Childhood Sociology

hi, i am having trouble in my GCSE Coursework and i need some help. Can you help with these questions thank you.

How has childhood changed in the last 50 years?

I am on the methodology section. The method i will be using will be an interview. I want to know why this method is good for my topic? Refer to qualitative, reliability and other terms. Also What problems do you think i might have in using this method and how you will overcome them? e.g. practical issues.

Thank You

Reply 1

Chris.Livesey

10

How has childhood changed in the last 50 years?

Not strictly "last 50 years" but the following should put "childhood" into context (in terms of changing perceptions of children) and you can discard the stuff you don't need. I;ve included some more recent material that you should find useful.

According to Jenks (1996) “childhood is not a natural but a social construct”, it follows its status is, to a large degree, determined by adults. Jenks notes two basic historical statuses of children that have existed, in one form or another, over the past 300 years:

The Dionysian child is one constructed as “a wilful material force....impish and harbouring a potential evil'. This view suggests adults must control children in ways that prevent them falling victim to their essential “badness”.

The Apollonian child, on the other hand, is constructed as “angelic, innocent, untainted by the world it has recently entered. It has a natural goodness and a clarity of vision that must be encouraged, enabled, facilitated, not crushed or beaten into submission”. This view suggests the role of adults is to create the conditions under which children can develop their essential “goodness”.

These ideas reflect a basic uncertainty, as a society, about how to understand the status of children - at one and the same time we feel they need to be both controlled by adults and given the freedom to develop “naturally”, away from the corrupting influence of adult society. As Hendrick (1990) suggests, the status of children has undergone a number of radical transformations since 1800:

The Delinquent child started to appear in the mid 19th century, reflecting concerns about how to deal with law-breaking children and provide protection and care. One solution was:

The schooled child, involving ideas about the need for education (moral and spiritual as well as technical - the skills of literacy and numeracy required for the newly-emerging industrial culture).

The psycho-medical child was constructed towards the end of the 19th century with the development of psychological theories and techniques. This perception stressed the uniqueness of childhood status and constructed childhood as a time of biological and emotional “stress and turmoil”. At this time the concept of adolescence as a distinctive phase of childhood started to develop, through the work of writers like G. Stanley Hall (“Adolescence”, 1904).

The welfare child emerged in the 20th century, stressing both the vulnerability of children and ideas about delinquent behaviour being shaped by neglect, poverty and so forth.

The psychological child has emerged in the late 20th century and focuses on the idea of children having their own needs which, in turn, should be protected and encouraged.

Legal Protections: The changing status of children has been reflected in their changing legal status - not simply in terms of legal definitions of “children” (an 1833 Royal Commission, for example, decided childhood officially ended at 13) but also through laws designed to either protect children or control their behaviour. The 19th century, for example, saw the introduction of Factory Acts designed to limit the type and length of work done by children as well as laws governing a child’s education.

The regulation of childhood has, of course, continued throughout the last and into the present century - in 1972, for example, the minimum school-leaving age was raised to 16 (with a suggestion it may soon be raised to 18 or even 19). Children aged 13 to 16 can legally work 12 hours a week during school terms and not after 7 pm. Sexual behaviour is also regulated by law and cultural variations (even within the UK) exist in the age of consent.

Children’s Rights: The latter part of the 20th century has witnessed moves - both official and unofficial - to develop concepts of “Children’s Rights” - the idea children, like adults, have fundamental human rights requiring both statement and protection.

The United Nations “Declaration on the Rights of the Child” (1959), for example, defined the minimum rights a child should expect and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) laid down rights that included:

Article 6: All children have the right to life. Governments should ensure children survive and develop healthily.

Article 16: Children have a right to privacy. The law should protect them from attacks against their way of life, their good name, their families and their homes.

Article 31: All children have a right to relax and play, and to join in a range of activities.

Article 34: The Government should protect children from sexual abuse.

20th century:

Social science developed to underlined the concept of childhood as involving various stages of social, psychological and biological development. This hardened the division between full adult membership of society and the period in which the child "learns how to achieve full adulthood".

Attitudes: In some ways, contemporary attitudes to childhood reflect an extreme reversal of pre-industrial concepts; moral concerns about the "increasing corruption of childhood innocence", through such things as child abuse and exposure to sex and violence in the media, reflect how childhood is seen as a somewhat idyllic period before the cares and responsibilities of adulthood.

