Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Families and Households - Childhood (Sociological Theories and Childhood…
Families and Households - Childhood
The Social Construction of Childhood
Childhood:
The phase of development until a person is an adult
Differences between Children in the Same Society:
Gender:
Feminism
Oakley:
gender role socialisation
McRobbie:
girls more protected
Brannen:
Asian girls more strictly controlled than brothers
School experiences
Social Class:
Marxism
Material deprivation
of working class - effects
27%
of children in the UK (2013).
Cultural deprivation
of working class -
Vincent & Ball:
middle class have more enrichment
Wagg:
claimed that childhood is
socially constructed
as there is no single universal childhood. Social construction is when something is created and defined by society.
We can see that childhood is socially constructed through
3 main ways:
Through out History
Across different cultures
Within the same society
Historical differences in Childhood:
Aries:
childhood is a
recent social construction
and in medieval times childhood did not exist. From the age of seven children were
'miniature adults'
(e.g. adult responsibilities, adult style clothes, same punishment for crimes etc.)
Aries linked the development of childhood to
industrialisation
(child labour laws, compulsory education etc.)
However,
Pollock
criticised Aries, saying it is more correct that
childhood has simply
changed
as opposed to non-existent
Cross-Cultural Differences in Childhood:
We can see childhood is socially constructed as
different childhoods exist over different cultures
, (e.g. in west childhood is prolonged whereas in developing countries childhood is often cut short).
1 in 7
children in the world work
215 million
children aged 5-17 are involved in child labour
Punch:
Once children are 5 in Bolivia they are expected to take on work responsibilities
UNICEF:
1 in 10 girls around the world experience serious sexual violence
The Position of Children
Palmer
created the term
Toxic Childhood
to describe how
technological and cultural changes
in the past 25 years have
damaged children
. (e.g. attention is poorer, increase in learning difficulties e.g. ADHD & Dyslexia)
62%
of 11 year olds &
71%
of 13 year olds spend
more than 2 hours
a day watching TV at the weekend
However, in
Switzerland
the figure is
under 35%
for both of these groups
Palmer
suggests that children are exposed to and aware of adult problems due to the
media
While
Womack
claims that British children are the
unhappiest
in the west,
The Personal Lives Perspective
argues that you
cannot generalise
childhood as each child will have a
different experience
Childhood and Contemporary Britain
A Child Centred Society:
Child centred
refers to
the needs and interests of children being prioritised
Butter et al:
has an influence on family decisions
Nelson:
Parents over protecting their children -
Helicopter Parents
Minister for children
introduced in 2003
Media Effects and Consumerism:
Phillips
noted that the media is now
more influential on children
as an agent of
socialisation
than parents are
Williams
stated that the media has helped with the transition from children being producers to children being consumers
We are in an era of
Consumer Kids
and
Pester Power
The approximate cost to raise a child to 21 is
£230,000
Children desire branded products to fit in and because they have been widely advertised
Evans & Chandler
- parents buy children products to display affection
The Disappearance of Childhood:
Postmodernist
Postman
argued that the distinction between adults and children
is disappearing
at a dazzling speed
Palmer
- electronic babysitters
Postman
blames the
media
for the
blurred lines between childhood and adulthood
as it has destroyed the information hierarchy - 'everything is for everybody'.
However,
Postman
has been criticised for
lack of evidence
, while there is evidence for distinctions between childhood and adulthood e.g. no child labour
Sociological Theories and Childhood
March of Progress theories:
Aries:
children were miniature adults
Piltcher:
childhood is the 'golden age'
Childhood is getting better over time
We are living in a
child centred society
Feminism:
Children are treated and raised
differently due to their gender
- especially in other cultures
Oakley:
Gender Role Socialisation
Children are controlled - especially girls
Marxism:
Working class children are not benefiting from society due to
material deprivation
and
cultural deprivation
etc.
Postmodernism:
'Everything is for everyone' - due to increase in
media
Disappearance
of childhood
Western ideas
on childhood are being
globalised
The Personal Lives Perspective:
Childhood
cannot be generalised
as each child has a
different experience