Functionalists

• What argument does Shorter make?

  'March of progress'
• What is the 'March of progress'

  Society has a functional need for better-educated citizens and lower infant mortality rates. So school leaving ages have gone up and child protection has improved meaning that the current position of children is the result of positive progression from the past
• What has the status of children in society changed too?

  To a more child focused society
• What did Donzelot suggest about the status of children?

  Theories of child development changed in the 19th century - they began to argue that children needed to be protected and supervised. He linked this to growing medical interests in childhood development
• What has happened to the rates of Infant mortality since the early 20th century?

  It has dramatically decreased
• What are some statistics for the decrease of infant mortality rate?

  In 1901 just over 150 children aged under 1 died per 1000 children, But in 2012, this rate was down to 3.9 deaths per 1000.
• What are some reasons to the decrease in infant mortality rate?

  • Families are getting smaller - families are having fewer children on average so fewer children die in infancy
  • More attention is devoted to each child and more money is spent on their development, both within the family and in wider society
• How does the decrease in infant mortality rate link to the 'march of progress view'

  Due to the fact the 'march of progress' suggests that families are increasingly child-focused as parents want a better life for their children than they have had so inevitably leading to a decrease in infant mortality