Literature Review

The way the Literature Review is written follows the process of the way in which the study has progressed and changed over time. It indicates to the reader how the investigation was formed through the literature surrounding the topic area of day care and the development of my ideas.

Giddens discusses the use of politics within relationships and the need for a democratic understanding between the people involved; an equal balance between partners and in decisions about their children. He acknowledges the differences that have occurred over time and highlights that there has been a significant change in family tradition. Children were expected to take on the roles of their mother or their father depending on their sex. The women taking care of the home and the men earning the living, there was no question of same-sex partners or the notion of shared roles and responsibilities between the husband and the wife. Giddens found this “school of thought to be linked to rightist political positions” and that these “positions” would try to claim that the “family is in a state of crisis.” The idea of same-sex relationships having children would create the debate of who would take on what role and whether it was considered to be morally correct. The rightist view would argue against this type of relationship and family unit, whilst a democratic outlook would consider this still to be a family. With the shift in tradition the number of children that were being born into the family was decreasing as well and this brings about the idea of the “prized child”.

Following on from the work of Giddens, the “prized child” is the concept that children are perceived as being more precious. In comparison to tradition, where there were many children in one family and the attention could not be focused on one child. This was due to the fact that traditionally, children were conceived in order for them to contribute to the “economic unit” of the family. However, nowadays family is seen more as “a set of relationships based much more upon communication and especially based upon emotional communication.” The family unit is closer and the reasoning for creating children is concerned with a much more emotional aspect rather than a financial one.
Cunningham expressed a similar view claiming that the child has changed from being a “productive role within the economy” to “a new role as consumers.” (2005: 185) He goes onto claim that this therefore altered the opinion and decisions of parents when they came to creating a family. As a result parents decided to have fewer children as they were not being valued as a contribution to the family economy. Instead, they were being considered as an individual person and were conceived 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. (2005: 85)
Cunningham expanded on this idea and examined the changes in the role of the child 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 infants. John Watson suggested that parents should treat their children “as though they were young adults.” (2005: 183-184) In other words there was no need for any emotional support or attachment between mother and child. 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 and could lead them into experiencing emotional stress and depression. “Parents were (now) being advised to enjoy parenting rather than to look on it as an intimidating scientific task.” (2005: 84)

Lakoff is another theorist who relates family to politics and he believes there to be a need for democracy and equal rights within the family. The lexis, for instance “founding fathers” and “sending our sons to war” (2004: 5) is used today by so many people and indicates as humans we link politics and Universal views to family values. Dobson also makes a connection between family and right-wing politics. His “Strict Father Model” shows the similarity between persons in authority in both the home as well as the Government; claiming that a “father tells not asks” in the same way that a “president tells and does not ask.” (2004: 6-7) Lakoff goes onto explain the notion of a “nurturant parent” (2004:14) Here, the two heads of the family are neutral; they live in a democracy where the parents both have equal responsibilities. He emphasises the importance of honesty and states that “open two-way communication is fundamental in a family as well as in a Community.” (2004: 13)

Similar to the research carried out by Giddens, Lakoff looks into the connotations of the word ‘marriage’ and discovers that vocabulary such as a “life-long relationship, a partnership, family, vows and a home” (2004: 46) are all associated with the word. This leads him onto question why same-sex marriages are therefore “frowned upon” when all of the above can be implied to both hetero as well as homosexual relationships. He suggests the way in which the media portray “gay marriages” could affect peoples’ opinions of the idea. When assessing the lexis of “same-sex marriage” and “gay marriages” although ultimately they hold the same meaning, due to the portrayal one commutates, sounds slightly sordid and represents an “irresponsible lifestyle” whilst the other softens the view that many have about gay marriages. Lakoff stresses the importance of placing a word into the English language and having people use it on a regular basis so that it becomes common and embedded in peoples’ minds. He believes that if this process can happen with the phrase “same-sex marriages” then this will replace the negative meaning of “gay marriages” in our culture and society as well as our language. (2004: 46) This links back to Dobson’s “Strict Father Model” where the father is seen as the leader, much like a leader in a dictatorship where there is only acceptance of heterosexual marriages. The father is a role model to the son and the daughters are able too see what a man should be like. This opposes the “Nurturant Parent Model” which sees the parents as two equal partners, a democracy in which the following are essential (2004:48)
• Freedom
• Openness - Strong Progressive Politics
• Cooperation
• Community Development
• Fairness
The model looks to nurture and to teach children to nurture others. Whilst it still considers marriage to be between a man and a woman, it does not rule out and still considers the notion of same-sex marriages. In comparison to the “Strict Father Model” which follows right-wing politics and tradition. Although Civil Unions allow for an economic unit, a family and a partnership to be formed “gay activists” want their marriages to be accepted in churches like heterosexual ones are. They wish to represent their love and want it to be treated with a “sense of normality”. “Equality includes social and cultural as well as material benefits.” (2004:49) when considering the two areas of marriage and family, the initial thoughts are concerned with love, care and commitment not economic fairness.
These ideas moved the study into considering the ideas of Elkind (1979) who examined the affects that social change has on a child’s development and how adults’ attitudes have an affect on children. He looked at the differences between generations and claimed that youths of today are considered to be “wilder, freer, more boisterous, and more disrespectful” (1979: 4). He outlines three adult illusions that are described below (1979: 4)
Generational Illusion – Here is where older generations do not remember or consider themselves as being so misbehaved in comparison to youths of today.
Immediacy illusion - Which again looks at the differences between adults and youths, Elkind provides the example of the elder generation describing the impatience of waiting in a queue or being help up by traffic. They describe it as a long time, “it seems to take an age.” Yet, when reflecting on their lives and their years of growing up, this period of time seems to have “gone so quickly”. (1979: 4) Elkind expands on this idea with the notion of “The sense of urgency” that time is running out for the elder generation and that something needs to be done now. He acknowledges that adults may believe that youths share this conception. However, Elkind states that youths do not have this sense of urgency. They understand and appreciate the dangers of pollution, global warming, yet they do not see the urgency of feel the need to act and do something about it now.

