Are the lives of children 'socially constructed

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Shyrl Smith

P.I- X1555880

Course – K204 TMA01

Are the lives of children ‘socially constructed?’ What are the implications of this question for work with children and families?

In this essay I aim to look at social construction within childhood. How childhood differs according to time and place. This essay will give clear examples of the concepts of how childhood has changed historically and varies from culture to culture. I will discuss how the implications of social construction affects working with children and families.

Many of us consider childhood as a universal feature in human life, which we consider a natural stage of development. Culturally the social construction of childhood is extremely diverse. Freedom from responsibility experienced by children in Western countries is not in others especially developing countries. In most western societies it is a widely held belief that children are fundamentally different than adults. However, in many other countries, children are viewed as more independent and there is an expectation that children will work alongside their parents and contribute to the household income.

In Khalpur in India, by the age of nine or ten, girls learn to do most of the tasks carried out by adult women, such as gathering berries and making mats, baskets and clothing (Whiting and Whiting quoted in Topic Two p12)

To western countries laws protecting innocent and defenseless children from the dangers the adult world poses make sense. We find it difficult to understand that all societies do not share this same important value. Whereas, Eastern countries may find the concept of compulsory schooling difficult to understand. Even within societies there will be disagreements about what children should be like.

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Social construction is the way that something is created through individual, social and cultural interpretations, perceptions and actions of people. Because the definition and state of childhood has not stayed the same throughout history and varies from culture to culture, it is not possible that childhood is biological; therefore it must have been socially constructed for particular societies at particular points in time.

According to some historians childhood was non existent in Western culture until the 15th century. Philippe Aries was a theorist who became a big influence in this area. He argued that medieval society lacked the idea of ...

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