Social and cultural norms influencing the definition and experience of childhood
Explore the similarities and the disparities of the experiences the children face across various societies and ethnicities across the world.
The definition of childhood through different cultures and the experience of childhood in those cultures are influenced by the social and cultural norms. The childhood is basically the stage in which the being is dependent on others for survival and learns to survive in the environment himself (Piaget 2013. The different societies through history had different perspectives and ideologies to deal with childhood and bring different ideologies in their upbringing. The constant development and the adept mind of an early age are conducive for the overall understanding of the society in the child (James and Prout 2015). Most of the cultures follow the Aristotelian concept of childhood subconsciously without knowing the philosophy (James and Prout 2015). The philosophy focuses on the formulae stating that a child is the miniature form of the organism and with enough nurturing; he would fit into the society (Hwang 2014). The different societies use different procedures to inculcate the child in their society and promote the ideals of the society into them. The bifurcation of childhood in the different societies varies with the society and the religions the population belongs to. This essay approaches the concept of global childhood through then perspective of different cultural outlooks and their effect on shaping the behavior of the child conceptualizing the fact that there cannot be a concept of global form of childhood.
The global form of childhood seeks to explore the similarities and the disparities of the experiences the children face across various societies and ethnicities across the world (Wells 2015). The overall concept of global childhood universalizes the fact that the experiences of children do not vary around the world, which is not the case in reality (Hwang 2014). The different ethnographic groups see childhood differently and the experiences of the child across cultures vary (Veraksa 2014). The different issues faced by the children or the different facilities given to them vary according to the social norms of the contemporary society. On the other hand, the children across the various cultures base their experiences based on the different social situations they face in the while being brought up. For example, some cultures like the ones in the oriental countries believe in beating up their children to discipline them while others do not (Umeda et al. 2015).
The social consideration and perspective of childhood of three countries are taken into consideration to explain the different issues that relate to ethnographic and the anthropological diversities that affect the perception of childhood across societies (Hwang 2014). The ethnographic and the social approach help to establish a conceptual idea about childhood and its effect on the child (Hwang 2014). It is safe to assume that the effect the society has on the child shapes how they fit into the society. The overall social approach can be seen as inclusive to cultural barriers. Since all the cultures have developed through time based on the history and need of the society, it would be wrong to call a culture bad.
The concept and challenges of global childhood
In the modern society, it is the popular belief that the children are innocent and need help from the society but it is not the same in every culture, which will show the disparity in the concept of the global form of childhood. For example, Among the Yuiqui people it is a common belief that the newborn child’s mana is the threat to the community until it can hold up its head (Lancy 2014).
The concept of all the societies varies and children are considered from anything of incarnation of gods to evil spirits residing in the bodies and a curse to the society. It is the concept of the perception along with the overall social development of the society, which helps in the understanding of childhood and formulating an understanding of the different concepts, which help us understand the anthropological developments of the childhood studies (Gottlieb 1998). It has to be taken into account that despite the different concept of the child, one of the things that are becoming universal is the support to the child to understand the norms and develop in the society.
The different countries taken into consideration in this research are very diverse and developed very differently in culture and ethnography. The countries are Ireland, Ethiopia and Brazil. These countries are geographically diverse and have different culture because of the geographical and anthropological diversity (Vitale 2014). This is not a study about countries though but the cultures and their impact in shaping the childhood of the children in various societies. The social changes that are part of the society and the concept of the childhood vary according to the conceptual belief of the society. The changes in the society and its beliefs help in understanding the social context of childhood in the society. The different concepts to understand the childhood are based on the popular beliefs and norms that the society adheres to.