Education: This is increasingly promoted - especially at the post-16 level. The 2004 Labour government has set a target of 50% of all 18 year olds attending University (which compares with a figure of approximately 15% 30 years ago). This, again, serves to redefine notions of childhood, based on the dependent status of children.

Contemporary Trends

Two (opposed) contemporary perceptions of children and childhood can be summarised firstly, by those (Liberationalists) who argue children should not be seen as a separate, segregated, category of human beings (rather, they argue children should be given the same rights as adults) and secondly by writers such as Postman (1985) who focus on the impact of:

Modern communications (Postman cites television, but recent developments in mobile phone technology and the Internet would also apply here) are blurring the distinction between childhood and adult, changing the status of children, as he describes it to one where “…adults have a different conception of what sort of person a child is, a conception not unlike that which prevailed in the 14th century: that they are miniature adults”.

Television, for example, represents “open admission technology” - it cannot differentiate between adults and children; the latter, therefore, are exposed to images of adulthood (sex, violence, news and so forth) that, according to Postman, diminish both adult and child abilities to decide where childhood ends and adulthood begins. Children, in this respect, become more like adults in terms of their criminality, sexuality and dress and adults, in our culture at least, become more-like “children” in their equation of “youthfulness” with health, vitality and excitement. Will a point be reached when the distinction between them disappears?

Internet technology has arguably closed this gap further since it effectively allows children access to information and images that, in former times, were denied until adulthood.

Reply 2

bkhan

OP

Thanks it was great!!
Can you help me with my methodology

Reply 3

Chris.Livesey

10

Probably.

But first you're going to have to tell me what sort of "interview" you're using - is it a simple structured one (ie a bit like a questionnaire you read to people and they give their answers) or a focused type where you allow people to talk at length about their ideas?

Reply 4

bkhan

OP

Hi sorry for the late reply
i am using a structured interview this is it, people have already answered my interviews.

I am doing 10 interviews, these are going to be 5 Adults and 5 Children

Interview (Children)
For my sociology coursework I have to find out how has childhood changed in the last 50 years. I would be grateful if you could answer these questions. I would like you to know that you could withdraw from this interview at any time if you do not want to continue. Any information given to me will be confidential and no names will be distributed.
1. What age group do you come under:
11 – 15 2 16 – 18 19 – 21 22 – 23

2. Could you tell me the following things in your childhood:
1. The importance of school/ education

2. Importance of going to work

3. How much of a concern is your welfare/safety. Please explain your answer

4. How much freedom do you have with the following things -:
1. Playing out with friends

2. Discipline/punishments

3. Studying

5. How much time do your parents spend with you? Please explain + give your reasons for your answer:

Interview (Adults)
For my GCSE sociology coursework I am researching childhood for different age groups. I would be grateful if you could answer these questions. I would like you to know that you can withdraw from this interview at any time if you do not want to continue. Any information given to me will be confidential and no names will be distributed.
1. What age group do you come under:
23 – 38 39 – 45 46 – 55 56 above

2. Could you tell me about the following things in your childhood:
a) The importance of school/ education

b) Importance of going to work

3. How much of a concern was the welfare/safety of children when you were a child. Please explain your answer

4. How much freedom did you have with the following things when you were a child -:
a) Playing out with friends

b) Discipline/punishments

c) Studying

5. How much time did your parents spend with you? Please explain + give your reasons for your answer:

1. I have done a pilot study for these too.
2. Can you please help me with my aims, like key points.
3. Can you tell me some childhood sociologists example Aries

Thank You
PS sorry for the confusion

Reply 5

bkhan

OP

How has childhood changed in the last 50 years?

My aims are:
1. Has society become more child centered?
2. Are children more focused in employment or education?
3. Do children have more freedom nowadays than 50 years ago?

Sorry for double post

Reply 6

Sickminded

bkhan

hi, i am having trouble in my GCSE Coursework and i need some help. Can you help with these questions thank you.

How has childhood changed in the last 50 years?

I am on the methodology section. The method i will be using will be an interview. I want to know why this method is good for my topic? Refer to qualitative, reliability and other terms. Also What problems do you think i might have in using this method and how you will overcome them? e.g. practical issues.

Thank You

a self administered survey might also help AFTER the interview to specify certain subjects/variables that could be backed with quantitative information.....which wont hurt :biggrin:

what is your sample?, from where...how chosen?..im curious :smile:

oops...just read the other part...

maybe you could specify choices instead of leaving such a broad space to place info in, which would be easier to narrow....
unless this is a random class project...looks good

d

Reply 7

LondonLT

3

Hey