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Childhood (Sociological theories and childhood (Feminism (Children are…
Childhood
Sociological theories and childhood
Feminism
Children are controlled, especially girls
Age patriarchy
Oakley - gender role socialisation
March of progress
Happier, safer and more valued
Aries
- Position of children has changed and improved over time
Marxism
Vincent & Ball
- middle class have more enrichment and do more leisure activities
Lower class have material and cultural deprivation and less opportunities
Postmodernism
Postman
- we have a disappearing childhood
Media - western ideas have been globalised
The Personal Lives Perspective
Childhood is different for each child
Cant generalise childhoof
Has the position improved
Palmer (2006)
'toxic childhood' - technological and cultural changes in the past 25 years have damaged children
However children now face more pressure for academic achievement, increase of 'cash rich, time poor' parents, less freedom, more mental health issues, and exposure to drugs, sex and alcohol.
More opportunities, better living conditions, awareness of child abuse, social policy, and better health etc.
'March of progress' view
Childhood in contemporary Britain
A child-centred family and society
Welfare support and Minister of Children
Focus on 'good parenting'
Butler et al (2005)
- influence on family decisions
Short working week and smaller families
More leisure services for children
Higher living standards
Compulsory education
Nelson (2010)
- 'helicopter parents'
Child consumer market
Paediatrics
Media Effects and Consumerism
Phillips (1997)
- media is now more influential on children as an agent of socialisation than parents are
Williams (1990)
- media has helped with the transition from children being producers to children being consumers
In an era of 'consumer kids' and 'pester power'
Childrens market is worth £20 million a year in the UK
Childrens market is worth $1.88 trillion a year worldwide
Pugh (2002)
- consumption as compensation
Evans & Chandler (2006)
- buying and receiving of goods as a way to measure love
The disappearance of childhood
Postman (1994)
- there is a disappearance of childhood and the distinction between adults and children is 'disappearing at a dazzling speed'.
Postman blames the media for the blurred lines between childhood and adulthood as it destroyed the information hierarchy.
He also believes that "everything is for everybody"
Criticisms
Laws the sepsaate what children can do
Have to be in education until 18
Not allowed into a pub after 9
Helicopter parents
Minimum wage
Jenks (2005) - childhood is simply changing, exposed to more but parents are more protective
The social construction of childhood
Wagg (1992)
- 'childhood is socially constructed...as there is no single universal childhoof'
Childhood is socially constructed in three ways
Historical differnece
Aries (1962)
'miniature adults' - childhood is a recent social construction and in medieval times, childhood did not exist as a separate status
Aries (1962
) 'century of the child' - the 20th century has seen a move from a world that did not see childhood as special, to a world that is obsessed with children
Pollack (1983
) - criticised Aries for using limited set of sources and she argues its more correct to say that childhood was simply different as opposed to non-existent.
Cross-cultural differences
Facts
Buy tobacco at 15 in Bangladesh and 21 in Kuwait
Legally have sex at 20 in Tunisia, and 12 in Mexico
Get married without consent at 21 in Hong Kong, and no law is in place in Saudi Arabia
Studies
The International Labour Organisation - 2 in 7 children work, 215 million children aged 5-17 are involved in child labour, and 126 million children work in hazardous conditions
Punch (2001)
- Once children are 5 in Bolvia, they are expected to take on work responsibilities in the home and community
Child Soldiers International (2008)
- child soldiers were involved in active conflicts in 21 countries between 2004 and 2007
UNICEF (2014)
- 2 in 10 girls around the world experience sexual violence and there are around 95,000 child murders each year.
Malinowski (1957)
- studied Trobriard islanders and children are having sex at a very young age
Within the same society
Gender
Oakley (1985)
- gender role socialisation
McRobbie (2000)
- Girls are protected more
Brannen (1996)
- Asian girls are more strictly controlled than their brothers
School experiences e.g same sex or mixed schools
Social Class
Material deprivation of the WC
2013 - 27% of children living in poverty in UK
Cultural deprivation
Vincent & Ball (2007)
- middle class more enrichment and leisure activities