What is meant by the term social construction of childhood
What do you understand by the term "the social construction of childhood"?
To understand the term 'the social construction of childhood' we must look at how society sees children through the different era's, and how race, culture and class can produce different outcomes to how children are portrayed and developed in society. Social construction refers to 'a social mechanism, phenomenon, or category created and developed by society; a perception of an individual, group, or idea that is 'constructed' through cultural or social practice'1. In reference to childhood this means that childhood is not a natural process, it is a result of society determining when a child is a child and becomes an adult.
However some people may be confused with the word 'childhood', does this differ from 'child' and 'children'? All three do represent different concepts and raise rather different analytical issues. "'Childhood; is the structural site that is occupied by 'children', as a collectivity. And it is within this collectivity and institutional space of 'childhood, as a member of the category 'children' that any individual 'child' comes to exercise his or her unique agency'.2
Until the end of the middle ages, Phillipe Aries (1962) first highlighted the socially constructed character, he said that children were sometimes seen as miniature versions of adults, looking at paintings from the 15th and 16th Century, children's clothes and bodily proportions were the same as adults. His assertion was that 'mediaeval society childhood did not exist'3. Children of that era were expected to act accordingly; they were expected to participate in all aspects of social life alongside their parents. Foul language, sexual acts, death were all permitted in their presence. Children had no formal education and did the same work as their parents or worked in the fields. They did not get special protection or treatment at this time, children were punished by the law for the same antics that adults were and to the same severity. Fatal disease was quite common in the middle ages, and infant mortality rates were extremely high. Young children were not expected to live very long. In the 17th century for instance between 20 and 50 percent of all infants died within the first year of birth4, Edward shorter 1975 argued that parental attitudes towards children was the same as societies attitude towards children, so the idea of having a child at that time was to have a lot, in the chances that maybe one or two of them would survive, therefore parents didn't allow themselves to become too emotionally attached, and it was common to name their child 'it' until they were of a certain age in which they were likely to survive5. As a result of this a child's death was not an emotional tragedy it is today. In Spain when a child died they were most likely buried in their home ground like a pet, and even the wealthiest of children were treated like paupers, their bodies sewn into sacks and thrown into common graves6.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century, the view that children should be treated like adults started to change and they now began to be seen as innocent and in need of protection. However along with the idea of protection became discipline, as now parents were teaching their children to avoid temptation of their world. Children would get beaten by their parents on many occasions. People at the time believed that cruelty was embedded in religious terms; one Dutch theologian offered the theory that God had formed the human buttocks so that they could be severely beaten without ...
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Towards the end of the eighteenth century, the view that children should be treated like adults started to change and they now began to be seen as innocent and in need of protection. However along with the idea of protection became discipline, as now parents were teaching their children to avoid temptation of their world. Children would get beaten by their parents on many occasions. People at the time believed that cruelty was embedded in religious terms; one Dutch theologian offered the theory that God had formed the human buttocks so that they could be severely beaten without causing serious bodily injury7. However Sahar (1990) argues that children are not just born innocent, they can also be born by 'original sin', in this children were seen as naturally wicked and hence needing redemption.8
In the late 1800's lower class child labour was popular; half the workers in northern factories were children under the age of eleven9. Children worked just as hard as adults and sometimes were given the harder jobs like clearing out the narrow factory chimneys because they were so small. In Turkey the view of childhood is completely different in different classes, when asked lower classed mothers about good children, the emphasized on obedience and courtesy, very few talking of there educational achievements, however when asking a upper class mother about good children, their approach was close to western styles in that they are very independent and clever. Also rural-urban differences were another important variable when considering childhood, the rural-urban gap in Russia was larger than the western and more children had to work on the fields for longer. Poverty is another factor, children who live in eastern Africa and are malnourished, or whose parents are so poor that they have no energy to devote to their children, are going to have a different childhood to children living in England whose families may have enough money to give them everything they need. These cultural factors really do shape childhoods and influence the children largely.
The government begun to realize that child labour was wrong and the Child Protection Act was produced in 1989, along with that came many changes. With the industrial revolution beginning in the 19th century, the world now needed an educated work force, so children were sent to school, with the introduction of compulsory education. The class system was starting to be re-established not just in the western world but throughout the whole world. The institution of a school provides children to know what they should be doing at their age and if they are doing it right. Society says that a child in nursery should be able to walk and talk and be able to play with toys, otherwise that child has not developed yet. By the age of 11 a child should know how to read and write and do math's in order to succeed. If a child does not succeed in doing any of this then there must be something wrong with the child. The rise in the number of cases of Dyslexia and ADHD shows society has to put children into a category.
Children in this era were portrayed more as naughty than 'evil'. For example Disney movies portray children as charming, inventive, cuddly and inherently 'nice'.
The portrayal of a child being 'innocent and wholesome child' and the image of a 'wicked sinful child' can be seen as based upon two different 'discourses of childhood'. The first assumes that children are inherently good and that childhood is a time of happiness and innocence. Here a child can enjoy its childhood without having to face the responsibilities of an adult. The second is a discourse based upon the puritan notion of 'sin'. This says that children lack morals, and the child needs to be civilized, in which they need to be taught right from wrong. By using this theory of postmodern discourse we can begin to see how adopting a particular image of childhood implies that we need to act towards children in a particular way.