The children in Brazil are usually brought up in this society, which is warm open, and friendly, it is good for the South American children but it will not go well with Japanese families who focus on disciplining their children (Umeda et al. 2015). Though the childhood in both societies is the same in terms of family support and the societal expectations from the children are the same, in terms of the children fulfilling their duties. The children are expected to fulfill these expectations in different ways adhering to the norms of the society. The childhood and its experience is very subjective, which cannot be judged by taking into account a certain location or the geographical culture. The identities of the children develop due to the social and cultural interactions are based on the society and whether the society follows Neontocracy or Gerontocracy. These are the two basic concepts, which focus on the type of attention the child gets when it is in a society. The concept of Neontocracy states that the children are the important part of the society and the rules are made in attention to the children and their development (Aitken2013). On the contrary, the Gerontocracy focuses on the society that is ruled by the elders. The gerontocratic society is one of the oldest elder based oligarchies getting their foundation back to the Greek civilization (Aitken 2013). The development of the children and their experiences vary in neontocracies and gerontocracies. The neontocracy mostly seen in the developed countries like Ireland, where the children are given a lot of preference and the society pays a lot of attention on bringing them up and providing them with opportunities no matter they deserve it or not (Heine 2015). In the countries like Brazil Gerontocracy is still the wide practice as it is seen that the children are cared for as long as they are productive to the society and are let to being on their own when they ceased to be productive (Mello et al. 2014). The concept of childhood in the society is very important as it is passed on from one generation to another and the concept develops according to this. It is important as the concept of the treatment of the children are passed on from one generation to another through the treatment of one generation towards another (Pasco 2016).
Different perspectives of childhood and their impact on children’s development
The children in Ireland get all the facilities that are expected in the first world societies. The children here experience an avid neontocracial society where they have freedom and are cared for by the society (Weisner 2015). The concept of childhood is based on the neontocracy and the children are seen as cherubs (Lancy, 2014) The children are provided for and have all the necessary facilities at their disposal. The children here work on developing there cognitive abilities and have a more secured approach due to relative lesser competition and parental pressure (Weisner 2015). The children feel the constant need to be understood and understand the society they are brought up in. the cognitive development is in tandem with the Irish society and they are developed to be a fit into the society (Heine 2015). The changes that the children go through during their childhood and adolescence makes them adhere to the norms of the society. They have better access to education healthcare and the social support (Heine 2015).
The upbringing received by the children in the Irish society is mostly influenced by the changes that are going on in the world as this society is developed and is influenced by globalization and multiculturalism (Hanafin and Coyne 2015). The children there for are more at par with the current changes in the society than and have a strong sense of self and their rights (Hanafin and Coyne 2015). The changes in the society and the overall development of the society are understood by the children who develop into law-abiding adults with the norms of the society (Meehanand Crittenden2016). The changes in the society are understood and the children develop their cognition based on the information they have from their upbringing. The children therefore in the Irish society make them more self-conscious and socially adept (Meehanand Crittenden2016).
The concept of childhood and the philosophy of childhood in Ethiopia is very different than that of the developed countries. In Ethiopia, children are not only seen as a burden in most cases but the experience of childhood is very dark among the tribal of Ethiopia (Kifle and Tensay 2017). The experience of childhood among the children in Ethiopia is very much affected by the poverty of the society and the historical and the cultural background of the country. The country has mostly tribal as its major population so the concept of bringing up the children is also based on the tribal ethics in their country (Kifle and Tensay2017). The Ethiopian society is a classic example where the children are seen as chattel in the current economic scenario of the country (Camfield 2010). The children are supposed to take the responsibilities of their families along with the adults and therefore it is extremely important for them to work. The children are mostly forced to work and there is a high probability that they will be forced into child labor. The childhood in this country is extremely hard and the children are forced to hard labor since an early age (Sorsa and Abera 2016). The poverty and the high crime rates also make the children more conscious of the society and they believe in the concept of sharing (Hanafin and Coyne 2015). The traditional Ethiopian society believes in long lasting and deep friendship bonds, making it a habit among the children in this society to form strong bonds based on the concept of sharing (Hanafin and Coyne 2015). The children are devoid of proper education and the basic modern amenities and they develop the overall habit of fighting their way into the society and make a place for themselves (Sorsa and Abera 2016). The lack of the resources makes their childhood limited to fulfilling their basic needs and not on getting any luxury of even the necessities at par with the developed societies. The childhood experiences are limited to the enriched cultural values and the social experiences (Vitale 2014)
Cultural diversity and its role in shaping childhood experiences
The concept of childhood in Brazil is both neontocratic and gerontocratic depending on the environment they are brought up in. The overall disparity in the society and the position of the family of the child with respect to the society helps in the determining the experience of the childhood. The childhood in this country is based on the environment of the society that they are brought up in. The Brazilian society is known for its diversity expanse and multiculturalism (Glassman, R.M., 2017). The childhood and its experience varies from the tribes to the urban areas of the country and the concept is taken is a different sense (Butler 2017). In the urban society if the child meets the social and familial expectations, then the child has neontocratic childhood but when they fail to fulfill the needs of the society and adhere to its norms they face gerontocratic childhood where either they face patriarchal approach of they are expected to meet the need of the family (Glassman, R.M., 2017)
The childhood among the slums are again different where the children feel the need to uplift in the better and affluent society but are limited by the social expectations and the norms of the society. According to Mello et al., (2014), the children working on the streets of Brazil face a constant risk of violence and mistreatment.
