Concept of childhood Essay

Break their will betimes begin this bully work before they can run alone, before they can chat plain, or perhaps speak at all make him do as he is bid, if you whip him ten times running to exertion it Break his will now and his soul will live, and he will probably bless you to all eternity. (Wesley, quoted in Reader,Foley p. 28) It was not until the 18th deoxycytidine monophosphate Western culture began to see a new view of claw roof. Philosopher Rousseau in his largely influential book Emile published in 1972 wanted to protect the innocence of the child, believing it was the childs right to be a child.His writings seemed to suggest the first realization of the concept of childhood being a special time of life. Rousseau was a large influence of writings of this time as children begun to dominate art and literature, and ceased to become souls in charter of salvation but childhood became synonymous with innocence. This judgment existed in electrical resistance to the older depression that children were instinctively sinful because of the Judeo Christian belief of schoolmaster sin and continues to be seen in both literature of 19th and twentieth century.In more recent times social construction has been antitheticaliate by another theory postmodernism. An important part of the postmodernism theory is the idea of communion. Within postmodernism discourse is taken to mean a hearty set of interconnected ideas that work together in a egotism contained way, ideas that are held together by a particular ideology or view of the world The term discourse is also used to specify a particular take on some phenomenon. The twain visualizesthe image of the innocent and wholesome child and the image of the wicked and sinful child can be seen as being based upon cardinal different discourses of childhood. (Children in fraternity p29) Although the both discourses within the postmodernism have two very different views on children and how they should be tre ated, they both share a common concept of concern about children. This is a shared belief that adults do in fact have a responsibility towards children. However, they do not confine on what the actions of the adults are but do agree on action.Theses two different discourses are defined as the discourse of offbeat and the discourse of authorization. The discourse of welfare being based on the romantisization of childhood and the assumptions that children are entitled to a good child hood and are innocent and need protection from the adult world. The discourse of control is based on the theory of original sin and children should be controlled and disciplined. The two discourses in annul have influenced indemnity and practice towards children.The discourse of welfare informs the Childrens Act 1989, which allows intervention where a child is seen to be at the risk of harm and the discourse of control informs education policy magisterial compulsory education and strict regulation o f the material being taught. Although the legal age of time the two discourses can co exist well aboard each other conflicts can arise. withal though each discourse has its own set of professional bodies they can sometimes find the two competing discourses confusing and stressful and can leave employees sometimes failing.This in turn is highlighted by the media and leaves the Government under immense pressure to tighten their policy and procedures leaving it even harder for workers within health and social care Even today childhood is not seen as a universal branch of human life. Variations over time and culture are dramatic. Historians such as Aries and Rousseau had a profound impact on Western society and their beliefs on childhood and how children should be perceived and treated. This in turn has shape the policies and practices for those working with children and their families.