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Sociology of Childhood

In Uncovering Childhood, Peter Fuller (1979) traces the way that childrenÆs imagery, in fact their being, has been co-modified by adults and capitalistic socioeconomic systems. Primarily viewing children as ôyoung adults,ö Fuller (1979, p. 234) argues that childhood is removed from children in ways that undermine a potential for socialism and more, ôThere are good grounds for concluding that even if it were possible to eradicate childhood altogetherùfor example a sustained assault upon the biological level itselfùthe attempt might also eradicate the potentiality for socialism, and much else besides.ö

In the Victorian era, the child was often viewed as a ôminiature adult,ö and when children from rural and poor classes were depicted it was often from the perspective of the upper-classes. Such images of children are often exploitative, an exploitation that Fuller (1979, p. 232) argues still occurs in contemporary images of children, ôThe child is depicted as a miniature consumer, or the childÆs image is used with no thought of the childÆs own experience, as a narcissistic enticement of adults.ö Such images portend a connection between the child and socioeconomics, one that Fuller (1979) argues is pure fabrication since children are as close to nature and the biological and as far removed from the socioeconomic as it gets during childhood. Because of this Fuller (1979, p. 233) argues children ôàcannot be equalized by social exchange.ö In other words, one of FullerÆs (1979, p. 90) main arguments is that children are distanced from culture in childhood, because while they are not ôculture-freeö the aspects of culture they do relate to are those ôàwhich differ most radically from adult experience and representation of the world.ö

In Karin CalvertÆs (1998) Children in the House, the author discusses the various ways in which childrearing and parenting have changed over time. From the Victorian era when ch...

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Sociology of Childhood. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 05:58, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1711251.html