Childhood

• Cross-cultural differences in childhood

  • Children in rural Bolivia expected to take work responsibilities without question from age 5
  • Among the Tikopia, doing as told by an adult is not a right to be expected by the adult (obedience)
  • Samoan adults tolerant and amused by children's sexual explorations
  • In Samoan village, 'too young' never given as reason for not permitting a child to undertake a task
• Information hierarchy


  • Sharp division between adults who can read and children who cannot
  • Gave adults power to keep knowledge about sex, money, violence, illness, death and other adult matters a secret from children
  • TV blurs the distinction between adults and children by destroying the information hierarchy (innocence of childhood replaced by knowledge)
• Killers of James Bulger


  • Bad upbringing
  • Exposed to seeing pornography and violence
  • Had knowledge of adult matters, so adult and child boundary broken
• Views on whether the position of childhood has improved


  • New Right blames single mothers, sees things as too liberal, fears cohabitation
  • March of Progress view (Aries and Shorter) - children now more valued, better cared for, protected and educated, enjoy better healthcare and have more rights, family is now more child-centred
  • Criticism of March of Progress (Firestone) - many things seen as care and protection are new forms of oppression and control
• Age patriarchy


  • Adult domination that keeps children subordinate (controlling what they can and can't do)
• New Sociology of Childhood


  Views childhood as constructed by social processes, but sees children as active agents who play a part in creating their own childhoods (not just passive objects)
• Is childhood a social construction?

  • No - Pilcher - seperateness - childhood is a clear and distinct life stage refelected in laws and dress and products they have not reach physical maturity or psychological
  • No - James and Prout - they are simple and moral while complex and moral. One sees the worled in black and white and only really concerned with themselves while the other sees shades of grey looking at multiple viewpoint and developed a moral compass
• is childhood a social construct

  • yes - Benedict - childhood varies from culture to culture
  • yes - Aries - childhood has changed over time and what we now consider to be childhood is a modern construction
  • evidence - pre industrial era - children were considered min adults. industrial era - children still worked but saw development of child protection laws at this time. modern era - children seperate culture including laws games and clothing
• march of progress view

  • legal - work restriction, compulsory education, safeguarding in school
  • children and families social service
  • child centeredness - quality over quantity
• conflict view

  • gender - hillman - have different experiences of childhood due to gender role socialisation boys have been given more freedom than girls
  • ethnicity - brannen -Asian families are much stricter and held tighter on their daughter and found the idea of Izzat family honor
• child liberationist view

  ways children are controlled by adults - bodies, routine, movements and resources
• the future of childhood

  • disapearing childhood thesis - Postman - is dissapering to the collapse of the information Hierachy such as growth of technology however OPIE said childhood is not disapearing but changing still evidence of childhood like rhymes and games.
  • universal childhood - West - western notion of childhood is spreading around the world such like globalized tv and media and campaigns for universal education
• the future of childhood— toxic

  toxic childhood - Sue palmer -childhood damaging physical psychological and emotional health of young people SUCH AS increased adhd and mental health problems unicef survey rank uk 16th out of 29th for children well being. THIS IS BECAUSE unhealthy food, poor sleep patterns and decline in emotional security HOWEVER this views are ethnocentric only looks at western ideas of childhood and cannont be applied to many developing nations