The document discusses how childhood is a social construct that differs between societies and time periods. It summarizes research showing that in the past, children were viewed more as "mini-adults" who worked and had adult responsibilities from a young age. However, in modern Western societies, childhood is considered a protected time of dependence, innocence and education. Laws, dress codes, and products market specifically to children reinforce the separation of childhood from adulthood in contemporary Western cultures.

1. Childhood

2. Childhood is socially constructed
Socially constructed’ means:
-Something that is created and defined by
society.
-Not fixed but differs between societies
and cultures
If this is true we can therefore compare our
western ideas of childhood with:
-the past
-other societies

3. Childhood is socially constructed
Aries (1962)
“Our world is obsessed with the
physical, moral and sexual problems of
childhood. This preoccupation was
unknown to medieval civilizations
because there was no problem for the
middle ages. As soon as he had been
weaned, or soon after, the child became
the natural companion of the adult.”

4. Childhood is socially constructed
• In the past Children would have had
limited education and would have been a
financial asset.
• Children would have had to work either
inside or outside the family home.
• Children would have had more adult
responsibilities.

5. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE CONCEPT OF
‘CHILDHOOD’ IN THIS IMAGE?

6. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE CONCEPT OF
‘CHILDHOOD’ IN THIS IMAGE?

7. Aries’ Conclusion:
Children were in effect ‘mini-adults’ with the
same rights, duties and skills as adults. For
example, the law often made no distinction
between children and adults, and children often
faced the same severe punishments as those for
adults.
As evidence of this, Aries uses works of art from
the period. In these children appear without
‘any of the characteristics of childhood: they
have simply been depicted on a smaller
scale.’

8. Childhood is socially constructed
Stephen Wagg (1992) also validates
this belief of Aries…
“Childhood is socially constructed. It is
in other words, what members of
particular societies, at particular times
and in particular places say it is. There
are no single universal childhood
experiences by all. So childhood isn’t
‘natural’ and should be distinguished
from mere biological immaturity.”

9. Test this theory of social
construction…
Give 5 words to describe the childhood
of the following:

10. Childhood is socially constructed
Construct an image of ‘childhood’ in the
21st Century in Western Society.
What does a 21st century child look like?

12. What is the modern western notion
of childhood?
A special time of life
Children are dependent on adults/parents
Require a lengthy period of protection,
nurturing and socialisation before they
become adults.
Jan Pilcher (1995) notes that children in
our society occupy a separate status
from adults.

13. Jane Pilcher (1995)
‘Separateness’
 Childhood is a distinct life stage with a
separate status from adults.
 How do we distinguish between the 2 life
stages?
LAWS
DISTINCTIVE DRESS
PRODUCTS/SERVICES

14. (i) LAWS
Laws exist to regulate what children are
allowed, required or not allowed to do
E.g.

15. (ii) Dress & Products
Children also dress differently to adults
and certain products and services are
specifically aimed at children.
E.g.

16. The ‘Golden Age’ of Childhood
Childhood in the 21st Century has been
referred to as the ‘golden age’ of happiness
and innocence.
Children are looked on as vulnerable and in
need of protection from the adult world –they
do not have responsibilities such as paid work,
care for children, elderly etc.
They are kept in the sphere of family and
education – adults provide for them and
protect them from the outside world in these
areas.

17. Reasons for the change in
position of Children
1. Laws restricting child labour – excluding
children from paid work.
Children went from being economic assets to
liabilities – financially dependent on parents.

18. Reasons for the change in
position of Children
2. Introduction of compulsory schooling
in 1880.
3. Child protection and welfare
legislation – 1889 Prevention of
Cruelty to Children Act, 1989 Children
Act. Made the welfare of the child
the major principle of agencies such as
social services.

19. Reasons for the change in
position of Children
• 4. Growth of the idea of children’s
rights. United Nations Convention of
the rights of the Child outlines basic
rights and entitlements of each child.

20. Reasons for the change in
position of Children
5. Declining family size and lower infant
mortality rates. These have encouraged
parents to make greater financial and
emotional investment in the fewer children
that they now have.
6. Laws and policies that apply specifically to
children, such as minimum ages for a wide
range of activities from sex to smoking
reinforced the ideas that children are
different from adults, and so different rules
must be applied to their behaviour.

21. Different cultures construct or
define childhood differently
Sociologists have attempted to prove
childhood as a social construction by
comparing it to how children are seen
and treated in the different cultures.

22. Different cultures construct or
define childhood differently
• Ruth Benedict (1934) argues that children in simpler,
non-industrial societies are generally treated differently
from their modern western counterparts in 3 ways.
• They take responsibility at an early age. For example,
Lowell Holmes’ 1974 study of a Samoan village found
that ‘too young’ was never a reason for not allowing a
child to take part in a particular task. “Whether it be the
handling of dangerous tools or the carrying of extremely
heavy loads…if a child thinks he can handle the activity,
parents do not object.”

23. Different cultures construct or
define childhood differently
• Less value placed on children showing
obedience to adult authority. For
example, Raymond Firth 1970, found that
among the Tikopia of the western Pacific,
doing as you are told by a grown –up is
regarded as a concession to be granted
by the child, not as a right to be expected
by the adult.

24. Different cultures construct or
define childhood differently
• Children’s sexual behaviour is often
viewed differently. For example, among
the Trobriand Islanders of the south-west
Pacific, Bronislaw Malinowski 1957,
found that adults took an attitude of
‘tolerance and amused interest’ towards
children’s sexual explorations and
activities.