Preview

Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess sociological explanations of changes in the status of childhood

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1195 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess sociological explanations of changes in the status of childhood
Item A
According to some sociologists, children in today’s supposedly child-centred society leas lives that are segregated and controlled, but childhood was not always like this. For example, Aries describes a medieval world in which, children were not actually the equals of adults, they nevertheless mixed freely with adults in both work and leisure. Little distinction was drawn between adults and children.
According to this view, however, industrialisation brought major changes to the position of children to the position of children. The development of industrial society meant that their lives were increasingly confined, disciplined and regulated by adults. The result is that in the West today, adults exercise a control over children’s time, space and bodies that would have been unimaginable to medieval society.
Not all sociologists share this view of modern childhood, however. Some argue that the distinction between childhood and adulthood is becoming blurred.

Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess sociological explanations of changes in the status of childhood.
(24 marks)
Sociologist’s see childhood as socially constructed. This means that childhood is created and defined by society even though it may seem natural or biological. These sociologists argue; what people mean by childhood, and the position that children occupy in society, is not fixed but differs between different times, places and cultures. We are able to see this by comparing the western day of childhood today by childhood in the past and in other societies.
In order to assess the sociological explanations of childhood one must look at how children are seen and treated in other times and places then our own. This can be done by assessing cross-cultural and historical differences in childhood. Ruth Benedict argues that children in simpler non-industrial societies are generally treated differently from their modern western equivalents. This happens in three ways: children take

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Unit 1 Specimen Paper

    • 1602 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Total for this Section: 60 marks Ideas about the nature of children have changed over time. The modern view is that children are fundamentally different from adults – innocent, inexperienced and vulnerable. Thus modern childhood involves segregation: children’s vulnerability means they need to be shielded from the dangers and responsibilities of the adult world. Childhood has become a specially protected and privileged time of life. Yet children were not always viewed in this way. Until the 17th century, childhood was regarded as a brief period (up to the age of about 7), after which the individual was ready to enter the wider world. Some sociologists argue that we are now witnessing a further change in the nature of childhood, and that the differences between childhood and adulthood are once…

    • 1602 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Childhood is a social construction and varies between times, places and groups. Most sociologists see our ides of childhood as a fairly recent one, the result of industrialisation and other social changes. Modern society constructs childhood as a tie of vulnerability, innocence and segregation from the adult world. The March of progress sociologist believe we live in an increasingly child-centred society. They state that children have existence of child poverty, abuse and exploitation. Child liberationists argue that children in modern western society are victims of age patriarchy and are subject to adult control. Some argue that we are witnessing the disappearance of childhood as the media erode the boundary between childhood and adulthood. Others argue that the west is imposing its idea of childhood on the third world.…

    • 1798 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this essay I will be talking about the reasons and beliefs on how the status of childhood has changed. Something that is socially constructed is created and designed by society. Differences in childhood can be seen across different times, places and cultures. How society influences what is right and wrong to help develop your child correctly this can be through the form of TV and books. Different cultures have different opinions on how children are viewed and ultimately treated.…

    • 1069 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries saw a decline in child labour and the introduction of compulsory schooling for children in Britain. I intend to discuss the relationship between these two processes and the impact they had on both adults and children’s lives. I will also discuss the changes in views of childhood that accompanied and followed these developments.…

    • 1842 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    TMA01

    • 1118 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Childhood social construction recognise that ideas of children change over time and place and also look at the consequences of those ideas and the impact they have on children. Cultural factor being one of those, the upbringing of a child born in the UK compared to a child born in India, also how gender being an obvious key point in the experiences and expectations of childhood.…

    • 1118 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some sociologists say that childhood is a social construction one of the reasons for this is that childhood seems to differ worldwide between different cultures there has been much research such as investigations into this, including separateness between children and adults, cultural differences and historical differences.…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The social position of children over time has greatly changed, this evident through the work Philippe Aries. During the Middle Ages (10th-13th Century) Aries (1960) argued that ‘the idea of childhood did not exist.’ He used works of art as evidence to show that children of that time appeared without ‘any of the characteristics of childhood; they have simply been depicted on a smaller scale.’ Children were in effect ‘mini-adults’ with the same rights, duties and skills as adults. They even dressed the same and carried out the same work.…

    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    biological process as different cultures attach different status to and significance to certain age groups. Braham and Jane state “everyone is included in membership of these different groups” (2002 xi). This essay focuses on the treatment and status of children in the majority world contrasted to the experience of childhood in the minority world. In the majority world children often work from an early age and are expected to fulfil adult Responsibilities because children are thought of as competent from a young age, thus these children tend to have a more interdependent relationship with adults. This kind of childhood is at odds with minority world ideals of childhood in which children are segregated from the adult world, indulged and controlled. Boyden explains that minority world childhoods are so different because in the western world it is believed “childhood is a time for play incompatible with adult responsibilities” (1990).…

    • 1281 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Aqa Family Sociology

    • 5965 Words
    • 24 Pages

    Caldwell, John (2001; first published 1976) “Towards a restatement of demographic transition theory” in Frank…

    • 5965 Words
    • 24 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sociology

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Using material from item 2B and elsewhere assess different sociological explanations of changes in the status of childhood. (24 marks)…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There has been a noticeable shift in the form of childhood throughout history. The nature of childhood has changed from spending time alone or with peers to explore the surroundings and seeking adventures to sitting motionlessly in front of a computer or television set for hours. In Reclaiming Childhood: Freedom and Play in an Age of Fear by Helene Guldberg, she noted that there is a new generation of childhood where children “are cooped up inside the home and denied the freedom to socialize” in contrast to the days where children get “to spend much time hanging around with their friends outside” (10-11). Today’s childhood is diverging further and further away from previous generations in terms of their freedom. In addition, during earlier…

    • 223 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Social Construction

    • 3958 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Our thoughts and ideas of childhood as a social construction have altered noticeably over the last ten years. The development of constructions of childhood has steadily become more intricate as the numbers of theories rise. Through research of early…

    • 3958 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Child Rearing

    • 1493 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Bibliography: James, Allison, and Prout, Alan. 1990. Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood. London: Falmer Press.…

    • 1493 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Sociology of Childhood

    • 3687 Words
    • 15 Pages

    For this assignment I will explore the concept of childhood and how this has evolved over time across different societies, looking particularly at the role education has in childhood. I will also take a closer look at the different sociological perspectives of childhood and will use these to interpret children’s experiences in order to gain a greater understanding and knowledge of early childhood. I will explore how certain constraints of childhood have emerged over time and how these have shaped our knowledge and understating of children’s lives.…

    • 3687 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Exam Paper

    • 2332 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 ‘Children are “naturally” good.’ Compare this view with other discourses of childhood. How does gender affect children’s experiences of childhood? Evaluate the claim that childhood is socially constructed, drawing on examples to illustrate your answer.…

    • 2332 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays