Child and Youth Studies Paradigms

First 3 paradigms that childhood is based on Modernism | -Science and using scientific method, using rational thinking can provide answers in the world and within childhood.- believe you can be objective and detach yourself from your senses. - empiricist- you can understand the world through experiencing it (scientific method) & positivist- you believe through your research things can get better. - a way of thinking and a point in history- which is the enlightenment- (people shift the way they think of things- until that time people relied heavily on religion, during 16th-18th century trust and beliefs switched to science.)-science can lead us to universal truths (about childhood) , irrevocable truths. - science can progress society and progress the world through it.- goal is to improve the lives of children through science= how it relates to child and youth. | Critical theory | * think of old grumpy men criticizing everything- * always looking at things through an economic lens, very interested in how the economy, economic conditions exaggerates certain social inequalities- (youth, women, children, different races. ) * very critical of capitalism- believe its like a machine that perpetuates social inequalities. It has inherent qualities that perpetuate inequality. * It will natural create problems for people * Many critical theorist are Marxist- believe that capitalism should be ruined. * Base- (economic determines) all superstructure- (all work to keep the base strong). * Capitalism is the base, superstructure is everything else in that society that keep the base going strong (schools, government, laws)- all have qualities that mimic and strengthen capitalism-schools are a base of superstructure that support a capitalistic base because your taught to be good capitalistic workers. * Critical theorists- If capitalism promotes inequality, that means the superstructure also promotes inequality. Ideology- linked to critical theory- the idea that certain things are presented to us as truth that aren’t actually true-being masked and hidden- and its our job to dig deep and find the truth. - someone benefits from us believing that its true, in the form of inequality. - the divine right of kings- when we were under a monarchy, says that a king had the right to do whatever he wanted and benefit from your hard work because god selected him to be a king. It was your position as a peasant to serve the king because god tells you to do it.- critical theorist says this is not right, and realized its not true- done so peasants can be exploited. - meritocracy- idea that if you work hard and work on your goals that you’ll eventually make it- critical theorist this is BS, and that rich people are running everything . - to child and youth- credentials- needing degrees, need experience to get a job, example, critical theorists say BS- uni needs you, your convinced you need it. modernist and critical theorists- similarities-both believe there is a truth out there that needs to be uncovered/ proven, goals to find that truth- both goals are about improving the human condition (mod- improve lives of young people, critical- want equality) | Social Construc-tionism | * the world and understanding the world are all mediated(understood) through language and culture & context. * No absolute truths * Opposite of modernists- oppose them, no way to look through science, because its understood through lang and culture. * Shift historically and cross-culturally * ‘local truths’- what does childhood mean to this specific culture and group? * Can only understand the world subjectively, cannot detach yourself from your bias because they were always affect how you see the world. * Very critical of science- because of the grand narratives that science makes- all kids are like this, all children do this… * Need to look at specific contexts and language to understand these peopleDiscourse- related to social constructionism * shared beliefs about the world, that are shared culturally by a large number of people and they tend to be seen as truth by these people, and they effect how that phenomenon is treated and looked at. * Many discourses about a phenomenon- children as innocent, evil, * Discourses are different as we look historically. * Shift cross culturally, time and space changes. * Childhood as a time of innocence more powerful right now, childhood as time of evil historically. * Sometimes they compliment eachother, sometimes they mesh. * Certain discourses are more powerful than others (innocent vs evil) * No absolute truth, not one true story of childhood many truths. * Because what is truth shifts across time, culture, space. |

Think about your specific article, think about what the means when it comes to childhood.