P2 Families and Households - Theories of Childhood Flashcards
What are the benefits of the digital world for children?
- It improves language skills
- Provides them with more information for educational and curiosity
- It gives them a virtual library
- It can improve their brain and health as they develop problem solving skills and hand eye coordination
What are the problems of the digital world for children?
- It is addictive
- Causes them stress and can cause a negative mental wellbeing
- Cyberbullying
- Overloading of information
What is the conventional approach (functionalists + new right thinkers)?
Functionalist and New Right Thinkers:
1. Childhood is vulnerable, under threat and needs protection from adult society
2. Family life - nuclear to be successful (blame family diversity
3. Children need protection from threats, such as homosexuality and media violence
What does Melanie Phillips argue?
- That the culture of parenting had broken down
- Innocence of childhood is being undermined twofold
Media and peer groups are now more influential than parents. Magazines and TV have distorted girls image of what is pretty (now quite sexual)
Liberal ideas have distorted parenting –> children should be socialised into healthy respect for their parents and elders. Parents are increasingly criticised for using sanctions such as smacking
What does Phillips argue?
He argues that children no longer have the innocence of childhood:
- Experiences are seen as much earlier (e.g sex)
- Emotional maturity to cope with this (which can cause issues)
What does Sue Palmer argue about toxic childhood?
- Modern society includes access to a wide range of modern technologies
- These may harm children - alternative parenting (TV, electronic games and junk food)
- Deprived of “traditional” childhood (less sociable and less able to learn
What is said about children as consumers?
- Children ages between 7-11 are worth around £20 million a year
- Advertising has become very child focused (“pester power”)
- Worries and concerns for:
- Children manipulating their parents (Pugh –> consumption as compensation) - Evans and Chandler argues that peer pressure affects consumption
- Marketing for children’s products are anti adult –> advertising may suggest that rebellion is cool. It undermines parental authority and could increase antisocial behaviour
Criticisms of the conventional approach?
- It assumes that children are empty vessels
- It ignores the fact that children are unique and there is a two way process which can affect the quality of family life
- Morrow argues that children can be constructive and reflective contributors to family life. Children want to have a say in what happened to them.
- It over generalises childhood - it’s a social construction
What is the conflict approach (marxist and feminist thinkers)?
Marxist and feminist thinkers criticise the march of progress and the conservative view of childhood for being based on false and idealised images and ignoring important inequalities:
1. Inequalities among children
- Experiences of children is different in different countries)
2. Inequalities between children and adults
What are the inequalities among children in different nations?
- Risk of early death
- Poverty
- Lack of basic healthcare
- Lack of education
- Adult roles
For example, in mexico 1.9 million people live rough of which 240,000 have been abandoned by their parents
What are the inequalities between children in different classes?
Upper class children –> may spend many younger years in boarding school
Middle class children –> may be encouraged from an early age to attend higher education and professional career
Working class children –> may experience poverty. Jeffris et al argues that poverty is linked to poor maths and reading ability
Socialisation Experiences:
- Toys R Us
- Masculine vs Feminine
What are the inequalities between children and adults?
Firestone and Holt argue that the inequality between children and adults is a form of oppression and control.
Child Labour Laws
Although a law against employment of children as chimney sweep was passed as early as 1788, young people were still used in this role for much of the 19th Century. Changes came in 1833 when the Factory Act was passed.
In what ways do children need to be freed from adult control?
- Neglect and Abuse
- Domestic violence between parents may affect children - Space
- Living situations (shared bedrooms - no privacy) - Time
- Lack quality time with parents - Bodies
- Parents control food shop
- Children aren’t likely to have the choice to express themselves - Access to resources
- Parents may not provide children with resources needed for example school.
- Material deprivation
What does Diana Gittens argue about age patriarchy?
Patriarchy = ruled by the father
Family = referred to originally to power of male head of all members of the house.
Today this power may still assert itself in the form of violence against
