L6 Mock Revision - Paper 2

Topic 2 - Childhood

Childhood as a Social Construct

Wagg had put forward the idea that childhood is socially constructed. Wagg had stated that childhood is what members of a particular society at a particular time and particular place say it is. Wagg also put forward that there is no single universal childhood that has been experienced by all.
This meant that the people of different cultures may have different views on what childhood is, how valuable it is and when it ends. It also means that people in different points in time would have different views on childhood due to cultural changes in time.

Research supporting differences in experiences in childhood in different cultures

One piece of research that supports the idea that different cultures experience childhood differently is Holmes (1974) were Holmes had studied a Samoan village and found that children were never too young to complete a task such as handling dangerous tools or carrying heavy items.

Globalisation of Western Childhood

It is argued that western notions of childhood have been globalised. According to the west, childhood should be happy and not involving labour. Humanitarian and welfare agencies have imposed their views on the rest of the world. Norms such as childhood being a separate life stage and being based in a nuclear family are innocent and vulnerable. The west also argues that children should have no economic role.

Changes of childhood in the middle ages compared to present day.

One way in which childhood differs from the middle ages to present day is that children were not seen as having a different nature or needs from adults once they had passed the stage of physical dependecny during infancy.
Another way in which childhood differs from the middle ages is that children behan to work from an early age back in the middle ages.

How did parental attitudes towards their children in the middle ages compare to now?

Parental attitudes towards their children has changed as often in the middle ages forgot the names of their kids and also often forgot how many kids they even had.
Parents in the middle ages also showed other signs of neglegence and indifference

What are some reasons for changes in the position of childhood that are associated with changes in the Law?

Laws restricting child labour and excluding children from paid work - This means that children can now no longer work meaning that childhood has now become more separate and distinct from adulthood as children now have fewer responsibilities as they no longer can work jobs.
Introduction of compulsory schooling - The introduction of compulsory schooling for children would again mean that childhood has become more separate and distinct from adult hood
Child protection and welfare state legislation - with the introduction of moore laws that protect children, childhood has become more safe due to the increase in safeguarding that adults are supplying to children.

What are some reasosn for changes in the position of childhood that are associated with other social changes?

Declining family size and lower infant mortality rates - a decline in family size means that the position of childhood has changed for the better and that the quality of childhood may increase. This is because there are less childnren that the mother will have to look after and so meaning that the children who are born will have a better quality childhood than those that have multiple siblings.
Children’s development has become the subject of medical knowledge - This means that the position of childhood has improved as now children have designated professionals that will be able to assist them if there is anything wrong. In comparison, children in the past were likely to not have designated professionals that were specialised in their development.

Future of Childhood

Is childhood disappearing?

Postman argues three ways in which childhood is disappearing which are:
- Postman points out the trend towards giving children the same rights as adults which may blur the distinction between childhood and adulthood.
- Postman also points out the disappearance of children’s traditional unsupervised games
- Postman finally points out that there is a growing similarity between the clothing of adults and children.
The main reason as to why childhood is disappearing accoridng to Postman is the fall of print culture and its replacement by television culture.
Postman argues that the information hierarchy has been destroyed as before in the days of print culture, adults would have known more information about most things than children, and so adults would be the ones to adult matters such as sex and money hidden from the knowledge of children. Television culture has destroyed this hierarchy of knowledge as it did not require any special skills to access and also gave children information that was once held by adults. However Opie argues that childhood is not disappearing, based on the research that she has done.

Childhood not disappearing, but changing?

Jenks had put forward the idea that childhood is disappearing as in modern society, relationships were more stable, whereas in post modern society, relationships are more unstable and divorces are more common. Because of these changes in family life, parenst are more concerned about protecting their children from thinsg such as child.
Jenks sees the parent relationshipswith theri children are becoming more important as a source of adults identity and stability. Realtionships with their children beocme a large refuge to use from the uncertainties of life
A criticism of Jenks wor is that Jenks over generalisation as what Jenks said implies that all children are in the same situation when they are not
Anotehr disadvantage if Jenks is that there is also evidence to prove his theory as incorrect as there is some research to show that some adults view their relationship with their child as more important than the relationship with their partners. However, this comes from small unrepresentative studies.

Topic 3 - Theoretical Perspectives on the family

Marxist theory of the family

Inheritance of Property

Why did Karl Marx state that there was no family in primitive communism?
- At this stage, there was no family as such. Instead, there was what was called the ‘promiscuous horde’, in which there was no restrictions on sexual relationships.
Why is monogamy essential in class society according to Engels?
- Because of the inheritance of property, men had to be certain of the paternity of their children in order to ensure that their legitimate heirs inherited from them.
According to Engels, what did the rise of the monogamous nuclear family mean for women?
- The rise of the monogamous nuclear family represented ‘a world historical defeat of the female sex.”. This was becuase it brought womens sexuality under male control and turned women into “ a mere instrumental system for the production of children.
According to Marxist, why willn the overthrow of capitalism be the end of the patriarchal society?
- Because marxists believe that a classless society will be established in which the means of production are ownded collectively, not privately. There will no longer be a need for patriarchal family, since there will be no need to have a means of transmitting

Ideological funtions

What are the ideological functions of the family according to marxists?
- Socialising children into the idea that hierarchy adnd inequality is inevitable
- Offers a haven from the harsh and exploitatuve world of capitalism outside, in which workers can be themselves and have a private life.

Unit of consumption

Advertisers urge families to ‘keep up with the Jonses’ by consuming all the latest products
The media target children, who use pester power to persuade parents to spend more.
Children who lack the latest clothes or gadgets are mocked by their peers

What is a weakness of the Marxist function of the family?

A weakness of teh marxist function of the family is that marxists tend to assume that the nuclear family is the dominant family and ignores other structures
Functiionalists would argue that marxists ignore the benefits the the family provide

Functionalist theory of the family

What were the 4 Functions of the family that were put forward by Murdock

The 4 Functions of the family that were put forward by Murdock were:
- Stable satisfaction of the sex drive
- Reproduction of the next generation
- Meeting the economic needs of the members of family
- Socialisation of the young
What are some criticims of murdock?
- A criticism of murdock is that his view lacked temporal validity as it did not last. Murdock stated that both sexes needed to be involved but now there are same sex marriages.
- Anither criticism of Murdock is that the 4 functions of the family do not account for all types of families such as one parent families.

Parson’s Functional fit theory

Geographical modbility - Parons argues that in modern society, families needed to be geographically mobile as industries were arising and falling across the country and so the compact 2 generation household can move across country if need be for work opportunitiies better than teh extended family.
Social mobility - Parsons argues that in modern society, families needed to be socailly mobile as a persons social status was gained through their own hard work and not ascribed to them at birth which meant that the son of a farmer may be able to become a doctor based on his own hard work.

Irreducible functions of the family

Stabilisation of adult personalities
Socialisation of the young

What are some crticism of parsons functional fit theory

One criticisms is that parsons may make it seem as though the extended family is no longer needed. However, Young and Willmott argue that due to research, the extended family does still provide some benefits for family and support
Another criticism of Parsons funtionally fit theory is that parsons argues that industrialisation caused the nuclear family to arise. However, Young and Willmott had argued that because of the pressure of the early industrial period, this had actually given rise to the ‘mother centred’ family, which was a mother and her married daughters helping each other out.