One key contribution that has been made to the discipline of childhood studies could be an important book called ‘Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood’ which was published in 1990 by Allison James and Alan Prout. (Morgan-Ellis, 2010) describes this book as being a ‘departure point’ for the change in sociology. The book looked at sociology and how it could interact with children and most importantly childhood. They positioned this book from the point of view of a social constructionist. James and Prout wanted to prove that children were social actors and that they could potentially have agency. This was the first time it was considered, therefore has a huge impact on the discipline of childhood studies. James and Prout (1997, p. x) suggested …show more content…
Mayall et al (1996 cited in James and Prout 1997, p. xiv) started this in health within the school setting. This book changed the way we view children and childhood in society. It had a huge impact on allowing people to see children as social actors with agency. Once people view children in this way, it gave a much more deeper insight into childhood as a whole and therefore contributing to the discipline of childhood studies. James (2009, p. 37) shows that child abuse was becoming an issue, where as before the paradigm shift, no-one would have cared or bothered with such cases. Children were seen more as people and less as objects. (Moran-Ellis, 2010) also emphasises the idea of using ethnographic studies to look at children and childhood. These types of studies are very common and still used across a wide range of subjects including sociology and childhood studies now. This type of study allows the individual carrying it out to essentially ‘put themselves in the shoes’ of the people/groups they are considering. When looking at childhood, these studies are crucial to look at the experiences children go through in everyday …show more content…
This was the work done at the ‘Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS)’ which was within the University of Birmingham. The work they carried out here looked primarily at ‘troublesome’ individuals who were categorised by society in that way. One example of this found in Cohen (1972) was the idea that working class boy’s behaviour was seen as being troublesome. An idea of this could be ‘the mods and rockers’. The culture in which they were surrounded by was related to violence. These individual boys were classified into a certain group by the society in which they are in. This could be seen to be linked to childhood and how society views it because society can view children in certain ways and can specifically categories different types of children, whether this is down to social class or behaviour. The CCCS allowed a change in society’s way of thinking by introducing the study of ‘cultural studies’. The main focus of the CCCS work was to get this idea of this difference between social classes and how society is structured across to individuals. (Moran-Ellis, 2010) states the main contribution the centre for contemporary cultural studies made to the discipline of childhood studies was the development of ‘cultural studies’, which can also be known as youth studies. These studies enabled people to see different ways young people live with regards to their social
There is little evidence of what it was really like in the past so it is difficult for a lot of people to re-construct the life of a child, however from what I have researched, and in my own opinion I am going to summarise the historical changes in childhood experience and relate these changes to childhood development and rights.
There are various discourses of childhood that help us understand how childhood is viewed and how children themselves are seen. It is important to also look outside the system world and look towards the life worlds as it gives a more realistic view of various childhoods and shows how diverse the concept of childhood is because children do not share the same experiences. Regardless if you are looking at the system or life world the notions of rights, opportunities and capabilities are often discussed. These notions aids us in understanding childhood, however they can often obstruct us as well.
The lives of children are greatly influenced by the environment they grow up in, and the people they come in contact with. For years, psychologists, researchers, and social workers have studied children, and why they do what they do. All have developed many different perspectives on how to view social problems and the development of individuals.
Childhood is a biological and temporal period: In Ailwood, Boyd & Theobald (2016) states childhood is a phase of the dependence of basic needs as well as a period of biological growth. Age also has a factor in the view of childhood as Lassonde (cited in Ailwood, Boyd & Theobald 2016, p. 36) states age as ‘an important framework for assessing the capacities, rights, and obligations of children’. Historically childhood, as considered from birth to five years as children were considered not to have contributed to the ‘adult world’ (Ailwood, Boyd & Theobald
Different discourses of childhood have different ideas of childhood which has different implications on the way in which children are treated. Within the social constructionist theory there are 3 main discourses - romantic, puritan and tabula rasa. This essay will look
The theories/approaches established by historical and contemporary pioneers provide valuable insight, underpinning the understanding of how children develop, allowing teachers to enhance the holistic development of every child. This essay will analyse the: behaviourist theory; cognitive-developmental theory; and socio-cultural theory.
