The social construction of childhood

Childhood an  Introduction.

1. Biologically, we are all young once and, with the passage of time, we will all become old - but the simple empirical statement of these facts hides a much wider and more-complex set of ideas.

What are the categories that we construct to represent phases in life?

·      Childhood

·      Adolescence / youth

·      Adulthood

·      Old age.

What characteristics do we tend to associate with these categories?

·      For example, in our society we tend to associate childhood with such characteristics as "innocence / naiveté" and old age with increasing physical frailty, loss of mental faculties and so forth. Not all societies attribute such characteristics to these categories.

Why might different people categorise these groups differently?

5. The process of categorization is relatively arbitrary (when, for example, does childhood end? At what age does a person become old?).

6. The concept of a "biological life-cycle" (the progression from birth to death) can be empirically demonstrated. In physical terms at least, a young baby is different to a fourteen year old; in turn, a fully-grown adult is different to both and so forth.

·      However, simply because we can demonstrate something empirically, it doesn't necessarily mean that it is easy to understand either:

a. The empirical demarcation of boundaries between "stages" in the life-cycle.

b. The social significance of these "stages".

7. To understand this a bit more clearly, think about:

At what age does childhood end?

At what age does youth end?

At what age does adulthood end?

B. Changing Conceptions of Childhood.

1. In these notes we need to consider two main ideas:

a. Do people have different conceptions about what constitutes childhood?

b. Do sociologists agree / disagree about conceptions of childhood?

2. To answer these questions we need to look at whether or not major changes have taken place in relation to the way in which children have been treated in both:

a. The past (the historical dimension) and

b. Different cultures (the comparative dimension).

C. Childhood: An Historical Dimension.

1. The work of Philip Aries ("Centuries of Childhood", 1962) has, for many years, been considered to be the definitive work on the subject of changing conceptions of childhood. Martin Shipman, for example, although generally critical of Aries argument, has noted that Centuries of Childhood had the status of "holy writ" throughout the 1960's...

"In medieval society the idea of childhood did not exist".

The Socialisation of Children

Speier argues that there are five main ideological conventions which are drawn upon when discussing the socialisation of children.

1.    Children are adults in the making

2.    Children are made into adults by adults themselves.

3.    Children’s development into adulthood is progressive and is about learning how to be ‘competent’ in the world.

4.    Unsuccessful socialisation results in the child growing up to be deviant.

5.    Children are seen as defective in their social participation since they have not learnt, by virtue of there being children, how to be have in the adult world.

The rise of child-centredness

1.    How do we protect children from the nasty things in life? What sort of things are hidden from them?

2.    What kinds of experts do we consult to help us to care well (and correctly) for our children?

3.    How do we cater for children in special ways? You might consider, for example clothes, toys, food, holidays and so on.

4.    What sorts of big business are involved in catering for children?