childhood

• What is the modern Western notion of childhood?

  • Generally accepted in our society childhood is a special & separate time of life distinct from adulthood
  • Considered physically & psychologically immature
  • Need a lengthy period of protection & nurturing & socialisation
• What did Pilcher (1955) say about childhood?


  Most important feature of modern childhood is separateness, childhood is a clear & distinct life stage & children occupy separate status from adults
• How is the separateness of childhood seen in society today?

  Separateness emphasised through laws, dress, products & services specifically for children
• What is meant by the ‘golden age of childhood’?

  • idea of on age of happiness and innocence
  • innocence means children are seen as vulnerable and in need of protection from the adult world
  • children live largely in the sphere of family and education where adults provide for them and protect them from the outside world
• What did Wagg (1992) say about childhood?


  No single universal experience of childhood, childhood isn’t natural & should be distinguished from biological immaturity All humans go through the same stages of physical development but different cultures construct or define this process differently
• What did Benedict (1934) say about how children are treated in non-industrial society?

  1. Take responsibility at an early age
  2. Less value is placed on children showing adult authority obedience
  3. Children’s sexual behaviour is often viewed differently
  4. Less dividing line between child & adult behaviour
• How has globalisation affected ideas about childhood?

  Western notions of childhood have been globalised

  International humanitarian & welfare agencies have imposed western notions of how children should be treated

  Separate life stage, based in nuclear family & school

  Innocent, dependent, vulnerable & no economic role

  Campaigns against child labour reflect western views about what childhood should be
• What historical differences in childhood did Aries (1960) identify?

  Middle Ages idea of childhood did not exist, children not seen as having a different nature to adults once they had passed through infancy

  Worked from an early age as ‘mini-adults’ with same duties, rights & skills as adults

  Law made no distinction between children & adults
• What historical difference did Shorter (1975) identify?


  High death rates encouraged indifference & neglect of infants

  Not uncommon to call child ‘it’, give it the name of a dead sibling or forget how many children they had
• What is meant by the ‘modern cult of childhood’?

  Moved to an era obsessed with childhood
• How did Pollock (1983) criticise Aries?


  Criticises Aries for suggesting that childhood did not exist in the past, more correct to say Middle Ages simply had different notion of childhood
• What is an example of child protection & welfare legislation?

  1889 Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act & 1989 Children Act
• How has compulsory schooling affected childhood?

  Extended dependency
• What is the name of the legislation that protects the rights of children?


  United Nations Convention on the Right’s of the Child (1989) emphasizes rights to healthcare, education, protection from abuse, right to participate in decisions affecting them
• How has compulsory schooling affected childhood?

  Extended dependency
• What is the name of the legislation that protects the rights of children?


  United Nations Convention on the Right’s of the Child (1989) emphasises rights to healthcare, education, protection from abuse, right to participate in decisions affecting them
• How have demographic changes affected childhood?

  Declining family size & infant mortality rate – fewer children but with greater financial & emotional investment
• What did Postman (1994) say about how childhood is changing?

  • Childhood is ‘disappearing at a dazzling speed’
  • Trend towards giving children same rights as adults, disappearance of traditional unsupervised games, similarity in clothing, cases of children committing adult crimes
  • Caused by replacement of print culture with television culture
  • In Middle Ages most were illiterate & speech was only skill needed for participation in the adult world – so children were able to enter the adult world at an early age
• How has changes in the information hierarchy affected childhood?

  • Printed word created an information hierarchy
  • Gave adults power to keep knowledge about sex, money, violence, illness, death & other ‘adult’ matters a secret from children – allowed childhood to become time of innocence
  • TV blurs distinction by destroying information hierarchy
  • TV does not require special skills to access it making it equally available to children & adults
  • Boundary between childhood & adulthood breaks down, adult authority reduces & innocence of childhood is lost
• Why does Opie (1993) argue that childhood is not disappearing?

  • Studied children’s unsupervised games, rhymes & songs
  • Strong evidence of continued existence of separate children culture over the years
• What is the march of progress view?

  Position of children has steadily been improving & today is better than it has been
• How does De Mause (1974) support the march of progress view?


  Further back in history the lower the childcare & more likely children are to be abused & killed
• How has the family become more child centred?

  Family has become child centred – focal point of family & consulted on many decisions

  Parents invest both emotionally and financially, having high aspirations for them
• What is the average cost to raise a child to their 21st birthday?


  £227,000
• What does Palmer mean by the term toxic childhood?

  • Rapid technological & cultural changes have damaged children’s physical, emotional & intellectual development
  • Includes junk food, computer games, marketing at children, long parental working hours, testing in education
  • Concerns about health & behaviour of young people – UK has above average rates of obesity, self-harm, drug & alcohol abuse
• How does the conflict view criticise the march of progress view?

  • Inequalities among children in terms of the opportunities & risks they face – many today remain unprotected & badly cared for
  • Inequalities between children & adults are greater than ever – children experience greater control, oppression & dependency (not greater care & protection)
• Hilman?

  
  

  Boys more likely to be allowed to cross or cycle on the roads, use buses & go out after dark
• What ethnic differences affect the experience of childhood?

  • Brannen (1994) – Asian parents more likely to be strict towards daughters
  • Bhatti (1999) – ideas of family honour (izzat) restrict the behaviour of girls
• What class differences affect the experience of childhood?

  • Poor mothers more likely to have low birth weight babies – linked to delayed physical & intellectual development
  • Children of unskilled manual workers:
  • 3x more likely to suffer from hyperactivity
  • 4x more likely to suffer conduct disorders than children of professionals
  • Children born into poor families more likely to die in infancy, suffer longstanding illness, be short, fall behind at school & be placed on child protection register
• What did Firestone (1979) & Holt (1974) say about the inequalities in childhood?

  • Many things that march of progress writers see as care & protection are just new forms of oppression & control
  • Protection from paid work is not beneficial to children but a form of inequality that segregates children keeping them dependent & powerless
• What is child liberationism?

  Children need to be freed from adult control
• What are the forms of adult control over children?

  • Neglect,
  • abuse,
  • control over space,
  • time,
  • bodies,
  • access to resource
• What has happened to the ‘home habitat’ in the last 25 years?

  • Cunnigham (2007) – ‘home habitat’ (area allowed to travel alone) for 8 year olds have shrunk to 1/9th size it was 25 years ago
• What is age patriarchy?

  • Gittins (1998) – uses ‘age patriarchy’ to describe inequalities between adults & children
  • Adult domination & child dependency
• How do children react to age patriarchy according to Hockey & James (1993)?

  • One strategy is ‘acting up’ – acting like adults by doing things that children are not supposed to do (swearing, smoking, drinking etc) or exaggerate their age (‘nearly 9’) |
  • ‘Acting down’ – behaving in younger child like way is another strategy for resisting adult control (‘baby talk’ or insisting on being carried)
• What criticism does Mayall (2004) make of the childhood research?

  • Risks only having an ‘adultist’ viewpoint
  • Children are seen as socialisation projects for adults to mould, shape & develop – only focus on what will become in the future
• What is the ‘new sociology of childhood’?

  Sees children as active agents who play a major part in making their own childhood
• What did Smart (2011) say about the ‘new sociology of childhood’?

  New approach aims to include the views & experiences of children themselves while they are living through childhood
• What did Mason & Tipper (2008) say about children’s perceptions of family?


  Children actively create their own definitions of who is ‘family’ – not necessarily related but close bonds
• What research method does the ‘new sociology of childhood’ use?

  Use informal structured interviews which empower children to express their own views & allow researcher to see point of view of child