This links in with the generational illusion as the older generation believe that the younger generation should have the same priorities when, according to Elkind it is not essential that they do.

Homogeneity illusion – This involved being stereotypical about youths and grouping all of them as being the same. When in actual fact, youths are just as diverse as adults. For instance, there are youths who attend church as part of their social life, whilst there are others who hang out down the park or at the local bowling alley as a way of fun. Elkind in accordance to Lakoff blames the media for this misconception; the media have the voice and most of the time youths are only talked about as being one type or another; good or bad. There are no variations or talk about the different types. (1979; 4)

Elkind goes onto discuss the change in schools over the generations, “schools too have focused more and more upon making academic achievements, rather than personal adjustment, their primary goal.” (1979: 7). As a result of this the child is becoming “competent at an early age”. This is occurring in both academic areas such as Mathematics, Science and English as well as in sports and outdoor activities, Elkind phrases it as creating “a miniature adult”. (1979: 7) This then leads to competition and with this comes the positive and the negative, the failure as well as the success. Many parents urge their children to compete without considering the affects and frustrations it may be causing the child.

Elkind believes that the child’s wants and needs, that were always considered and believed to come above a parents’ is now changing. He feels that the “child-centred approach to child rearing is rapidly disappearing” (1979: 8), with mother’s going to work instead of staying at home with their children. In this case, Elkind sees the child’s needs and wants becoming second to the parents’. This then leads onto the child, having to gain “emotional independence” at an early stage. He goes onto relate this to divorce, and highlights that the divorce rate is increasing over the years. Nowadays couples, even if parents are willing to separate if they are unhappy, they will not stay together for the sake of the family or for the children. (1979: 8-9)

This allowed for the investigation to progress into looking at the different types of care there are for children. Morgan (1996: 3) considers that idea that third-party childcare such as day-care centres and nurseries are effective and beneficial towards the child. She recognises that discussing the question of childcare is a hard issue as many become “infuriated that day care/nurseries are considered as being “better” or at least “harmless” compared to “parental care”. (1996: 3)
The advantages of day-care are seen as beneficial as Morgan feels it prepares children for school and allows them to gain a wider view of adulthood. Edwina Curry from The Times considers the economic necessity of placing children in nurseries, yet she does not do so in the way that Giddens did previously, instead she examines the need for women to work to prevent “the shrinking numbers in the work force.” She continues to say that children create labour such as clothes and food and this therefore increases jobs and employment which creates demand for more people to work. Childcare would allow for mothers to return to work, as well as providing another economic advantage of creating jobs such as nursery workers and assistants, teachers and kitchen staff. (1996:3)
Morgan also considers the disadvantages to day-care and suggests that children being placed in nurseries may grow up to have a destructive relationship with their mothers. This similar to the opinion held by Cunningham can then develop into stress which will create problems in later life. (1996: 81) It is said that childcare can lower depression in mothers, yet this is related to financial issues rather than the attachment and care of the child. The mother knows that if she works, the family income will increase and therefore the chance of depression decreases. As Morgan states “poor parents make anxious parents”. (1996: 81)
Morgan recognises there to be an attachment between mother and child. She goes onto claim that there can be differences in the bond between the two, if the child is placed in day-care. Morgan identifies five points that can have an effect on a child’s attachment with their parents (1996: 90)
• The mother and fathers work patterns
• The parents’ attitudes and behaviour towards their children
• The family environment as a whole – as a family unit or in a home environment
• The child’s behaviour
• The care that the child is given by either the parents or the persons left to care for the child if the parents’ are not present.

Since women have increased in numbers within the “labour force” over the last century, it is extremely common to have both parents in full-time employment.
“The amount of ‘total contact time’ between parents and children is calculated to have dropped 40 per cent for the USA during the last quarter century”. (1996: 90)
Therefore, the time spent between the child and the parent has reduced dramatically. It is hard for parents to not treat their children like objects and to actually form relationships with them, if they are not around that often. If the only time parents get to see and play with their children is in the evening when the child is meant to be sleeping it is harder to create and strengthen relationships.
Morgan (1996: 121) highlights the fact that children are the workers and employment of the future and because of these parents should give time to make attachments with their children, as they will be the ones that are in control of the next generation. If they are suffering due to stress and depression caused by detachment from the mother then we are all likely to suffer as a society.
This relates back to the research carried out by Elkind who examined day care in America. (1979: 22-23) He recognised that nursery 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. Elkind continues to say that therefore it is hard “getting and keeping competent staff” (1979: 22). He discovered in his study that many staff members in the nursery are so young. They consequently then choose to stay only in this type of employment 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. (1979: 23)