Social construction Flashcards
What is anthropology?
Anthropology = Study of human societies and cultures and their development
Mead: growing up in Samoa
- Youth = period of joy
- Culture = relaxed and casual
- Lack of harsh punishments
Why was Mead criticised?
X Only there for a brief period
X Doesn’t immerse fully into society
X Stayed with an American family
Criticism of biological view?
- Not all adolescent’s experience ‘stress’
- The biological view = too narrow
- Ignores environment
- Youth is socially constructed and varies from culture
Nature vs. Nurture
Nature = biological / inherited traits from genetics Nurture = enviroment influences behaviour
Nature vs nurture - biological approach
- Youth = affected by hormones
- Assumes bio/physical factors shape youth
Nature vs nurture - Social construction approach
- Youth = shaped by social/cultural factors
- Youth has stretched out (begins earlier)
CAGE - C
Class - Marxists believe working class children don’t have the same life choices as middle class
CAGE - G
Gender - Feminists argue girls do more domestic labour than boys
CAGE - E
Ethnicity - Parents act differently, e.g. Chinese parents will act stricter with a daughter than other parents
International limitation
Children in the 3rd world country
- High infant morality rates
- Poverty
- Child soldiers/prostitutes
Berger
Concluded that:
- Boundaries of youth are shifting
- Postman claims youth is arriving earlier
- Evidence youth is lasting longer
Berger - Fabulous fashionistas
- Youthfullness = attitude towards life rather than biological age
- Personal quality
Neil Postman
- Wrote “amusing ourselves to death”
- Tweenager = 10-14, abandons childhood
- Prefer pop culture, adult dress and start drinking and smoking earlier
- Blames television
- Support = computer games
Philippe Aries
- Medieval children
- French historian - argued the idea of childhood didn’t exist in middle ages
- Once past the age of being physically dependable on parents
- Seen as adults
- They began work at very early stages
