The Current Social Structure Of Childhood

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.

| Conflict sociologists, such as Marxist and feminists, argue that society is based on conflict between different social groups such as classes and genders. They say that there are inequalities among children in terms of their opportunities and risks, and that many children are unprotected and badly cared for.

In every generation throughout history the relationship between a young child and their family has been of utmost importance and this relationship can influence, affect and contribute in determining the child 's personality. However recently the state has been playing an increasing role in this complex relationship, until now where we are at a point where the state directly influences the childhood and family relationship, something I aim to explore in this assignment.

In the contemporary world, there is no standard definition of a child due to the ambiguity of the status. Therefore, the concept of being a child can be viewed from multiple perspectives in a bid to develop standard definition. Another critical aspect of the definition of the child is that it depends on the circumstances as well as history. A person’s conceptualization of a child is affected by the socialization. In turn, the social construction of the concept of a child means that one meaning cannot be applicable across the globe; this, discourses determine the views about childhood. However, despite the ambiguity that characterizes the concept of a child and youth, James and Sprout (2015) defined as social relationships resulting from a negotiated process which constitutes the early years of one’s life. Through this conceptualization, it is apparent that culture influences childhood. This paper explores the importance of the societal construction of childhood as well as evaluated its implications on children.

The stories of my respondent and I both demonstrate the importance of gender socialization processes to the formation of gender identity. Emphasis on conformity to gender norms is strong around peers at school. Students that are different or unpopular are sometimes repudiated by peers for their deviation from the criteria for popularity and “appropriate” masculinity or femininity. The views of gender my respondent and I developed were directly related to our inability to live up to this criteria. For the project, I interviewed twenty-three-year-old Archie Griffin, who identifies as a man. My respondent and I share similar racial and ethnic backgrounds. We both grew up in Walla Walla and attended the same schools. Our

Childhood studies is a relatively new field of study that seeks to move away from the outdated

The sociological enquiry of childhood in the past began not very long ago with the recognition of childhood as a culturally determined concept (Crawford and Lewis, 2009). To elaborate this, in the widely famous translated work, ‘Centuries of childhood’, the sociologist Phillippe Aries (1962) reflected that our interpretations of ‘childhood’ in the past are influenced by the modern perceptions of childhood and children. He suggested that any objective assessment of childhood in the past is flawed, as the concept of ‘childhood’ did not exist then. As opposed to this sociological perception, biological studies regard childhood as a universal concept and a well-distinguished period in one’s life on the basis of active growth, smaller body size, and developing nervous system. It cannot be regarded as simply a sociological/cultural concept (Bogin, 1999; Halcrow and Tayles, 2011). However, barring ‘biological immaturity’, the culturally determined phase of childhood is not universal and varies

The Story of Childhood: Growing up in Modern Britain by Libby Brooks was a fascinating book. For months Libby Brooks interviewed nine children with their ages ranging from four to sixteen and detailed their experiences of childhood in the United Kingdom. Each chapter was about a different child. Many of the chapter’s tied into the course. Healthcare, the fear of homelessness, child abuse, education and parenting were some of the concepts that were discussed.

Childhood is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary (2010) as “The state of being a child” although this definition is valid it is unspecific and gives no definitive boundaries. This is due to the fact that childhood is a concept which is hard to define as each individuals perception of childhood is constructed through their own personal experiences from when they were a child themselves. In the following essay I shall discuss contemporary views of childhood by first discussing an advertisement by Barbie titled “Imagine the Possibilities” which was released in 2015. I shall then contrast the western views of childhood found in the Barbie advertisement with an artwork by Luis Quiles titled Kid Soldier, which

A Child’s World, promotes the idea that although youth share many common characteristics, each individual youth are unique in their own way. According to Feldman, Martorell, and Papalia (2014), “The context of their lives differs: the homes, communities, and societies they live in, the relationships they have, and the kinds of schools they go to, and how they spend their free time. Because of this, every child has a different developmental trajectory- a unique and individual path to follow” (Feldman, Martorell, & Papalia, 2014). This developmental trajectory is ultimately what compromises the youths progressing worldview. The progressing worldview will eventually impact the individuals believes, manners, and personalities, which will eventually

Ever since a young age, there has been a deep interest into studying childhood. Based on the long term interest of childhood, this course is ideal to further my knowledge. With core modules including: the psychological and sociological perspectives of childhood, university will build and enhance my previous knowledge. This will provide an advanced understanding of: children’s education, social right issues and many aspects of childhood.

While reading chapter 11, I found the topic of childhood socialization to be very interesting. Childhood socialization uses gender role biases to assert how a male or female child is to act in a society. Based on a person’s culture, one will teach their child certain aspects of gender roles that are specific to their societal values, attitudes, and motivations. In other words, a parent will raise their child based upon the societal norms of how a boy or girl is to act. For example, when one thinks of playing with toy dolls and nail painting, they assert those actions to activities done by girls. Also, actions such as playing video games and watching football are mostly seen as activities done by boys. With this being said, socialization and societal patterns inflict gender roles and child rearing. On another note, when people see children performing behaviors that are not specific to their gender it creates anomie. For instance, a fashion magazine did a cover of a mother playing with her toddler son who was wearing pink nail polish and a princess

Childhood is a universal idea in which vary in perceptions due to the influence of one's social and personal context. Positive impressions of the world around the child and the formation of human character heavily revolves around this period. However, during this timeframe is when the child is most vulnerable and the ideal of innocence could potentially be abused by an oppressed society; resulting in negative repercussions. In the 19th century, education held no significant value

The changing ideas about children have led many scientists to claim that childhood is a social construction. The scientists use this term to mean that “understandings of childhood are not the same everywhere and that while all societies acknowledge that children are different from adults, how they are different and what expectations are placed on them change according to society in which they live.

Our childhood experience shapes the development of our adult life; hence much emphasis should be placed on childhood growth. In this paper I will share my family history and outline my childhood and adolescent journey, and how the journey might influence my work with children, adolescents and parents. Additionally I will identify a significant person in my life, and the reason for their significance.