has childhood improved? Flashcards
March of progress view of childhood:
The ‘march of progress’ view argues that, over the past few centuries, the position of children in western societies has been steadily improving and today is better than it has ever been.
why has childhood improved according to march of progress view?
Legal improvements
Work Restrictions
Compulsory Education
The rights of the child have become central to society
UN rights of the child
Protections and Welfare services
Social services
NHS – better health care
Move to child-centred families.
Best interests of the child.
why do we have a child- centred family?
Parents invest a lot of time, emotion and money in their children.
Greater care and protection.
Parents have really high aspirations for their children and want them to succeed.
Children are the focal point of the family.
how do higher living standards affect children?
Higher living standards and smaller family sizes means that parents can afford to provide for children’s needs properly.
By the time a child turns 21, they will have cost their parent £227,000.
Palmer (2010)
Palmer (2010) argues against the march of progress view.
She argues that children in the UK today are experiencing a toxic childhood.
Technological and cultural changes in the past 25 years have damaged children’s physical, emotional and intellectual development.
A UNICEF survey(2013) found that the UK ranked 16th out of 19 for children’s wellbeing.
Higher rates of mental illness including self-harm, drug and alcohol abuse, obesity, violence, early sexual experiences, and teenage pregnancy.
what is the conflict view of childhood improving?
society is based on conflict and inequality!
between children - Opportunities and risks children face vary – many children today remain unprotected and badly cared for.
between adults and children - The inequalities between children and adults are greater than ever before – greater control, oppression and dependency.
gender differences in childhood:
Hilman (1993) boys are given more freedom than girls i.e. being able to cross or cycle on roads by themselves, uses buses and go out after dark unaccompanied.
Bonke (1999) – girls do more domestic labour – especially in lone parent families, where they do 5x more housework than boys.
ethnic differences in childhood:
Brannen’s (1994) study of 15-16 year olds found that Asian parents were more likely than other parents to be strict towards their daughters.
Bhatti (1999) found that family honour was a restriction on girls behaviour.
class differences in childhood:
Poor mothers are more likely to have low birth-weight babies which is linked to delayed physical and intellectual development.
Woodroffe – children of unskilled manual workers are 3x more likely to suffer from hyperactivity, and more likely to experience conduct disorders than children of professionals.
Howard – Children born into poor families are more likely to die in infancy or childhood, to suffer longstanding illnesses, fall behind at school, and to be placed on the child protection register
Holt (1974)
conflict view on childhood:
many things that march of progress see as care and protection are in fact just new forms of oppression and control.
Firestone (1979)
conflict view of childhood:
‘protection’ from paid work is not a benefit to children, but a form of inequality. It is a way to forcibly separate children and make them dependent, powerless and subject to adult control.
Gittins (1998)
uses the term ‘age patriarchy’ to describe the inequalities between adults and children.
Age patriarchy = Adult domination and child dependency
In the family this leads to the father dominating children also.
Humphrey and Thiara (2002)
25% of the 200 women they researched left their abusive partner because they feared for their children’s lives. This supports Gittins’ view that patriarchy oppresses children as well as women.
Hockey and James (1993)
found evidence that children see childhood as oppressive as children wanted to escape childhood and be independent.
‘Acting up’ – acting like adults by doing things children are not meant to do i.e. swearing, smoking, drinking etc.
‘Acting down’ – behaving in ways expected of younger children is a popular strategy for resisting adult control i.e. asking to be carried when you are 6 years old will result in parents demanding you be independent rather than dependent on them (children do this on purpose to get independence).
Neglect statistics
NSPCC in 2011 found that 1 in 5 children had been severely maltreated during childhood most by a parent or guardian.
In 2013 the DfE reported that there were nearly 43,100 children subject to child protection orders.
