Childhood Flashcards
(41 cards)
Aries (1973) and the social construction of childhood
• During the Middle Ages ‘chlidhood’ did not exist; children were an economic asset, mini-adult, same status on law
• 17th-18th Century – ideas of childhood as a separate stage began to exist, e.g. children needing to be protected / nurtured at school
Aries & Shorter
March of Progress
Aries & Shorter - Child-centered family
- The family has become centred on the needs of the children rather than the needs of adults.
- Child-centred family due to smaller families and higher incomes.
Palmer (2010) & Childhood is toxic
Technological and cultural changes have damaged children’s physical, emotional and intellectual wellbeing.
Examples that childhood is toxic
- Junk food and the obesity epidemic
- Testing in education – anxiety
- Media influence and pressure – mental health crisis
- High divorce rates and dual career parents, less attention for children – drug and alcohol addiction
- High rates of self-harm and teenage pregnancy in the UK
Firestone and Holt (1979) & Child liberationism
Need to free children from adult control. This control can take a number of forms:
• Neglect and abuse
• Control over children’s space
• Control over children’s time
• Control over children’s bodies
• Control over children’s access to
resources
Smart (2011) - Personal Life Perspective /
The ‘New Sociology of Childhood.’
Children are active agents who play a major part in creating their own childhoods
• Need to study life from the child’s perspective.
• There are multiple childhoods within UK society.
• Need to understand children’s own definitions of who is ‘family’ – may include non-blood relatives.
• Smart’s study of divorce found that children were involved in trying to improve the situation.
Socially constructed
- Created by society or defined by society.
- Sociologists argue that childhood is socially constructed, because it is different in different cultures and time periods.
Cross-cultural differences
Differences that exist between cultures around the world.
Child-centred
The idea that the family has become centred on the needs of the child rather than the needs of adults
March of Progress view
The idea that the status of children has been steadily improving and today it is better than it has ever been
Toxic childhood
The idea that rapid technological and cultural changes in the past 25 years have damaged children’s physical, emotional and intellectual development
Child liberationism & associated sociologists
- The idea that children need to freed from adult control.
- Firestone & Holt
Print culture
The main sources of information and media were in print (books, newspapers and magazines).
Information hierarchy
The idea that in the era of print culture, adults had control of the information that children could access, as children couldn’t read. With the arrival of TV, Postman argues that the information hierarchy no longer exists.
Current ideas about children and childhood in the UK
- A special time of innocence and happiness
- Children need protecting from the dangers of the world
- Children are different from adults
- Children and physically and psychologically immature
- Children need a lengthy period of nurturing
What are the three key ways childhood in Western countries differs from childhood in non-Western countries, and which three sociologists explain these cross-cultural differences?
- Punch: Children take responsibility at a much younger age
- Firth: Less value is placed on being obedient to authority
- Malinowski: Children’s sexual behaviour is accepted
Outline Punch’s idea on how childhood is different in non-western countries.
- Children take responsibility at a much younger age
- Children aged 5 in rural Bolivia take on responsibilities at home & in the community
Outline Firth’s idea on how childhood is different in non-western countries.
- Less value is placed on being obedient to authority.
- In the Western Pacific islands, children may grant adults the concession of obedience, rather than adults expecting it as a right.
Outline Malinowski’s idea on how childhoof is different in non-western countries
- Children’s sexual behaviour is accepted.
- Trobriand Islanders in the South Western Pacific took an attitude of “tolerance and amused interest” towards children’s sexual activities.
Explain a more modern example of cross-cultural differences in child labour
- 1 in 7 children in the world work.
- 215 million children are involved in child labour in Africa.
- In the UK laws protect children from
working.
What are the 2 more modern examples of cross-cultural differences
- Child labour
- Child marriage
Explain a more modern example of cross-cultural differences in child marriage
- 1 in 5 girls are married as children across the world.
- 290 million child marriages occurred in South Asia in 2023.
- In the UK, laws protect children from marriage.
Name the sociologist who looks at historical differences in childhood
Aries
