childhood - notes

Social construction

Definition: the process where an idea or concept has been created and influenced by attitudes, actions, & interpretations of members of society.

Key features:

  1. Only a reality when its widely accepted by society

  2. Meaning is created & attached

  3. They can change & evolve - not fixed


Modern western notion of childhood

Children are regarded as physically & psychologically immature, innocent, vulnerable, and not yet competent to run their own lives. So, they require lengthy protection, nurturing, & socialisation to be ready for adulthood, as a result the are kept separate from the world meaning their lives are largely confined to school and home

  • Pilcher

Separateness - childhood is seen as a distinct life stage & children occupy a separate status from adults

This is emphasised by laws & regulations:

~ Certain spaces children cannot go, e.g. pubs, clubs

~ Children appropriate clothing and outfits

~ Different activities, e.g. children can’t marry, work, smoke, drink

~ Services tailored for children, e.g. playgrounds, nurseries

  • Criticisms

Wagg - argues that while all humans go through the same stages of physical development, different cultures & societies construct or define this process differently. Separate age-statuses are not universal

Benedict - children in low-economically developed societies are generally treated differently their modern western counterparts:

  1. Bolivia - 5 year old children are expected to to work in the home & community without hesitation

  2. Solomon Islands - doing as you are told by an adult is to be granted by the child, not a right to be expected by the adult

Historical differences in childhood

  • Aries - in the Middle Ages the idea of childhood didn’t exist, children were not seen as having a different nature or needs from adults, they were seen as ‘mini-adults’ with the same rights, duties, and skills as adults

Childhood as a separate stage was short, after being weaned they were expected to contribute to the family & wider society

Shown in artwork that does not distinguish between adults and children

Modern cult of childhood:

~ Schools - adults previously attended, but they came to specialise purely in the education of the young. This led to the idea children need discipline and protection

~ Clothing - becoming more distinct between adults & children

~ Handbooks on childbearing - a sign of growing child centred family life

The modern notions of childhood began in the 13th century onwards

  • Criticism

Pollock - more accurate to say there was a different notion of childhood before the 13th century, not no childhood

Future of childhood

  • Postman

Childhood is disappearing - children are given the same rights as adults, e.g. unsupervised games, growing similarity between clothing, increased use of tech & media communications, criminal activity

Information hierarchy - division between adults who can read & children who cannot

Childhood first emerged as a separate status along with printed media, this gave adults the power to keep knowledge about sex, violence, money a secret from children - reinforces the idea that children are innocent & vulnerable

TV blurs the distinction between childhood & adulthood by destroying the hierarchy since TV does not require special skills to access like printed media which exposes them to adult matters, therefore innocence is gone

  • Opie - evidence of a separate children’s culture over many years through her research into children’s games, rhymes, songs

Postman over-emphasises TV as a single cause for the disappearance when there could be other factors involved

  • Jenks - changing, not disappearing

Modernity - society was concerned with preparing children for the future and making them productive members of society. To achieve this children needed to be nurtured, protected, & controlled by family and the education system which imposed discipline & conformity

Postmodernity - relationships have become more unstable due to heavy changes (seen by high divorce rates) so there is a greater level of insecurity. Relationships with children become more important as a source of identity & stability for adults → become more fearful for their safety and become more preoccupied with protecting them from danger

  • Evaluation (of Jenks)

Limited evidence of this happening, the evidence that does exist comes from small, unrepresentative studies. His ideas are overgeneralised

Has the position of children improved?

March of progress perspective

  • De Mause

Children today are protected from harm, exploitation, child labour (UN), alongside child-focused education and greater gov spending on children’s health & psychological services. Due to higher standards of living and better healthcare babies have a higher chance of survival, this leads to smaller family sizes & children’s needs/wants become the focal point of family life.

  • Criticism

Palmer

Toxic childhood - rapid tech & cultural changes have damaged children’s physical, emotional, and intellectual development

~ Junk food & childhood obesity

~ Exposure to violent video games

~ Drug & alcohol abuse, self-harm

~ New forms of bullying - online

Conflict perspective

Argue the MOP perspective’s view of childhood is bases on a false and idealised image that ignores power dynamics & inequalities children experience

  • Gittens

Age patriarchy - children are constantly controlled, supervised, and limited financially by adults, this power may assert itself through violence e.g. over 30,000 children are on the child protection register.

Acting up/down are strategies used by children to resist adult control and a desire to escape their childhood status