriarchy?
Some adult control is needed as children can’t make rational decisions
Children are not powerless (1989 UN Rights of the Child)
What is the ‘New Sociology of Childhood’?
Using unstructured, informal interviews to see the child’s full perspective and treat them as active parts in making their own childhood
Why is the ‘old sociology of childhood’ criticised?
Mayall (2004) its an adultist viewpoint that sees children as passive
What’s the evidence for the ‘new sociology of childhood’?
Smart et al (2001) study of divorce - children try to make the situation better for everyone
Mason and Tipper (2008) - children actively create their own definitions of family; not as ‘proper’ aunts, etc. but those regarded as ‘close’