The changes thus experienced by the children therefore give a different experience of childhood to the children in the same geographical area depending on many other factors. These factors include their social environment (Tribal or Urban), Educational abilities (educated or uneducated families) and economic stability (rich or poor). Brazil is also home to large rainforests housing a number of tribal groups where the children are nurtured according to the tribal laws and they focus on excelling in their tribes rather than focusing on out worldly experiences as seen in the Zo’e tribe of Brazil (Garve et al. 2016). The childhood experience in Brazil shows a great deal of variety according to the geographic and cultural diversity in the society (Gregory 2017). On the contrary, the experience of childhood across the countries discussed has one thing in common that the child is nurtured for a certain age until he is made a part of the society. The experiences of the love and the changes in the society that the children have is universally the same, the variance is in the experience and the individual approach toward the society.
The concept of a global form of childhood is flawed because the very experience of childhood varies from individual to individual and is based on inherent attitudes along with the social and attained attitudes. The same child can be taken in different ways in different societies. For example, some societies may take deformed children as an incarnation of god and among others; they can be seen as a threat to the society and population. For example, among the Hamer tribe of Ethiopia the children who are born of illegitimate relationships, have a twin sibling or developed upper teeth first are considered mingi or cursed and killed (Kifle and Tensay2017). This tradition of the Mingi people makes the experience of childhood and the concept of childhood very different from what the general conception is (Kifle and Tensay2017).
The social and cultural approach to childhood and its inclusivity to cultural barriers
The Suruwaha tribe of Brazil also shares a similar belief where the children are buried in shallow rainforest if they are born with any disability or are born of illegitimate relationships (Diggins 2004).
The concept of the childhood and the experience of these children or the rare ones who survive are very different than what we know. The tribal societies thrive on physical abilities of its members and chooses the fit members of the society to survive, any child with disability or born of a relation which is not accepted in the society will be ostracized and will face death slowly in the harsh conditions (Demuijnck 2015). Therefore, it is seen that in most societies the childhood is affected by the legitimacy of the relationship of the parents. The experience in such cases is different in the western societies, which are urbanized. The children in such societies like those in Ireland do not face such issues as the society and the parents take the responsibility to provide for them. The social responsibility, which is shared, helps in the better cognitive development of the child despite their disabilities (Boyd 2002).
Therefore, it can be said that there is no global form of childhood as the children in all the places do not get the same treatment nor is their behavior same. It cannot be said that the cultures are wrong in anyway. A social structure like the human society survives on resources and the experience of the childhood in most cases is dependent on the available resources in the society. The Hamer and Suruwaha people have their norm and cannot afford to have a dependent member sharing their limited resources and they seek to keep the childhood a preparation of the hardships of the tribal life (Flynn and McGregor 2017). This is not an issue in the developed world where there is an abundance of resources and the society can easily develop (Flynn and McGregor 2017). The childhood in these societies are more conducive for survival but prepares the child for a different kind of competition.
The concept of globalization and multiculturalism is having a great impact on lives of the children by inducing multiculturalism (Hovdelien, O., 2014) By decreasing the cultural gaps among the societies globalization is helping in the development and formation of a better society but the childhood of the children are also affected by it (Aitken 2013). The most important thing the globalization has done is improve economies and make the society more affluent, which has improved the experience of childhood (Gregory 2017). The cultural diversity has also made the children more open to foreign ideas and different cultures often leading to cultural clad. It has also led to the increase in the economic gap making more and more children informed and unsatisfied with their childhood (Aitken 2013).
Conclusion
Thus in this essay it can be seen that the childhood is and objective concept to every society and the child itself. There cannot be a global form of child hood despite globalization because despite of the formulation of the global policies their implementation will need the support of the local societies and the children themselves. The global form of childhood is just a textbook terminology as the experience of childhood varies from child to child in the different societies. The societies change and with the norms of the society change the overall experience of childhood around the world. Therefore, it can be concluded that the childhood is the subjective experience of thee child and varies around the world.
The role of society in shaping childhood and its influence on children’s behavior
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