...Examine the different sociological views on the changes in the experience of childhood in the past 50 years. According to Aries, childhood can be defined as a social construction. Children were once regarded as ‘little adults’ and an economic asset rather than a symbol of love due to the high death and infant mortality rates making it hard to emotionally invest. However, now, a key aspect of childhood is ‘separateness’ from adulthood. There have been several state policies that have constructed and defined childhood, one of which is the children’s act which aimed to give children more rights to make a positive contribution to society. It argues the best place to raise children is at home with their parents which brought about the social view that it is essential for children to spend time with immediate family in order to grow up to be independent. Aries argues that childhood has changed. Instead of children being seen as an economic asset we now live in a child centred society which is good for the child. Some sociologists, such as Functionalists and the New Right argue that children are seen as precious in todays society. Parsons believes it is the parents responsibility to raise their children into being good citizens in society. New right sociologists are worried that this way of raising children has been undermined by a ‘child centered society’. In the 20th and 21st centuries it is argued that families have become increasingly child centred. Children are often seen...
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...Grownup or Child Not too long ago maybe a month or so, I wanted to do an activity with my boyfriend that consisted of going away for the weeknd and staying in a hotel together. My parents totally objected and disagreed with any kind of negotiation I was trying to make. They simply said I wasn’t old enough. What is the age of responsibility when a person should become an adult or be able to do more mature activities than children? There shouldn’t be a specific age for adulthood that separates from childhood, everyone matures different. Some tasks and activities should be given at different ages for different levels of maturity. Such as drinking alcohol to serving in the military but differentiating from getting a tattoo or a license to drive....
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...The Metamorphosis of Holden in Sallinger's Catcher in the Rye In J.D. Sallinger's Catcher in the Rye, is based on the sullen life of Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old teen-ager is trying to find his sense of direction. Holden, a growing adult, cannot accept the responsibilities of an adult. Eventually realizing that there is no way to avoid the adult life, he can only but accept this alternative lifestyle. What Holden describes the adult world as a sinful, corrupted life, he avoids it for three important reasons: His hatred towards phonies and liars, unable to accept adult responsibilities, and thirdly to enshrine his childhood youth. Holden uses the word phony to identify everything in the world that he rejects or encounters with. People are too talkative, too quiet, or dissimilar. Holden, himself, believes he is this perfect person, but no one believes that he is. This is why Holden believes he is surrounded by "phoniness." For example, Ossenburger of Pencey Prep, emphasizes that "he talked to Jesus all the time, even when he was driving his car." Holden thinks this is a load of crap and asserts, "'that killed me. I just see the big phony bastard shifting into first gear and asking Jesus to send him a few more stiffs" (17). Holden sees why he would pray to Jesus, only to send him some more dead bodies to get more business. Not only do phonies bug Holden, but liars and crooks. Another example is Sunny and Maurice, the elevator boy. Maurice offers Holden...
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...Is childhood disappearing? There have been many studies and research put into the question ‘is childhood disappearing’ but first lets define what childhood actually is... childhood is considered to be the time in which a person is a child or too young to be considered an adult, this time in most cultures is 0-12 years old. Many sociologists believe that childhood is rapidly disappearing, for example Phillip Aries was a historian who argued that in the middle ages childhood didn’t exist. In the middle ages things were a lot different, children were a lot different and besides from size there was little defining children from adults. There is many sources such as paintings which show children to not only be dressed as adults, but engaging in adult behaviour such as drinking and attending brothels. Aries discovered that children were sent to work, just like adults as soon as they were capable of doing so. Law also made very little distinction between children and adults, with children being allowed to participate in adult activities because they were just seen as ‘mini’ and then sharing the same burden as adults when it came to punishments. At this time Phillip Aries believe that childhood didn’t exist. In 1880 the compulsory education act came into procedure in England and Wales, this created a big turn over in the history of childhood. It became compulsory for children to go to school, meaning they couldn’t work. Before this law came into action children were seen to be...
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...Genie is a wild child who found in LA on 1970, she is a very extreme case of neglected the caretaking from adult. Her father believed she is retarder She spent her first thirteen years on tiding at the potty chair and still wearing diaper, she had never see, listen, being taught of anything in her life. For the past many years she had been isolation and lack of adult care make her the way she is right now. According to the George Hebert Mead’s integrationist theory; Mead (1934, 1964a). During the preparation stage, child had no self-present, however, they imitates the action of others, for example; when adults cry the child cry. During the play stage, child is developing the sense of self-present. They start to rakes the role of a single other, as if he or she were the other. The game stage is the last stage under Mead’s model, the child will no longer be playing role taking but starts to develop the relationship between the other and recognize the responsibilities as well as the social positions. It is very important for an infant to be around adult human. An infant imitate people around them, they can’t be disconnected from the socialization. Otherwise, they will be lost of human interaction and the important process of learning attitudes, behavior appropriate and the culture. In the case of Genie, I see very strong statement on hoe important for a child to have normal human interaction in their early...
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...“emerging adulthood is neither adolescence nor young adulthood, but is distinct from them both.” Emerging adulthood is a time of transition, a developmental bridge between adolescence and adulthood. This period of development is a period of change and exploration. The goal of emerging adulthood is to emerge from the chrysalis of adolescence and transform into an adult. There are beneficial results as well as negative impacts of this developmental stage. A beneficial result of emerging adulthood is the gained understanding of how to manage one’s emotions. This can be as simple as learning to control angry outbursts or disappointment with ease. This is beneficial because it demonstrates the transition between a child and a grown adult. Emotional development is a major beneficial result from emerging adulthood. Furthermore, this developmental stage encourages and aides the change from dependence upon parents to the independence that is typical of adults. This independence is beneficial because it prepares the emerging adult for their future autonomously from their parents. Currently society has labeled these emerging adults as the “Me Generation” because they are more self-focused. Furthermore, they have a sense of entitlement. “We're seeing an epidemic of people who are having a hard time making the transition to work — kids who had too much success early in life and who've become accustomed to instant gratification," says Dr. Mel Levine, a pediatrics professor at the University...
