Examine the ways in which childhood can be said to be socially constructed (24 marks) A social construct is an idea or concept that has been created and defined within society. Many sociologists argue that childhood is a social construct, as it isn’t a fixed, universal idea, and differs in different areas and time periods. There are historical and cultural differences in how childhood is defined. For example, what kind of childhood a child in the UK goes through will be drastically different to the kind a child in Kenya, or that of a middle age UK person went through. One of the most notable things to examine when looking at what causes childhood to be socially constructed is the work of Phillipe Aries (1960).
According to Yadin Dudai the culture has three main sides. The first one is culture as an action and vehicle for the transfer of information by its natural way of acting. A common action of culture is collective memory. “Culture also contains material artefacts as well as contemporary institutions, regulations, and beliefs that do not necessarily make it into the collective memory of the group.”1 Culture influences experiences by offering perceptions that affect it, as Frigga Haug states, by opposing conventional theory on femininity to lived memory. Neil Gregor has argued experience affects culture, since individual experience becomes communicable and therefore collective.
Cultural variations in attachment Culture is the set of shared attitudes, values, goals and practises that characterise an institution, organisation or group. Individualistic culture - sees individuals and independence important (Western – UK, USA) Collectivist culture - sees the group/community as important, things are shared, aspire to be interdependent (Japan, Israel) If we judge another If we judge another culture using the values and practices of our own culture this is ethnocentrism. Cross Cultural Similarities (Support’s Bowlby’s view that attachment is universal) Ainsworth (1967) Observed infants attachment behaviour in Uganda Findings: infants used mothers as a secure base for exploration and mothers of securely attached infants showed greater sensitivity towards their infants than those who were insecurely attached Tronik et al (1992) African tribe Infants lived in extended family groups, were looked after and even breastfed by different women but usually slept with their own mother. Despite such differences in child-rearing practices the infants at 6 months, still showed one primary attachment Fox (1977) Studied infants on Israeli kibbutzim, who spent most of their time being cared for in a communal childrens home by metaplot (nurses, 1 nurse = metapelet) Attachment was tested in the SS with either metapelet or mother. Findings: Infant appeared equally attached to both caregivers except in terms of reunion behaviour where they showed greater attachment to their mother.
He uses Clyde Kuckhohn’s Mirror of Man, a work he believes is a good general introduction to anthropology, as a basis to describe his own view. He believes that Kluckhohns definition of culture as “the total way of life of a people”, is slightly constricted and does not represent the complete picture. He sees the concept of culture as predominately a semiotic one. Semiotic being the study of signs and sign processes. Geertz sees culture as “webs of significance” and the analysis of these webs.
There are millions of communities all over the world that differ from one another by not only physical locations, but also from language and cultures. Netting (2008) states “Some communities will be viewed nostalgically, as desirable places, evoking warm memories. Other communities will be seen as oppressive, restrictive, or even dangerous to both residents and outsiders” (p. 129). The way a community is seen is not only based on its resident’s views and experiences, but also the way non-residents see it. For the purpose of this research paper, a neighborhood that is bounded by geographical perimeters was chosen for observations.
Compare and contrast the Functionalist and Marxist views of society. Sociology has been classified as the last in a long line of emerging scientific disciplines which people have developed and explored in order to make sense of their world. Early theories such as the positivist approach of Comte, the functionalist views of Emile Durkheim and the conflict perspectives of Karl Marx have offered a view of why human beings behave as they do and how they fit together in society. Each theory has to some extent been shaped or influenced by the approach of others and many sociological explanations have comparisons or contrast that can be made. Browne once said "sociological perspectives centre on how much freedom or control the individual had to influence society" He goes on to comment on the two main approaches "structuralism is concerned with the overall structure of society and the way social institutions act as a constraint, or limit and control individual behaviour".
A bureaucracy that replicates the cultural and ethnic mixture of the population is also likely to be more receptive to the requirements and objectives of marginal groups in a diverse society Representative bureaucracy is mainly focused on the benefits of passive representation, the presence of a public labor force that reflects the demographic features of the society it work for. The viewpoint was first seen in the academic works of J. Donald Kingsley. However, Kingsley’s creation of representativeness in the British Civil Service move away from what is now observed as representative bureaucracy, as he concentrated on social class as one of the most important demographic variables. Following Kingsley’s work, David Levitan addressed the overlook of creating a representative labor force in the public division in the United States, arguing the public would better consent organization actions if the demographic composition of those agencies was similar to that of society. The theory
That is to say that this segregational behavior is deep rooted in human culture; and neighbourhoods, whether the ones of today or of the yesteryears, were perhaps physical manifestations of that behavior. Most of the readings declare Perry as the pioneer for formulating strict guidelines for what a good neighbourhood should be, and for him the neighbourhood was a ‘geographical unit’. It was a ‘closed system’ which includes parameters based on size, boundaries, open spaces, institutional sites, local shops and an internal street system. He talks about how all these basic units which make the neighbourhood need to be predetermined so as to create a healthy neighbourhood fostering good morals and values. Unfortunately, this closed system envisions no potential for growth.
PART ONE The social constructionist perspective suggests that identities are constructed through language and social relation. Illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of this statement with examples of research studies from this and one other perspective. The theory of social constructionism is a relatively new concept that explores the development of identity; a question of how uniqueness and diversity is formed within us has preoccupied psychologists since the time of Freud and Jung. The social constructionism ideology states that our identities are de-centred and multiple and it has been argued by these theorists that there is a continual building of identity and a sense of our place in the world by individuals according to interaction with society, however small and transient. The theory also includes that as well as identity evolving, it is provisional as it is dependent on situation and cultural influences.
Personality traits include assertiveness, dominance, creativity, self-confidence, administrative ability, and fluency of speech, social perceptiveness, and adaptability. Social traits include motivation, responsibility, initiative, persistence, task orientation, cooperativeness, and sociability (Howell & Costley, 2006). Society often believes that leadership traits, which people are born with. Typically traits are identified in people and the common misconception is those people are that they are born with those traits. With the traits as listed above it is not correct to generalize by saying that leaders are born since these traits