A Level Sociology Family - Childhood

• Furedi (2001)

  Childhood today is blighted by paranoid parentingToo much blame is put at the door of parents so parents are constantly worried and doing things wrongThis is fed by a media diet of reports and programmes such as SupernannyIn response parents wrap their children in cotton wool so the experience of childhood is diminished
• Child Liberationists

  See the need to free children from adult control. This adult control takes a number of forms:Neglect and Abuse (The Dark Side)Control over space / Bodies / Time
• Gittins (1998)


  uses the term age patriarchy- to describe inequalities between adults and children (adult domination and child dependency)
• Mayer Hillman (1993) Feminist


  Boys are more likely to be allowed to cross or cycle on roads, use buses, and go out after dark unaccompaniedGirls do more domestic labour- in lone parent households they do 5 times more than boys. This could be due to socialisation.
• McRobbie and Garber (Feminist)

  Boys and girls develop a different youth culture. Boys being out and about and girls being at home (bedroom culture).
• Bonke (1999) Feminist


  More expectations on girls to perform housework + domestic chores.
• Howard (2001)


  Children who live in poverty are likely to have a poor diet, poor housing and therefore various health conditions. There are also higher incidences of both abuse and neglect for children from families of the lowest incomes.
• Womack (2007)


  Childhood is toxic and disappearing for poor children. The minority of children who grow up in poverty have miserable and desperate lives
• Marxism

  There are important class differences between children:Poor mothers are more likely to have low birth-weight babies which may delay physical and intellectual development
• Woodroffe (Marxist)

  Children from manual backgrounds are more likely to be hyperactive and suffer long-standing illnesses than children of professionals.
• Brannen (1994)


  Study of 15-16 year olds found that Asian parents were more likely than other parents to be strict towards their daughters.
• Postman (1994) - Disappearance of childhood


  Points to children's rights the same as adults, disappearance of traditional unsupervised games, similarity between adult and child's clothing and adult crime committed by children such as murder. Points to the rise of television culture rather than print culture as a root cause. The written word and the ability to read it created a natural division between children and adults. It gave adults the power to keep things secret e.g. sex & violence. Television has destroyed that adult power and authority as it is so easy to access.
• Opie (1993)


  Conducted research into games, rhymes & song in childhood.Found that there is still the existence of a separate children's culture.Studies show that children can and do create their own independent culture.
• Punch :

  • Rural Bolivia - once children 5yrs old expected to take work responsibilities in home + community
  • Tasks are taken on without question/hesitation
• Holmes (1974):

  • Samoa
  • Parents allow children to make work decisions
  • Eg - handle dangerous tools
  • Carry heavy loads
• Firth (1970)

  • Western Pacific
  • Tikopia people
  • Children do as they're told
  • Adult=power
• Malinowski (1957):

  • South West pacific
  • Trobriand islanders
  • Attitude of tolerance
  • Amused by children's sexual explorations + activities
• Aries (1960):

  • Studied paintings + drawings
  • Medieval times = no childhood
  • Expectation = physically able = work
• Aries + Shorter (functionalist) :

  • March of progress view
  • Children today = more valued, cared for, better healthcare, Education, protected + more rights
  • Than previous generations
  • = child centred society
• Philips (New Right) :

  • Children today = too privileged, protected + furnished with rights
  • Lack discipline, feral, youth + gang culture
  • Influenced by media + peers
  • Not sufficiently controlled by parents
• Palmer (2007):

  • Contemporary society = toxic childhood
  • Eg - obese due to not playing outside
  • Exploited by advertisers into false needs
  • Eg - high levels of anxiety in schools = limited human interaction
  • = too much screen time