Childhood (Families and Households)

Question 1

What is a social construct?

Answer 1

An idea that has been created and accepted by society

Question 2

Why is childhood considered to be a social construct?

Answer 2

There is no universal experience of it - it is whatever your society makes it

Question 3

List three laws that separate childhood from adulthood in the UK

Answer 3

• The law protects children from participation in certain activities e.g. sex, marriage, smoking, drinking alcohol
• Compulsory state education from 4-18
• Social services look after children at risk of internal threat like neglect or abuse

Question 4

Summarise Philippe Aries study

Answer 4

• 1962
• Analysed medieval paintings:
  ~Children over 7 were treated as adults
  ~Wore same clothes and participated in same work and activities
  ~People didn’t generally know their exact age
  ~High infant mortality rate - lots of kids & lots of uncertainty meant less time was invested in making childhood special
  -Criticisms:
  ~Limited evidence
  ~Paintings were normally of wealthy elites so they don’t reflect ordinary experience

Question 5

What did the Factory Act (of 1833) state?

Answer 5

• No child workers under 9 years of age
• Children of 9-13 years to work no more than nine hours a day
• Children of 13-18 years to work no more than twelve hours a day

Question 6

What did the Children’s Charter (1889) state?

Answer 6

• The state could now intervene in relations between parents and children
• Police could enter a home if they thought the child was in danger
• Police could arrest anyone found ill-treating a child
• The idea of childhood as a ‘protected’ time in a person’s life was largely established by the late 1800s

Question 7

How do functionalists say the experiences of childhood have changed?

Answer 7

• A process called ‘march of progress’ has happened

- Childhood is now significantly better than it once was

Question 8

Why is childhood now more ‘child-centered’?

Answer 8

• Family sizes have shrunk so parents are able to give more attention to each child
  
  • Partly as a result of the reduction in infant mortality -
    in the past people would have insurance children as
    they weren’t all expected to reach adulthood
  • Child labour was abolished so children were
    expected to stay in school - became a financial burden
    rather than an asset
    
    • Eventually became the norm to have smaller
      families

Question 9

According to Cunningham (2006) which three changes to society’s attitudes have led to a more child-centered childhood?

Answer 9

1. Children are viewed as innocent, vulnerable and in need of protection
2. The social worlds of adults and children have been separated: children occupy schools and are excluded from adult spaces like the workplace, pubs, etc
3. Children are believed to have certain ‘rights’ like the right to be safe