Preface

The child, as a morally and sometimes demographically large and vast member who plays a fundamental role in regulating the individual and social relations of society, has always been the focus of various humanities disciplines. Sociology, as the science that examines social actions, relations, institutions, patterns, and structures, has not been outside this circle. Children, as members of any society who have their own specific agency and often help shape special actions and structures around themselves, can be the subject of sociological investigations.

Before the years 1968-1970, sociology neglected to address children. In other words, before being neglected, children were considered marginal subjects; due to their seemingly subordinate position in society, children have always been marginalized in theoretical sociological conceptualizations. Perhaps it can be said that the theories that directly referred to children were only the theories related to socialization. In this model of viewing the child, children are often considered future adults who are supposed to have a place in the social order and a role in building it. Therefore, children’s needs were not examined separately and independently in sociology. It is worth mentioning that the child was considered in hyphenated sociologies such as family, education, and literature, but none of the approaches addressed the children themselves directly and independently. This is while developmental psychology has spent years dealing with children’s issues and topics with often individualistic paradigms.

This series of writings intends to look at the child from a social perspective and examine it completely independently. Therefore, we will discuss topics such as the definitions of childhood in traditional and sociological perspectives, new theories about childhood, the positioning of childhood, and cultural and historical texts of childhood with separate subheadings.

Traditional and Sociological Definitions and Theories of Childhood

Introduction

Before starting studies and research in any field, the need to define the elements of that field seems necessary and essential. Therefore, at the beginning of this series of writings, we will address the definition of childhood from the perspective of pre-sociological and sociological theories.

In a general view, the emergence of the concept of “childhood” is a completely historical matter. Just as various social groups have changed their meaning and form throughout history, childhood has been no exception to this. In European societies, before the formation of new epistemological and anthropological foundations, the concept of childhood did not exist in the sense it is used today. Specialization and the necessity of acquiring knowledge appropriate to adulthood were among the factors that changed the meaning of childhood from a biological phenomenon to a social phenomenon. Children no longer simply became adults by growing older, and adulthood was no longer a natural and biological matter. To transition from this status to a higher status (adulthood), children had to learn skills and prepare themselves. Generally speaking, industrialization and the formation of the bourgeoisie helped complete and accelerate this change in meaning, because industrialization sought to employ a specific skill or knowledge in production that required learning, and on the other hand, unlike the working class whose children had to start working as soon as they had basic abilities, the bourgeoisie enjoyed more leisure and sufficient wealth to educate their children and prevent them from working. So it is not far-fetched to consider the formation of the concept of childhood in Europe fundamentally as a product of the bourgeois era.

It should be noted that children had a conceptual existence even before this period, but their meaning and definition were more functional and in terms of economic returns for their families. Whereas today’s children, or the children of the bourgeoisie after historical changes in Europe, have a value that gives meaning to family life rather than an economic value, about which further discussions will be raised in the future. In this section, we will review pre-sociological theories regarding childhood.

Pre-sociological Theories of the Child:

1. The wicked child: This theory believes that malice, mischief, corruption, and baseness are the main and primary elements of a child’s existence. Therefore, limitations must be imposed on the child so that through regulatory and punitive programs, these tendencies are driven out of the child’s existence and they transform into an adult with all desirable characteristics. The basis of this perspective on the child can be found in the doctrine of original sin. The child is imagined like a person with all dark and ugly potential forces who, if not controlled and kept away from dangerous places that cause the liberation of these forces, will fall into inappropriate friends and companions, acquire improper and ugly habits, and grow up lazy and idle. Therefore, punishment in this type of view is considered a completely educational matter aimed at organizing children. An order that children need to internalize, an order that if destroyed by them, endangers their own comfort and well-being and causes the disruption of the order and stability of adulthood that children want to reach. In this view, through integration with society and family, the individual will be far from the worst and most harmful events; therefore, without the pressure and power of the family, the child’s life will fall into chaos, and the main cause of children’s unruly behavior is considered to be family instability.
2. The innocent child: This theory considers children as beings with pure hearts and angelic natures who are full of inherent and genuine vital forces. This perspective stems from Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s view in critiquing original sin theories. As a herald of individual freedom, he opposed violence in education and considered the correct way of education to be the worship of intrinsic values that children bring with them into this world, as well as providing a way for their emergence and manifestation.
3. The blank slate child: This type of view of the child originates from the beliefs and thoughts of John Locke. In this theory, children are considered like a blank piece of paper; in other words, as stated in Locke’s “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding”, children possess no internal or a priori abilities and lack a general capacity for reasoning. Children may be imperfect in terms of logic and reason, but it is assumed that their motives and inclinations have appropriate readiness to reach logic and reasoning. This process is realized through education, and children will become wise, logical individuals with special virtues. Through experience, children’s minds develop and they learn the ability to assume various roles.
4. The naturally developing child: In this view, the child is entirely a natural phenomenon. Therefore, children are not considered a social phenomenon, and their natural characteristics lead to the inevitable process of growth and maturation. This theory is derived from the views of Jean Piaget. He considered the use of the word biology for children to be completely natural and self-evident, and thus presented a materially reduced and miniaturized image of the child. The child is considered completely undeveloped in this regard, and the process of their growth is charted on a linear continuum that begins with childish virtual thinking and reaches adult practical thinking.
5. The unconscious child: This perspective is derived from Freud’s theories. He considers the ego to be the seat of all instinctual energies that are necessarily sexual. In the ego, the model of the wicked child is seen, which is repressed by external forces, meanwhile the id plays an important role in establishing a relationship between the ego and the outside, as well as regulating their relations.

These five perspectives were presented as pre-sociological theories of childhood. In the next writing, we will examine the communicative theory and the transition to the sociology of the child, and put forward four main perspectives in the sociological view of the child.

Author: Nasser Tafaghodi

Sources:

1. James, Allison, Jenks, Chris, and Prout, Alan (2014). Theorizing Childhood. Alireza Kermani and Alireza Ebrahimi. Tehran. Sales
2. Corsaro, William (2014). The Sociology of Childhood. Alireza Kermani and Masoud Rajabi Ardestani. Tehran. Sales
3. Collection of authors. (2017). An Introduction to Childhood Studies. Alireza Kermani. Tehran. Sales

(Note: This series of texts has been written using three existing sources in the field of the sociology of the child. In these texts, direct quotes have not been made, so direct citations have not been given, but these three sources will be mentioned at the end of each writing)