CHST 1101: Introduction to Childhood and Youth Studies

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering sociological theories of the family, the history and perspectives of international and Canadian children's rights, and childhood definitions in CHST 1101.

Structural Functionalism

A family studies theory positing that families maintain social order by performing essential functions (e.g., reproduction, child-rearing, socialization) through specialized roles such as breadwinner and caregiver; role deviations are seen as causing stress, tension, and social instability.

Conflict Theory

A sociological perspective viewing families as institutions where social hierarchies, power imbalances, and inequalities are reproduced to privilege dominant groups (adults over children, men over women, wealthy over poor) rather than benefiting all members equally.

Symbolic Interactionism

A micro-level theoretical approach asserting that family life, roles, and identities are constructed and negotiated through everyday interpersonal interactions, shared symbols, and language.

Divorce Act Amendments (2021)

Canadian legislative reforms that officially expanded the legal definition of 'family violence' to recognize the direct and indirect harms children suffer from exposure to intimate partner violence.

Sibling Violence

The most common form of violence experienced by children within the family setting, yet one of the least researched and least understood in public discourse and social services.

Corporal Punishment

Physical disciplinary force against children that research consistently correlates with psychological harm (eroded trust, heightened anxiety and depression) and negative behavioral outcomes like aggression, which remains legally permitted under specific conditions in Canada.

Authoritarian Parenting

A parenting style characterized by strict hierarchy, demands for unquestioning obedience, adult power assertion, and non-negotiable rules reinforced by punishment.

Permissive Parenting

A parenting style marked by high warmth and responsiveness but minimal guidance, lack of clear limits, conflict avoidance, and child-led decision-making.

Authoritative Parenting

A democratic parenting style that balances high structure and clear expectations with high emotional responsiveness, open communication, shared reasoning, and age-appropriate autonomy.

1924 Geneva Declaration

The first international document addressing child rights, drafted by Save the Children founder Eglantyne Jebb and adopted by the League of Nations to establish non-binding principles for basic child welfare, protection, and relief.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 25)

A 1948 post-World War II United Nations declaration stating that motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care, assistance, and social protection.

1959 Declaration of the Rights of the Child

A non-binding UN declaration outlining general principles regarding a child's entitlement to a name, nationality, free and compulsory education, maternal/infant care, and protection against exploitation.

1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)

The first comprehensive, legally binding international human rights instrument protecting the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights of individuals under 18; ratified by all UN members except the United States.

Rights of Provision

A core UNCRC category ensuring children access to essential material resources and services needed for survival and growth, such as nutrition, clean drinking water, healthcare, and education.

Rights of Protection

A core UNCRC category guaranteeing children safety from discrimination, physical violence, sexual abuse, exploitation, child labour, armed conflict, and neglect.

Rights of Participation

The category of child rights emphasizing young people's agency, autonomy, and legal entitlement to have their views heard and weighed in decisions affecting their personal, educational, and legal lives.

Article 12 of the UNCRC

The international treaty article requiring State Parties to assure every child capable of forming their own views the right to express them freely, giving those views due weight in accordance with the child's age and maturity.

Evolving Capacities

A foundational UNCRC principle stating that as children mature and demonstrate competence, their autonomy, participation in decision-making, and independence should proportionally increase.

Paternalistic Perspective

A child rights perspective treating children as passive, incompetent 'becomings' dependent on adults, viewing adults as superior and framing any granted rights as conditional privileges rather than inherent entitlements.

Welfare Rights Perspective

A child rights orientation guided by the 'best interest of the child' standard that prioritizes basic needs and physical protection while treating participatory autonomy as a secondary allowance.

Emancipation Rights Perspective

A framework operating on the default presumption of child competence, asserting that young people are entitled to increasing rights of self-determination and participation that expand in step with their evolving capacities.

Liberationist Perspective

A radical perspective focusing on adult-child power dynamics that advocates for the complete dismantling of age-based restrictions, treating children as full citizens entitled to total equality and autonomy.

Youth Criminal Justice Act (2003)

Canadian legislation aligned with the UNCRC requiring that youth arrest and incarceration serve only as measures of last resort, emphasizing rehabilitation, community integration, and support over punitive detention.

Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

The constitutional guarantee protecting against discrimination based on enumerated grounds such as age, though in practice legal and human rights cases primarily apply age discrimination to older adults rather than children.

Social Construction of Childhood

The sociological concept, influenced by Philippe Ariès, arguing that childhood is not merely a biological phase but an idea, status, and set of practices created, regulated, and altered by society across different times and cultures.

Alan Prout's Sociology of Childhood

A theoretical approach asserting that childhood is an analytic category divided by social cleavages (gender, class, race), where children are active social actors engaged in world-making who must be studied ethnographically.

Jens Qvortrup's Structural Perspective

A sociological paradigm defining childhood as a permanent structural form subject to macro-level social forces, which conceptualizes formal schooling as a form of child labour that creates symbolic and economic value for society.

Developmental Milestones Perspective

A conceptualization rooted in traditional developmental psychology that defines childhood through universal physical, cognitive, and emotional stages, historically viewing children as deficient pre-adults.

Chronological Age

A definition of childhood based strictly on the number of elapsed years lived, which establishes adult/minor legal binaries and reinforces formal and informal age-graded social norms.

Social Identity (Childhood)

A dimension of childhood defined by how young individuals view themselves and are perceived by society relative to social positions, life transitions, and consumer market demographics.

Dominant Discourses of Childhood

Prevailing mainstream cultural narratives that often contain contradictory assumptions about children, such as beliefs that youth are growing up too quickly versus too slowly, or that parents are overly anxious versus too permissive.

UN Committee Recommendation #38

A formal UNCRC recommendation directing Canada to enact legislation establishing that no individual under the age of 16 can be employed anywhere in the country.