Family - Children and Childhood - 2.4 Flashcards
Childhood as Social Construction
> Varies historically & culturally defined by society
Modern Ideas of Childhood
> Distinct life stage with a right to happiness, opposite to adults e.g. diff laws, dress, product & services
> Vulnerable need adults to provide & protect from outside world
> Period of socialisation in family & education, excluded from paid 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 to Kids in Middle Ages)
> Postman (Disappearance of Childhood)
Jenks (Childhood in Postmodernity)
Wagg (Separate Age Status)
> Not universal & should be distinguished from biological immaturity
Punch (Cross-Cultural Differences)
At age of 5 children take work roles in home & society without question or hesitation (Bolivia)
Firth (Cross-Cultural Differences)
> Listening to adults is the choice of the child not the expectation (Tikopia)
Malinowski (Cross-Cultural Differences)
> Adults were tolerant and amused by children’s sexual explorations (Trobriand islanders)
Globalisation of Western Childhood
> Trying to impose western notions of childhood - including less economically developed countries
> e.g. Campaigns against child labour has no impact on children’s position in less economically developed countries - this prepares children for adult life.
Aries (Historical Differences in Childhood)
> Childhood is a relatively recent invention. It was non-existent in Middle Ages e.g. artwork shows children as ‘mini-adults with equal roles
> Work began from early age, no distinction in law, faced equal punishments as adults
> But now obsessed with childhood e.g. 1900’s is the century of the child
Shorter (Parental Attitudes to children in the Middle Ages)
> Increased death rate of children meant there was a lot of neglect.
Parents gave newborns their recently dead sibling’s name.
People forgot the number of children that they had.
Aries & Historical Differences in School, Church, Clothing from 13th Century
> Schools: Only for adults initially
> Church: Saw children as fragile creatures needing protection
> Clothing: By 17th Century distinction between children’s & adult’s clothing
A03 Childhood as a Social Construct (Key Studies)
> Pollock (Aries)
> Opie (Postman)
Pollock A03 Childhood as a Social Construct (Key Study)
> Childhood was just different, not non-existent
Reasons for Children’s Changing Position in Society
> Laws Banning Child Labour
> Compulsory Schooling
> Child Protection & Welfare Laws
> Industrialisation
Laws Banning Child Labour - Reasons for Children Changing Position
> Not economic assets, but liabilities, dependent on parents
Compulsory Schooling - Reasons for Kids Changing Position
> Made period of dependency on family, separating children from working life
Child Protection and Welfare Laws - Reasons for Children Changing Position
Emphasised children’s vulnerability, made welfare main concern.
Industrialisation - Reasons for Children’s Changing Position
> Modernity needs educated workforce e.g. compulsory education needed
> Increased living standards so decline in the infant mortality rate
Opie (AO3 Postman)
Not disappearing but changing, still evidence of separate children’s culture e.g. games, books, songs etc.
Postman (Disappearance of Childhood)
> Collapse of information hierarchy. Due to TV culture adult information is now visible to children.
> During print culture this information was less visible due to the need for literacy skills, so children can’t access themes e.g. sex, money violence
> This blurs adulthood & childhood as they participate in the adult world e.g. kids doing adult crimes e.g murder or rape.
General Criticisms of Postman
Overemphasises the impact TV over laws/higher living standards.
Jenks (Childhood in Modernity & Postmodernity)
> Changing not disappearing. There is increasing child-centeredness. We need childhood to be future productive adults.
> Vulnerable children need nurturing/protecting
> But in postmodernity there is more divorce, adult relationships are more unstable, so relationships between adults and children are a last refuge from insecurity
> Increased fear relating to children’s safety has resulted in greater regulation
General Criticisms of Jenks
> Overgeneralises that all children are in an equal position, ignores diversity of family/childhood patterns.
Has the Positions of Children Improved (Key Studies)
> Aries & Shorter (March of Progress view)
> 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 Patriarchy)
James & Hockey (Resistance to Age Patriarchy by children)
> Myall (New Sociology of Childhood)
> Smart (Children and Divorce)
Aries & Shorter (March of Progress View)
> Position of children currently best ever, they are more valued & protected, have increased health & rights e.g. laws against child abuse
> Society is more child-centred with increased standards of living so we can afford provide more resources to them than ever before
> Parents make greater emotional & financial investments in them
Palmer (Toxic Childhood)
> Technological/cultural changes damaged children’s development, so deprived of genuine childhood
> e.g junk food, video games, parents long working hours, tests at school e.g. SATS
> UK have increased rates of obesity, teen pregnancies, drug/alcohol abuse
General Criticisms of Palmer
> Trends not applicable to all - working class are more likely to be affected.
Hillman (Inequalities Among Children in Gender)
> Boys and girls have different experiences due to differences in socialisation.
> Boys have greater freedom younger e.g. going out late, girls restricted to bedroom culture
Brannen (Inequalities Among Children in Ethnicity)
Asians are strict & more restrictive on daughters
Woodroffe (Inequalities Among Children in Class)
> Working class mums are more likely to have low birth-weight babies, with delayed development.
> More likely to die as an infant, shorter in height, hyperactivity, low IQ etc
Firestone & Holt (Adult and Child Conflict & Inequality)
> March of progress view is overgeneralised, more children are neglected
> Childhood is more oppressive, adults use the excuse of protection to limit their activities
> e.g. they are excluded from paid work, so dependent & powerless to adult control - but exclusion makes sense
Gittins (Age Patriachy)
> Adult domination means children are controlled by adults, adults control children’s TIME, SPACE, BODIES, RESOURCES
> Children are economically dependent on adults, as they can’t work
> Greater control and abuse e.g. 40 000 kids are on the child protection register.
James & Hockey (Resistance to Age Patriarchy by children)
> Children act older engaging in adult acts e.g sex, smoking
> They want to escape childhood.
Myall (New Sociology of Childhood)
> Children are just seen as passive “socialisation projects” for adults to shape
> But children actually play an increased role in creating their own childhood.
> The New Sociology of Childhood looks at children’s viewpoints, exploring diverse childhoods
Smart (Children of Divorce & New Sociology of Childhood)
> Children are not passive victims of divorce, they are actively trying to make the situation better for everyone.
