Childhood

Question 1

Childhood - As a social Construct - Western - Pilcher

Answer 1

• Weatern Constructs –>
- Childhood is special and differs from adulthood
- children are psychologically immature, lack knowledge + skills
• Pilcher –> Emphasise separation from adulthood
- different clothes, TV
- golden age

Question 2

Childhood - As a social Construct - Cross cultural (Eastern)

Answer 2

• 3 Cross-cultural differences
- Children take responsibility from young (Punch –> Bolivian children work from 5)
- Children don’t have to obey adults (Firth –> Tikopian children)
- Children’s sexual beh viewed differently (Indian teens forced to marry)

Question 3

Childhood - Globalisation of Western Childhood

Answer 3

• Allowed exportation of western definitions (seperate, vulnerable)
• Western campaigns reflect Western Childhood- International Humanitatian groups, welfare agencies
• Imperialism –> West concepts pushed onto East

Question 4

Childhood - Social Constructs over time - Aireś

Answer 4

• Childhood is a modern invention
- 10th-13th century –> didn’t exist, wasn’t seperate to adult
• High deaths- new borns replaced dead siblings
- church promoted children being fragile
• Soc has become child-centred (obsessed with childhood)
• Problems –> research lacks validity - looked at paintings

Question 5

Childhood - Reasons for changing position of children - Child - Centredness

Answer 5

• Laws restricting child labour –> Now an economic liability not an asset - dependent
• Compulsory schooling –> extends dependency period
• Child protection legislations –> Preventing cruelty
• Growth of rights –> entitled to health care, Ed
• Declining family size + lower infant mortality
• Laws + Policies –>
- Minimum ages for sex, drinking
- Modern industry need ed workforce = compulsory schooling

Question 6

Childhood - Its disappearance - Postman

Answer 6

• Trends towards children having same rights - grow up earlier
• Growing similarity in child + adult clothes
• Children committing adult crimes
• Information Hierarchy–>
- division between adults who can read + children who can’t but tvs blurs distinction

Question 7

Childhood - Evaluation of its disappearance

Answer 7

• Opie - Strong evidence of children’s seperate culture
- over-emphasise TV influencing childhood

Question 8

Childhood - Toxic Childhood - Palmer

Answer 8

• Technological change damaged physical, psychological + emotional dev of children
- parents longer working hours = inadequate socialisation
• Junk food, social media, online games
- Emphasis on tests in school = stress

Question 9

Childhood - Is it improving? - Postmodern - Jenks

Answer 9

• Live in postmodern world nased in Risk Society
• Children receive more surveillance
• Adults life is unstable
• Adulta fear children’s protection in uncertain world
- leads to increased monitoring of whereabouts + beh
• Childhood is changing not disappearing

Question 10

Childhood - Is it improving? - March of Progress - Mouse

Answer 10

• Position of children improving over time
• Better legal protection - child labour, abuse, Ed, health care
• Family is child-centred
- smaller family sizes
- Focal point of family

Question 11

Childhood - Conflict View - Inequalities among children

Answer 11

• Gender differences –>
- Hillman - boys allowed to go out dark unaccompanied
- Bonke - girls do more domestic labour (5x)
• Ethnic Differences –>
- Brannenes - Asian parents more strict
• Class Differences –>
- Poor children more likely to be ill longer + fall behind in Ed
- Poor mothers have low-weight babies = intellectual + physical delay

Question 12

Childhood - Conflict View - Inequalitues between Adults + Kids - Firestone + Holt

Answer 12

• Care + protection are actually oppression and control
• Protection from paid work = inequality
- makes them dependent
• Type of adult control: Neglect + abuse, adult only shops
• Control over child’s time: routine + school + growing up

Question 13

Childhood - Conflict View - Age Patriarchy - Gittens, Hockey + James

Answer 13

• Gittens –> Adult domination + child dependency - power assert by violence
• Hockey + James –> Acting up - acting like adults (smoking, drinking), strategy to oppress children

Question 14

Childhood - The new sociology of childhood - Mayall, Smart, Mason + Tipper

Answer 14

• Mayall –> seeing children as Constructs means they have no control over identity
• Smart –> Children create own childhood - poor, adopted, boarding
• Mason + Tipper –> Children create own definition of who’s family: pets