Cunningham, H (2005) Children and Childhood in Western Society Since 1500. Great Britain: Pearson Education Limited
Cunningham discusses the changes over the years, beginning in America where children were being made to look like science projects and parents were advised not to have an intimate or loving contact with their children. But rather John Watson suggested that parents should treat their children “as though they were young adults.” (183-184) This then changed after the Second World War as many stated that this treatment of children would play a large role in their attitudes later on in life. “Parents were (now) being advised to enjoy parenting rather than to look on it as an intimidating scientific task.” (84)
N.B Personally I do not agree with treating infants like young adults they are entitled to enjoy their childhood and be able to experience love and fun. Reading the part of this text caused me to become quite angry and upset about the way children used to be seen as guinea pigs and ruled in a fascist way.
Cunningham continues to say that the child has changed from being a “productive role within the economy” to “ a new role as consumers.” (185) He goes onto claim that this therefore altered the opinion of the parent and as a result, parents decided to have less children as they were not being valued as a contribution to the family economy. Instead, they valued more individually and for “emotional reasons”. This therefore created a rise in a child’s confidence when they were older and were able to contribute to the family’s economy. (85)
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Woodhead. M, Light. P and Carr, R. (1991) Growing up in a Changing Society. London: Routledge
Barbara Tizard (Chapter 4) Source: E. Lloyd, A. Phoenix and A. Woollett (1991) Social Construction of Motherhood, London: Sage
Methodology: Looked into the work and research carried out by John Bowlby who “believes that the root of personality development lies in the child’s early relationships with the mother.” (61)
The lack of intimacy and loving relationship between a mother and a child can have a large effect on the infant’s development and he has related and carried out this theory on a “study of young thieves” (61)
N.B Look at work on John Bowlby
K. Alison Clarke-Stewart (Chapter 5) Source: American Psychologist (1989) 44 (2): 266-73
Clarke-Stewart talks about the dramatic increase of mothers going back into full-time employment after having children.
Mother-infant relationship the theories that surround this area – mainly concerning with Freud and his views on child/separation from the mother and the effect on the child’s development. Stewart states clearly that although research has shown that children still prefer their mother’s attachment rather than that of a care-taker’s, however her question is “whether the quality of their attachment is as good” is as “emotionally secure” as those attachments that have formed through a child and a parent who has been the only caregiver in the infant’s life.” (79)
Methodology: Stewart began to research this through bringing together data from all studies that have been carried out on child’s attachment to their mothers.
The Strange Situation: (80) Where the child is left in an unknown room with an unknown woman and toys that are unfamiliar and not of their own. The study is carried out to see if children react differently when the mother comes back into the room. Those who have been in day care are supposed to be less likely to be affected by the mother’s return and will quite happily play with the unfamiliar toys and be comforted by the stranger of another woman. Where as the child who is constantly cared for by the mother will want to be reunited with her as soon as she returns to the room. Yet, a disadvantage of this situation is the stress that can be placed on the child, as it is an unusual environment for them to be in.
Clarke-Stewart and Fein (1983) claimed that quite often researchers have discovered that children who attend infant day care have higher intelligence. Tests that have been carried out on infants aged between 18 months and 5 years showed that those who had been placed in day care/nurseries received higher scores on intelligence tests then those who had not. (84)
She goes onto talk about the varied factors that may affect the child’s attachment: (85-87):
1.) Day care factors – “the type, stability or quality of day care experienced by the infants.”
2.) Child factors – the individual; the different characteristics of the child.
3.) Family factors – the mother as an individual whether she had intended to stay at home and then realised or decided that she could not cope with motherhood. Another example given is the stress of dealing with “two full-time jobs – work and motherhood – which would lead to more rejection of every additional burden, including the baby.” (87) This could be extended to having to deal with household tasks and chores as well.
Sources I would like to get hold of:
Ramey, C.T, Dorval, B and Baker-Ward, L (1983) “Group day care and socially disadvantaged families: effects on the child and the family” in S. Kilmer (ed) Advances in Early Education and Day care (Vol 3, 69-106) Greenwich, Conn: JAI Press
Clarke-Stewart, K. A and Fein, G. G (1983) “Early Childhood Programs” in P. H Mussen (ed) Handbook of Child Psychology: Vol.2 Infancy and Developmental Psychobiology. New York: Wiley
Barbara Tizard (Chapter 4) Source: E. Lloyd, A. Phoenix and A. Woollett (1991) Social Construction of Motherhood, London: Sage
Methodology: Looked into the work and research carried out by John Bowlby who “believes that the root of personality development lies in the child’s early relationships with the mother.” (61)
The lack of intimacy and loving relationship between a mother and a child can have a large effect on the infant’s development and he has related and carried out this theory on a “study of young thieves” (61)
N.B Look at work on John Bowlby
K. Alison Clarke-Stewart (Chapter 5) Source: American Psychologist (1989) 44 (2): 266-73
Clarke-Stewart talks about the dramatic increase of mothers going back into full-time employment after having children.
Mother-infant relationship the theories that surround this area – mainly concerning with Freud and his views on child/separation from the mother and the effect on the child’s development. Stewart states clearly that although research has shown that children still prefer their mother’s attachment rather than that of a care-taker’s, however her question is “whether the quality of their attachment is as good” is as “emotionally secure” as those attachments that have formed through a child and a parent who has been the only caregiver in the infant’s life.” (79)
Methodology: Stewart began to research this through bringing together data from all studies that have been carried out on child’s attachment to their mothers.