The romanticized view of childhood suggest that we 'should protect children's innocence, separate them from the all that is nasty in the world, from sex, from violence, from the worries and concerns of adults'10.On the other hand a puritan discourse of childhood suggests that 'children should be carefully controlled, regulated and disciplined'11. What these discourses both suggest is that adults have the responsibility to look after and do things for their children. In this theory there is also the debate of welfare and control. The welfare side suggest that children are entitled to 'a good childhood', when questioning the upbringing of a child a judge in the UK will always put a child welfare paramount. The discourse of control however suggests that children lack self control and need to be regulated. These discourses need to coincide to form a good child upbringing however they can come into conflict. An example of this is the widely held debate of 'smacking'. The pro-smacking petition is outlining the discourse of control, the anti-smacking petition on the discourse of welfare. Both of these argue that they have the 'best interests of the child'.
Even though changes were radical in western societies, further east, mainly China, things were getting worse for children. China being a growing population meant that there was more need for boys and less need for girls, so infanticide was forced into action.
In recent times, it seems that 'childhood is disappearing at a dazzling speed' as said Neil Postman, He looks at the trend towards giving children the same rights as adults, the growing similarity of adult and children's clothing and even cases of children committing 'adult crimes' (murder, rape). He suggests that in the Middle Ages most people were illiterate (can't read or write) so there wasn't this mystery surrounding adulthood as children could access it through speech. Postman argues that childhood emerged along with mass literacy. This was because the printed word created a division between those that could read (adults) and those that couldn't (children). However he argues now that things like television and the internet blur this separation and that children are now able to access the 'adult world'.
In the 21st Century children are more protected, the 'walled garden' theory is reconstructed in a form within which childhood is experienced 'not as a garden but a prison'12. They have to stay in school until they are 16, they have to follow so many laws, and some including that they aren't allowed out until after 9pm. But is this helping children or stopping them from growing up to soon? Toady's children don't have to work to have the things they want; they can just ask their parents for money. They are becoming consumers for many markets including sweets, toys, video games, which in turn is making these items more desirable for children resulting in them doing anything to get them. There is also peer pressure that is making children want certain items, if everyone in school has a pair of Ugg boots then the child might get bullied if he/she doesn't have them. This is also rubbing off on mothers, mothers these days 'want the best for their children' however what they don't realise is smothering their children with gifts and new shoes does not make them learn important rules of life. Society has depicted that all children must have the best of everything to be 'cool'. Children are looking for other things to do to show they are better or 'cooler' than the rest one of them being drugs. For some reason taking drugs or drinking on the streets has become a common trend in children, there are so many laws in place now that they will do anything to break the mould and not be so controlled. The pressure of their parents and teaches moulding and shaping them into becoming 'better people' is making society turn to other things like drugs to find their own identity. Childhood in today's society is full of 'isolation, sadness, exploitation, oppression, cruelty and abuse'13
Childhood is sometimes understood as an unchanging and natural stage of life through which humans pass. A look into the history of childhood shows, however, that childhood is constructed differently in different times and places. Class, religion, labor, gender, race, politics, and education shape the way in which children experience life, what society says about children is the accepted view whether it be right or wrong, which gives us our idea of childhood and how it should be.
Bibliography
Aries, P, (1962) Centuires of Childhood: NewYork: Vintage Books p447
Coontz, S. (1992) The way we never were. New York: Basic Books
Foley, P, Roche, J (1990). Children in society. Palgrave Macmillan
James, A, James, A.L, (2004) Constructing childhood. Palgrave Macmillan
May, T, (2005) Childhood and society. Open University Press
McCoy, E. (1981). Childhood through the ages. Parents Magazine
Scraton, P (1197).Childhood in crisis. Taylor & Francis Ltd: Routledge
Shorter, E. (1975) Tthe making of the modern child. New York : Basic Books
Stone, L. (1979). The family, sex and marriage in England 1500-1800. New York: Harper Torchbooks.
Social construction definition, www.dictionary.com
Zelizer, V.(1985) Pricing the priceless child. New York: Basic Books.
Social construction definition, www.dictionary.com
2 James, A, James, A.L, (2004) Constructing childhood. Palgrave Macmillan
3 Aries, P, (1962) Centuires of Childhood: NewYork: Vintage Books p447
4 McCoy, E. (1981). Childhood through the ages. Parents Magazine
5 Shorter, E. (1975) Tthe making of the modern child. New York : Basic Books
6 Zelizer, V.(1985) Pricing the priceless child. New York: Basic Books.
7 Stone, L. (1979). The family, sex and marriage in England 1500-1800. New York: Harper Torchbooks.
8 Foley, P, Roche, J (1990). Children in society. Palgrave Macmillan
9 Coontz, S. (1992) The way we never were. New York: Basic Books
0May, T, (2005) Childhood and society. Open University Press
1 May, T, (2005) Childhood and society. Open University Press
2 Scraton, P (1197).Childhood in crisis. Taylor & Francis Ltd: Routledge
3 Scraton, P (1197).Childhood in crisis. Taylor & Francis Ltd: Routledge
Sara Williams