There are ethical issues relating to children being participants in the looked after setting. Therefore, the TMA03 study carried out debates about multi breakdowns in the care system and explored the extent to which children should be regarded as valued sources in social research instead of children being positioned as vulnerable, incompetent and relatively powerless in society and this relates to how this conceptualisation of children can be used in social research, in order for them to have reliable or consistent involvement in their decision-making.
One of the main features of childhood studies is the idea that childhood is socially constructed. This means that not all childhoods are the same and that it may differ depending on the time in which it is taking place, as well as the social environment or the place that it is taking place. This can be seen at the Museum of Childhood, and how different times have shown changes in the way children act, play, dress, or ultimately are treated in society. Additionally it draws on key differences in the human societies affecting different childhoods in any given period or place, and can examine how the childhood in that given period is constructed. Furthermore a social constructionist looks at the consequences of any given factor and the impact it has on children.
The concept of childhood, is not a natural state, but it has been socially constructed through society and can only exist in a society that understand the term this has been reinforced through history. Another issue is how much of ‘childhood’ has been socially constructed (created and
Therefore by arguing that childhood is social constructed, the “new sociology of childhood” enables one to understand young people from a different perspective. Such notions of childhood innocence, vulnerability, helplessness, economic dependence among others are scrutinized with regard to broader structural forces. Thus young people even though by virtue of their biological and psychological make-up may be similar across all cultures, what they are expected to do or how they view themselves differ from place to place, situation to situation. For instance even though the United Nations universalize childhood by defining it as, “Childhood is the time for children to be in school and at play, to grow strong and confident with the love and encouragement of their family and an extended community of caring adults” (UNICEF 2005).
Marxist writers, especially those associated with the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) studies youth sub-cultures in the 1970's. They saw working-class youth cultures linked to the
Childhood is usually understood as a set of experiences and behaviours, gained in the early stages of the human existence, considered as the preparation for the adult world. However, the history of childhood is a very complex topic and it has become a very influential area of study in recent years. In 1962, the ‘Centuries of Childhood’ by Philippe Ariés introduced the idea that childhood was a new creation developed in recent centuries and as a concept it was believed to be nonexistent before the seventeenth century. This concept means that there was no awareness of the process of childhood. In several studies of the medieval period, Ariés noticed that childhood was not acknowledged or even attempted to be portrayed during this period. For
Childhood as disappearing/not disappearing will be discussed within this essay. There is no universal definition for childhood however in the western culture childhood is a period of dependency, characterised by learning the norms and values of society, innocence and freedom from responsibilities. Sociologists such as Postman and Jenks would argue that childhood is disappearing however Opie and Opie and Palmer would contradict this.
Social constructionism gives meaning to phenomenon in social context and connections between culture and society build up realities in their circumstances. The studies of this idea have been conducted more than thirty years by a number of North American, British and continental writers (Burr, 1995). However, in childhood studies this notion appears later on. It is mostly held universally, childhood is a stage that biologically existing in human life in early years. It should be considered this childhood is constructed in the society. As a social being, it brings into the mind the relationship between society and child, inevitably. However, the dominant understanding of childhood attributes biological and social
To start with an overview of social constructionism in very general terms leads to build understandings of child and childhood in a social world more explicitly. Notion of social construction is defined in diverse disciplines and instead of generating a description there are a number of thoughts. “It is sometimes called a movement, at other times a position, a theory, a theoretical orientation, an approach; psychologists remain unsure of its status (Stam 2001, p. 294)”. Vivien (1995, p. 10) points the origin of social constructionism stems from two to three hundred years ago in the period of enlightenment, modernism and postmodernism. By all means, Berger and Luckmann’ (1966) book The Social