Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Childhood (Cross - cultural differences (Ruth Benedict children from…
Childhood
Historical differences of childhood
Philipe Aries
'the idea of childhood did not exist.'Children were not seen as different 'nature' from adult. Soon after being weaned, they entered wider society much like adults. Children were
'mini-adults'
.
Paintings showed children and adults wearing similar clothing and working and playing together.
Edward Shorter
high death rates encouraged indifference and neglect towards infants.
not uncommon for children to be named after dead relatives.
babies were sometime referred to as 'it'.
parents would forget how many children they had.
Cross - cultural differences
Ruth Benedict
children from simpler and non - industrial societies were generally treated differently to those in modern western counterparts.
Children's sexual behaviour is often viewed differently
Bronislaw Malinowski
(Trobiand Islanders of the South west Pacific) adults took and attitude of 'tolerance and amused interest' into the child's sexual exploration and activities.
Less value on the children showing obedience to adult authority
Raymond Firth
(Tikopia of the western Pacific) doing what you are told by a grown - up was the child's choice and is not expected by adults.
They take responsibility at an early age
Samantha Punch
(rural Bolivia) children were expected to take responsibility at the age of 5.
Lowell Holmes
(Samoan village) children were never 'too young' to do a task. If the child thought they could do it, the parents didn't interfere.
Such evidence highlights that the idea of childhood is a socially constructed idea and therefore differs in different cultures.
Modern notion of Childhood
Jane Pilcher
the main feature of childhood is
seperateness
.
Their are many difference between children and adults. (Dressing, products, services, etc.)
Stephen Wagg
describes childhood as:
...socially constructed. There is no single universal childhood... childhood is not 'natural' and should be distinguished from mere biological immaturity.
Reasons for change in the position of children
Laws restricting child labour and excluding children from paid work.
Children have gone from being
economic assets
where they earned money, to
economic liabilities
, who are financially dependent on their parents.
Introduction of compulsory schooling
By raising the school - leaving age, children become more economically dependent on their parents.
Declining family size and lower infant mortality rates
Jacques Donzelot
observed that theories of child development stressed hat children need supervision and protection.
Laws and policies applying to children specifically
age restrictions on many activities (sex to smoking). Enforces the idea that children are different to adults therefore they need different rules.