Childhood as a social construct - variation by culture

Benedict (1934) - cross-cultural differences in childhood

• Western ideas of childhood are very idealistic

  • Children don’t work, are protected and dependent on their parents

  • The Church views children as innocent and to be protected

• In other cultures, children are an economic asset to their family.

Punch - Bolivia

• 5 year olds in Bolivia have more responsibility both in the home and wider community

Firth - Tikopia

• In Tikopia, less value placed on children being obedient to adult authority

• Doing as told is a concession granted by the child not an expectation from the adult

Malinowski - the SW Pacific

• In the south-west Pacific, children’s sexual exploration is tolerated by, and amusing to, adults

Townsend et al (2003) - proportion of world’s children that live in absolute poverty, or in a dwelling with more than five people per room or mud flooring

1/3

Townsend et al (2003) - number of children aged 7-18 who have never been to school

134m

Townsend et al (2003) - number of children who have access to unsafe water sources or more than a 15 minute walk to a water source

375m

Townsend et al (2003) - children in LICs - higher infection risk

• Children in LICs have a higher risk of infections diseases such as typhoid and malaria due to lack of

  • Clean water

  • Waste disposal

  • Immunisation

Townsend et al (2003) - fraction of children that die before their 5th birthday

1/5

Townsend et al (2003) - number of malaria-related deaths/day, prop of these that are children

• 3,000

• 3/4

2005-22 - number of children globally documented as being recruited for conflict

105,000

Child soldiers - Sudan

• Very young population

• 50% of the population (14 million of which are children) are in need of humanitarian aid

  • They are therefore vulnerable, displaced and easy to recruit into the army

% of Sudan’s population in need of humanitarian aid and number of these who are children

• 50%

• 14m children

Since 2016 - number of children documented by the UN as being used as soldiers in non-state armed groups

21,000

Impacts of fighting on child soldiers

• Children who fight are physically and mentally scarred, as well as missing out on years of education and kinship ties

  • This affects their economic prospects (esp. lack of education) as once they leave the army they have nowhere else to go

Child soldiers in DRC

• Child soldiers used as human shields in DRC

  • Vulnerability and innocence not recognised

  • Childhood not seen as an age of innocence and protected as it is elsewhere

Child labour laws - India

• Proactively taking steps to further protect and regulate child labour

  • Made illegal to employ a child under the age of 14

    • Only applies to a restricted number of occupations (18) and processes (65)

  • Employment of children enforced by state governments/ministries

International Labour Organisation (2005-12) - number of child labourers across S.Asia, number of these that were aged 5-14

• 16.7m

• 10.3m

UNICEF - number of Bangladehi 5-11y/os in the garment industry

160m

Top 4 countries for child (5-17y/o) labour w/numbers

1. India, 5.8m

2. Bangladesh, 5m

3. Pakistan, 3.4m

4. Nepal, 2m

Children on the street v children of the street

• Children on the street

  • “Home-based” children who spend much of the day on the street but have some family support and usually return home at night

• Children of the street

  • “Street-based” children who spend most days and nights on the street and are functionally without family support 

Schlaefer (2005) - poor children in Quito

• Sell fruit, newspapers or chewing gum to middle-class motorists. 

• Also hang around in the urban centres; some are gang members involved in petty crime and violence; others work, for example shining shoes. 

• Some, particularly those literally homeless and lacking support from families or aid agencies, are involved in the sex industry

S.American countries and street children

• All S.American countries have street children

• Except Cuba, all its children are housed, even though it’s v. poor (much poorer than a lot of S.American countries)

  • This is likely because Cuba is an authoritarian socialist state

Huang et al. (2004) - % of Bolivian abandoned children that reported alcohol abuse

58%

Huang et al. (2004) - % of Bolivian abandoned children that reported glue-sniffing

40%

Huang et al. (2004) - % of Bolivian abandoned children that reported paint thinner abuse

88%

Schlaefer (2005) - % of homeless children that reported cocaine abuse

98%

Schlaefer (2005) - % of homeless children that reported solvent abuse

98%

Ramírez et al. (2011) - % of street-connected children that met criteria for substance dependence

58%

Street children’s problems

• More prone to several physical problems

  • Most research has focused on adverse effects of sexual activity and drug misuse  

Legislative changes

• Have helped, in combination with street children’s movement

  • Street children still suffer violence and HR abuses