History of Childhood

Question 1

1. medieval times (6-15th century) =

Answer 1

PREFORMATIONISM

Question 2

preformationism

Answer 2

children viewed as being pre-formed and just a smaller sized adult

Question 3

2. reformation (16th century)

Answer 3

scientists came along and encouraged the use of data/science as a basis for reasoned decisions (instead of folklore and myths); there was the idea that children are a product of the original sin

Question 4

3. the enlightenment =

Answer 4

“blank slate”

time when science really started to take hold

Question 5

enlightenment: who?

Answer 5

John Locke
- tabula rasa; passive

Jean Jacques Rousseau
- stages of development; active

Question 6

tabula rasa =

Answer 6

blank slate;
they believed that environment was everything but we now know that children have traits that will be expressed through the environment

Question 7

jean jacques rousseau:

Answer 7

man of the church; horrified about the infant sexual abuse at the time, wrote about protection & need for children to be raised in a safe environment

Question 8

4. Charles Darwin (1809-1882) =

Answer 8

theory of evolution; study of species

– traits that do not help you survive will die off and ones that do will exist

Question 9

5. 19th century europe & N.America

Answer 9

children were being used b/c they could do a lot of industrial work that adults couldnt (little hands)

Question 10

6. industrial revolution

Answer 10

machines took the place of many workers, incl. children, and school took more of a place in their lives

Question 11

7. 20th century: child development

Answer 11

time when they started to look at child development as an area of study (1940s)

• Freud
• term adolescent not coined until 1905

Question 12

8. decade of the brain (1990s)

Answer 12

a lot more imaging technology became available (PET, MRI), (we only had CAT before), this enhanced the study of neurological fxn without harm or risk to the child

Question 13

HISTORICAL INFLUENCES

Answer 13

punishment as parental duty
fear of spoiling child
need to subvert idleness
envrionment/nurture as only influence on development
continued child exploitation/labour

Question 14

–> punishment as parental duty:

Answer 14

parents have the right to punish a child, however, not with hitting/physical violence – we have societal standards
- english speaking countries (as 1st language) all have an individualistic look at childrem (they are a person, no hitting, no opting out of sex ed) - switz, NZ, AUS

Question 15

–> fear of spoiling the child

Answer 15

you dont spoil the child with love, you spoil them with lack of discipline, lack of boundaries

Question 16

–> need to subvert idleness

Answer 16

children thrive on unstructured time not infront of a screen; we have lost this in part due to loss of communities

Question 17

–> environment/nuture as only influence on development

Answer 17

envrionment IS extremely important, but other things also make a difference (ie birth order and temrperament)