Family : Changes in Childhood - Aries

• Aries

  Aries (1960) explains how childhood emerged as a social construct from around the seventeenth century. Aries argues that during the Middle Ages, children were simply expected to act in adult ways and were exposed to adult information. The pictures show that children were given adult responsibilities and clothing. He argues that childhood as we know it in contemporary society is neither inevitable nor natural.
• Aries

  Aries claims that a key factor in the painting was the decline in infant mortality, which meant that parents wished to invest more energy into their children and, as a result, childhood became a more valued experience. Aries argues that at the same time as childhood emerged, the nuclear family took form.
• Aries

  (1975): The 20th century has become the ‘Age of the child’:

  families, and society in general have become child-centered. The position of children has vastly improved since the middle ages.
• Aries

  Position of Children improved since Middle Ages;

  -changes in law

  -media and moral panics

  -compulsory education

  -smaller families

  -increased affluence

  -welfare state

  -consumerism

  -paediatrics

  -decrease in infant mortality rate

  -increase in divorce rate