The Strange Situation: (80) Where the child is left in an unknown room with an unknown woman and toys that are unfamiliar and not of their own. The study is carried out to see if children react differently when the mother comes back into the room. Those who have been in day care are supposed to be less likely to be affected by the mother’s return and will quite happily play with the unfamiliar toys and be comforted by the stranger of another woman. Where as the child who is constantly cared for by the mother will want to be reunited with her as soon as she returns to the room. Yet, a disadvantage of this situation is the stress that can be placed on the child, as it is an unusual environment for them to be in.
Clarke-Stewart and Fein (1983) claimed that quite often researchers have discovered that children who attend infant day care have higher intelligence. Tests that have been carried out on infants aged between 18 months and 5 years showed that those who had been placed in day care/nurseries received higher scores on intelligence tests then those who had not. (84)
She goes onto talk about the varied factors that may affect the child’s attachment: (85-87):
1.) Day care factors – “the type, stability or quality of day care experienced by the infants.”
2.) Child factors – the individual; the different characteristics of the child.
3.) Family factors – the mother as an individual whether she had intended to stay at home and then realised or decided that she could not cope with motherhood. Another example given is the stress of dealing with “two full-time jobs – work and motherhood – which would lead to more rejection of every additional burden, including the baby.” (87) This could be extended to having to deal with household tasks and chores as well.
Sources I would like to get hold of:
Ramey, C.T, Dorval, B and Baker-Ward, L (1983) “Group day care and socially disadvantaged families: effects on the child and the family” in S. Kilmer (ed) Advances in Early Education and Day care (Vol 3, 69-106) Greenwich, Conn: JAI Press
Clarke-Stewart, K. A and Fein, G. G (1983) “Early Childhood Programs” in P. H Mussen (ed) Handbook of Child Psychology: Vol.2 Infancy and Developmental Psychobiology. New York: Wiley
Methodology of Elkind
The research that Elkind carried out was through looking at past assignments over the past ten years. He considers child development to be a “broad domain” which deals with results found in the classroom as well as the home. Elkind talks about a “two-directional approach” to this area. Practical as well as theory, the research in Elkind’s book contains both “research and theory to practice” and “practice to research and theory” (Introduction ix-x)
Chapter 2 in Elkind considers day care in America (22-23) – Similar to my own experience of working in day care, the staff at all levels, whether they be managers or not, enjoy their jobs and maintain “an enthusiastic” approach. Yet, many of the staff are young and although enjoy working in this type of environment do not see it as a full-time or life-long career. Therefore it is hard “getting and keeping competent staff” (22). Many staff members in this particular nursery, similar to those I have worked in found that with staff being so young, they choose to stay only for a couple of years before finding something new. For many, this involves moving onto higher education. However, the low pay also plays a large role in the staff constantly leaving. The salary of a care-worker is not much at all and although staff love the job and working with the children, the pay is not enough to keep them. This seems to be the case in both England and America.
The research that Elkind carried out was through looking at past assignments over the past ten years. He considers child development to be a “broad domain” which deals with results found in the classroom as well as the home. Elkind talks about a “two-directional approach” to this area. Practical as well as theory, the research in Elkind’s book contains both “research and theory to practice” and “practice to research and theory” (Introduction ix-x)
Chapter 2 in Elkind considers day care in America (22-23) – Similar to my own experience of working in day care, the staff at all levels, whether they be managers or not, enjoy their jobs and maintain “an enthusiastic” approach. Yet, many of the staff are young and although enjoy working in this type of environment do not see it as a full-time or life-long career. Therefore it is hard “getting and keeping competent staff” (22). Many staff members in this particular nursery, similar to those I have worked in found that with staff being so young, they choose to stay only for a couple of years before finding something new. For many, this involves moving onto higher education. However, the low pay also plays a large role in the staff constantly leaving. The salary of a care-worker is not much at all and although staff love the job and working with the children, the pay is not enough to keep them. This seems to be the case in both England and America.
The Struggle…….
Well it has been awhile since I have been here! I have found it extremely hard to get back into my Independent Study and I have to admit that I have put it to the back when it has come to my other work. Over the weekend and this week, however I sat down just to read over some books and the work that I have already done. This helped a lot as it has placed me back into the motion of wanting to work on it. Now, I do not know why I did not do this before I was afraid of the Independent Study but once again I have had to tell myself that it is not as big as I believe it to be.
I have progressed in my ideas and feel that I have something to work with at the moment. As before I was worrying that I was not sure where I was going and I had placed a mental block in the pathway. However, now I feel I know where I am going with my Independent Study and this is why I wish to meet up with Clive on Friday to discuss my plans!
Well it has been awhile since I have been here! I have found it extremely hard to get back into my Independent Study and I have to admit that I have put it to the back when it has come to my other work. Over the weekend and this week, however I sat down just to read over some books and the work that I have already done. This helped a lot as it has placed me back into the motion of wanting to work on it. Now, I do not know why I did not do this before I was afraid of the Independent Study but once again I have had to tell myself that it is not as big as I believe it to be.
I have progressed in my ideas and feel that I have something to work with at the moment. As before I was worrying that I was not sure where I was going and I had placed a mental block in the pathway. However, now I feel I know where I am going with my Independent Study and this is why I wish to meet up with Clive on Friday to discuss my plans!
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