Karteikarten
Family, Topic 2: Childhood
Karten in diesem Stapel (17)
- 1Pilcher: Modern Western notion of childhood.Childhood is a "special time of life"
Notion of "separateness" - clear difference between children and adults, children occupy a separate status.
Laws regulate what children can/cannot do.
Defined as vulnerable people/unable to defend themselves. - 2Cross-cultural differences in childhood: how childhood is different in non-Western countries.-They take responsibility at an early age: e.g children occupying work roles at ages below 10.
-Less value placed on obedience to adult authority: obedience isn't a right the adult can expect.
-Children's sexual behaviour is often viewed differently: Malinowski found that adults take an attitude of "tolerance and amused interest." - 3Globalisation of Western Childhood.Western notions of childhood are becoming globalised.
International humanitarianism and welfare campaigns have imposed the Western notion of an ideal childhood into other countries
They attempt to define it as a separate life stage, and tell others how childhood "ought" to be. - 4Historical differences in childhoodAries - In the Middle Ages, the idea of childhood as a separate life stage did not exist.
Soon after weaning the child entered society on similar terms as an adult - seen in effect as a "mini adult."
Law often made no distinction between adult and child.
High death rates of children encouraged attitudes of indifference from adults towards their children. - 5Aries: emergence of a "modern cult of childhood."Notion of a childhood began to emerge from the 13th century onwards.
Schools: began to specialise in education of the young.
Clothing: growing distinction between clothes for adults and children, e.g by the 17th century an upper-class boy would have an outfit reserved for his age group.
Handbooks on childrearing became available later on.
Aries - modern cult of childhood. This is evidence that we have moved from a society that didn't care about childhood, to one that is obsessed with it. - 6Reasons for changes in the position of children-Laws restricting child labour/excluding children from paid work.
-Compulsory schooling: has extended the period of dependency.
-Child protection and welfare legislation: e.g 1889 Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act.
-Growth of the idea of children's rights: e.g protection from abuse.
-Declining family size/lower infant mortality: Parents make greater financial and emotional investment in the children they do have.
-Laws and policies applying specifically to children: e.g preventing them from drinking. - 7Postman: the disappearance of childhood.Trend towards giving children the same rights as adults.
Disappearance of traditional children's games etc, and the growing similarity of how adults and children dress.
"Information hierarchy" kept children and adults separate - where adults could read and write, they could keep information separate from children.
However, the television has destroyed this - it doesn't require special skills to access information and therefore children are exposed to what they previously would have been protected from. - 8Childhood in postmodernity.Is not disappearing, but changing.
In postmodern society, the pace of change has sped up and these relationships become more unstable - generating feelings of insecurity.
Adults become fearful for their children's security and feel the need to protect them from the perceived dangers of this instability, e.g child abuse.
Further strengthens the idea that children are vulnerable leading to greater regulation of children's lives. - 9Has the position of children improved? March of progress view.Children today are protected through laws that they would not previously have been protected through
They are better cared for, protected, educated and have better health and rights.
They have a better chance of survival due to medical improvements and increased knowledge about child development.
Child centredness - Children are the focal point of the family. - 10What is child-centrednessMarch of progress concept.
Children are now the focal point of the family, no longer to be "seen and not heard."
Parents invest in them emotionally and financially. - 11Palmer: toxic childhood.Rapid technological and cultural changes are damaging to children.
e.g - junk food, computer games and the growing emphasis on testing in education.
UK youth have above average rates for problems such as obesity. - 12Has the position of children improved? Conflict viewMarch of progress view ignores two things:
-Inequalities among children in terms of opportunities and risks they face.
-Inequality between children and adults is greater than ever. - 13Inequalities among children: Conflict view.Not all children share the same status or experiences.
e.g - depending on which country they are born in.
Gender differences: socialisation of children is unequal, boys may be given greater freedoms than girls. e.g Bonke - girls do more domestic labour than boys.
Class differences - children from poor families more likely to have longstanding illnesses, fall behind at school etc.
We cannot speak of "children" as one unified group. - 14Inequalities between children and adults: Conflict view.Is the position of adults care and protection, or power and control?
Adult control over children can result in cases of neglect/abuse.
Children also have controls over their space, time, bodies and access to resources.
Space: Shops displaying signs such as "no schoolchildren", told to play in some areas and forbidden from accessing others.
Time: Daily routines. They are told when to get up, when to go to lessons and when to sleep.
Bodies: How children dress, whether they can wear makeup or jewellery, instructed not to do things such as suck their thumbs or pick their nose.
Access to resources: Pocket money controlled by parents, child benefit given to parents, labour laws excluding them from earning their own money. - 15Gittins : Age patriarchy.Describes inequalities between adults and children in a similar way to how feminists use the concept of patriarchy.
Adult dominance and child dependency.
Children may try to resist the status of childhood by "acting up" - behaviours trying to mimic being an adult, such as smoking - many also exaggerate their age. e.g - I'm nearly 11.
"Acting down" - behaving in a way expected of a younger child. e.g reverting to baby talk. - 16Criticisms of child liberationist view.Adult dominance is necessary.
Children are incapable of making these decisions by themselves and therefore need someone to make them
Adults are capable of giving them protection.
Children are not poweless - laws giving them protection exist. - 17New sociology of childhood.Children are not adults in the making - they are active agents who create their own childhoods.
Aim to include experiences of children that children themselves give.
Researchers use informal methods to empower children to give their point of view so we can see their side.
Diversity of childhoods - e.g disabled, adopted, poor, ethnic minority, girls, boys and so on.
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- Karteikarten am Family, Topic 2: Childhood, erstellt von Chloe Adams am 12/06/2017.
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- Chloe Adams
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