'Childhood is a social construction rather than a natural or biological phenomenon'

What is P1?

Historical and cross cultural evidence demonstrates that childhood is a variable social category

What is P2?

The globalisation of Western childhood norms coexist with persistent inequality in children’s actual experience across CAGE

What is P3?

Biological perspectives argues that childhood naturally occurs on the basis in cognitive and physical immaturity

What is P1 evaluation?

The cultural content and boundaries of childhood are clearly socially variable, there are biological dimensions of childhood.

What is P2 evaluation?

The tension between universal and relative constructions of childhood is not easily resolved.

What is P3 evaluation?

Accepting a biological substrate, the statement in the question fundamentally misunderstands what social construction means.

Who are the thinkers/examples of P1?

• Aries

• Mead

• Legal definition of childhood

• Hockey and James

• Postman

Who are the thinkers/examples of P1 evaluation?

• Jenks

Who are the thinkers/examples of P2?

• UN convention of the rights of the child

• UNICEF data

• Woodhead

• ILO 2021 report

• Palmer

Who are the thinkers/examples of P2 evaluation?

• Heywood

• James and Prout

Who are the thinkers/examples of P3?

• Piaget

• Bowlby

• Pollock

Who are the thinkers/examples of P3 evaluation?

• Hockey and James

• Nieuwenhuys and Qvortrup

What did Aries argue in P1?

In centuries of childhood argues that in medieval Europe, childhood as a recongnised social category did not exist: Children were treated as small adults, depicted in artwork wearing adult clothing, working alongside adults etc.

What did Mead argue in P1?

Research in Samoa found that the emotional and social experiences associated with Western adolescencer were largely absent.

What does the legal definition of childhood show?

The age of consent, minimum working age, and criminal responsibility all vary dramatically across societies.

What did Hockey and James argue in P1?

Social constructionism reveals how childhood is not merely described but actively produced through institutional practices - schools, welfare agencies, legal systems and media simultaneiusly construct and regulate what it means to be a child.

What did Postman argue in P1?

Arguuing that childhood as a protected category was constituted by the emergennce of print literacy - which created an information boundary between the adult literate world and preliterate child.

What did Jenks argue in P1 evaluation?

Social constructionism pushed to its logical extreme, can inadvertnalty undermine the special protections children require by treating their vulnerability as merely cultural.

What did the UNCRC do in P2?

Represents the Western liberal model of childhood globally - enshrining childrens rights to education, play, protection from labour etc.

What does UNICEF data in P2 show?

160 milion children globally are engaged in child labour, with the highest concentration in sub-sahran afica and south asia.

What does Woodhead argue in P2?

Argues that the Western norm of childhood as a schooling phase funded by adult labour is historically and culturally specific, relfecting the economic conditions of advanced industrial socities.

What did the ILO 2021 report show in P2?

Child labour increased for the first time in twenty years during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What did Palmer argue in P2?

Concept of toxic childhood argues that even in affluent Western socities, the quality of childhood experience is deteriorating despite protective ideologies.

What did Heywood argue in P2 evaluation?

Argues that the sociology of childhood must avoid both cultural relativism - which can be used to justify harmful practices by presenting them as a culturally specific.

What did James and Prout argue in P2 evaluation?

New paradigm for childhood studies attempts to navigate this by treating children as competent social actors whose perspectives must be actively solicited rather than assumed.

What did Piaget argue in P3?

Theory of cognitive development identifies universal biologically driven stages (sensorimotor, pre operational, concrete operational, formal operational) that occur in a fixed sequence regardless of culture

What did Bowlby argue in P3?

Attachment theory argues that children have a biologically based need for a primary caregiver in infancy, and that deprivation of this bond produces universal psychological harm.

What did Pollock argue in P3?

Arguing through analysis of diaries and court records that parents across history have always shown emotional investment in and concern for childrens vulenariblity - suggesting that some universal recognition of childrens biological dependency exists.

What did Hockey and James argue in P3 evaluation?

The social construction does not deny biology - it argues that the meaning, experience and organisation of childhood is shaped by society, not determined by biology alone.