Has the Position of Children Improved? Flashcards
(23 cards)
Outline the march of progress view
- Argues that the position of children in western society has been improving and today is better than it ever has been.
- e.g. children are protected from harm by laws. The government spends huge sums on education and better healthcare has led to babies surviving a lot more than before
What does higher living standards and smaller family sizes mean for children?
Means parents can afford to cater to their child’s needs, give more time and attention to them. It is estimated by the time a child is 21, they have cost their parents £227,000
Describe the child-centred family and society
- March of progress sociologists argue the family is now child-centred. Children are the focal point of family and parents invest in their children emotionally and economically. They often have high aspirations for them
- Society as a whole is now child-centred. e.g. media output and leisure activities are designed for children
What is toxic childhood?
- Palmer argues children in the UK today are experiencing ‘toxic childhood’
- She argues rapid technological and cultural changes has damaged children’s physical, emotional and intellectual development. Changes include junk food and computer games.
Give evidence to support toxic childhood
UK youth have above average rates for obesity, self-harm, drug and alcohol abuse and teenage pregnancies
Outline the conflict view
- They argue that the MoP view is based on a false and idealised image that ignores inequalities.
- They argue there are inequalities among children and between children and adults which means children are unprotected and under greater oppression
What are the gender inequalities among children that feminists would argue?
- Hillman found boys are more likely to allowed to cross or cycle roads or go out after dark unaccompanied.
- Bonke found that girls do more domestic labour, especially in lone-parent families, where they do 5x more housework than boys
What the class inequalities among children that Marxists would argue?
- Poor mothers are more likely to have low birth-weight babies, which is linked to physical and intellectual underdevelopment
- Children of unskilled manual workers are 3x more likely to be hyperactive and 4x more likely to have conduct disorders than children of professionals
- Children from poor families are more likely to die in infancy and fall behind in school.
What are the inequalities between children and adults?
- Firestone and Holt argue things that march of progress theorists say is protection is actually new forms of oppression
- Firestone argues ‘protection’ from paid work is an inequalities as it segregates children, making them dependent and subject to adult control.
- They tend to see children as needing to be free, called ‘children liberationism’, from adult control.
What are the different forms of adult control?
- Neglect and abuse
- Controls over children’s space
- Controls over children’s time
- Controls over children’s body
- Control over children’s access to resources
Give evidence for neglect and abuse against children
- ChildLine receives 20,000 calls a year from children saying they’ve been sexually or physically abused,
- Such figures indicate a ‘dark side’ to family life where children are the victims
How is there control over children’s space?
- Shops may display signs like ‘ no schoolchildren’ and children forbidden to play in some areas.
- Fears about road safety and ‘stranger danger’ have increased. In 1971, 86% of primary school children travelled alone to school while in 2010, this had fallen to 25%.
- This contrasts with developing countries where Katz found rural Sudanese children roaming freely within the village and outside of it
How is there control over children’s time?
Adults control children’s daily routines e.g. bedtime, dinner time etc, and the speed of which they mature at, whether they are too young or old to do things.
How is there control over children’s bodies?
Adults control their children actions, (sitting, walking) what they wear, hairstyles piercings. It’s taken for granted that they may be touched for washing, feeding etc. While also restricting children from touching their own bodies (picking their nose).
How is there control over children’s access to resources?
- Labour laws and compulsory schooling exclude them from most employment
- State paid child benefit goes only to the parent
- Pocket money given by adults is based on ‘good behaviour’, and there may be restrictions on what it’s spent on
What is the age patriarchy?
Gittins used it to describe inequalities between adults and children. She argues there’s an age patriarchy of adult domination and child dependency and that ‘family’ refers to the power of the male head, over all (women and children)
Give evidence of male domination in the family
- Humphreys and Thiara found around 50 women left their abusing partner in fear of their children’s lives, supporting the view that patriarchy oppresses children and women.
- Supporting Gittins’ view that patriarchy oppresses children and women
What do critics of child liberationism argue?
They argue some control over children is justified as they aren’t rational and so can’t safeguard their interests themselves. And they aren’t fully powerless, e.g. laws establish that children have rights to be protected and consulted
Describe how children resist the status of child
- Hockey and James describe one strategy as ‘acting up’, acting like adults by doing things that children aren’t supposed to do, e.g. swearing, smoking, drinking alcohol.
- ‘Acting down’, behaving in ways expected of younger children, is also a strategy for resisting adult control (‘baby talk’ or insisting on being carried).
- They conclude that modern childhood is a status from which most children want to escape
Outline the new sociology of childhood
This approach doesn’t see children as simply ‘adults in the making’. Instead, it sees children as active agents who play a major part in creating their own childhoods
Outline the child’s point of view in the new sociology
Smart says, the new approach aims to include the views and experiences of children themselves while they are living through childhood.
Describe a study that supports that children are active agents in their own childhoods
Smart et al’s study of divorce found that, children weren’t passive victims, they were actively involved in trying to make the situation better for everyone
Is the new sociology of childhood supported by child liberationists?
It allows children to express their view, and draws attention to the fact children lack power in relation to adults, as its favoured by child liberationists .