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...Risk assessment plays a huge role in the juvenile justice system. Why is it so important, why is it more important than with adults? Risk assessment is important in the juvenile justice system because the assessment allows the courts to determine the likelihood of the juvenile returning to the system. The risk assessments also allow the court to develop programs to prevent the juvenile from returning to the system. The system will consider such factors as the age of the offender, prior offenses, drug or alcohol abuse, parental control of the juvenile, and if there might be school/peer issues that contribute to the offense. This is important because if the system were to punish each and every juvenile for every offense committed then the system would be full of juveniles that are not given the chance to redeem themselves or even give the offender the chance to make things rights. Just because an offender has committed a crime does not mean that the offender will not change, if given the opportunity. Why the risk assessment is more important for juveniles than for adults is because the adult has already proven that he or she has had prior offenses and most likely will return to the system. If the system were to continue the assessments into adulthood then there would not be a "difference" between the adult system and the juvenile system. Champion, D. J. (2010). The Juvenile Justice System: Delinquency, Processing, and the Law (6th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice...
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...rp The Blame Game In Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, a teenage boy is going through the process of growing into an adult. Holden deals with all the struggles of a teenage boy while he deals with the death of his younger brother. Holden is angry at his death and blames his parents and other adults. Therefore, he is petrified at the thought of growing up, because he does not want to be like those adults he considers flawed and phony. As a result, he does not carry out the responsibilities of a boy his age, but watches adults and explores adult behaviors in his struggle to grow up. Because Holden continues to fail in his battle to gain maturity, he looks to his future as an adult and becomes petrified at the thought of becoming one of them. Consequently, he tries to stay young to avoid the process of becoming an adult. He is obsessed with childhood and is wedged between a world of the innocence of children and the complex world of adulthood. Holden is stuck at a crossroads where he must choose what he wants to do. But since he is becoming older everyday it becomes evident to Holden that he will soon fall into the same status as adults and be forced to make the same compromises that they do. Holden is told that "life is a game" and that he must suck up to people and listen to authority if he ever plans to be successful in life. Holden does not want to take responsibility to communicate with others that want to help him. For example, When Dr. Thurmer, tries...
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...more abstract ways, explore the concepts of right and wrong, develop hypotheses and think about the future. This is the time when people take on new responsibilities and experiment with independence. Because of the complexities and challenges faced by an individual during this stage, psychologists have termed it as a period of great “stress and storm”. When adolescents are supported and encouraged by caring adults, they thrive in unimaginable ways, becoming resourceful and contribution members of families and communities. We all know that children can’t wait to grow up, but why is this so? Psychologist Thomas Szasz explains that it is because they experience their lives as constrained by immaturity and perceive adulthood as a condition of greater freedom and opportunity. But what is there today in America, that very poor and very rich adolescents want to do but cannot do? Not much. They can do drugs, have sexual intercourse, make babies, and get money. For such adolescents, adulthood becomes an association of responsibility rather than liberty. That being said, sooner or later it happens, children grow up and the time approaches when they will eventually be leaving home. However, during this process, parents must learn to let go and accept their child's growing independence, while still providing guidance and support. Teens must simultaneously learn self-discipline, responsibility and the skills they will need to live in the adult world. It may be difficult for parents to...
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...You always think you want to get older, until it happens.Growing up is a trap, stop while you're ahead. First, once you become an adult, you are bombarded with all of these responsibilities. Becoming an adult is not as glamorous as it seems on the outside, who wants to deal with bills and kids, ew. Once you get a job, it’s like a never-ending pit of fire for the rest of your life, take my word for it. If you think you already have it hard enough, wait ‘till you get even older, sadder and flabbier. Next, your life is just goes downhill after college. Unless you’re a very boring individual, the college days are the end of your fun, everything stops there, same routine, every day, for the rest of your life. Even better, you can grow old and become...
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...In the novel, "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D Salinger, the main character, Holden, is a teenager who refuses to grow up because he is naively fixated on childhood. Throughout the novel, Holden struggles through teenage life because he cannot accept the given responsibilities that come with growing up. Holden is obsessed with childhood because he chooses to be wedged between a world of the innocence of children and the complex world of adulthood. Holden deities his two younger siblings as if they're candidates for sainthood because of his fixation. Holden is a teenager who refuses to grow up because he is afraid of gaining the responsibilities that come with it. So, Holden struggles hard to stay childish. For example, throughout the book, he does not want to take responsibility to communicate with others that may want to help him. He refuses to go home and confront his parents and face the consequences. Along with this, he also pulls the childish silent treatment toward his parents; because that's the only knife he has to hurt them: ."..she wouldn't've been the ones that answered the phone. My parents would be the ones. So that was out." (pg. 59) He is afraid to talk to people close to him because they'll be critical to him. This would also explain his lack of interaction with Jane Gallagher: ."..I kept standing there, of giving old Jane a buzz- I mean calling her long distance at B.M... The only reason I didn't call him was because I wasn't in the mood." (pg. 63) Since he is...
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...attention and affection for a healthy development, a family’s living circumstances in North America has become substantially and increasingly more comfortable, at least for the wealthy class. This has caused the transition from childhood to adulthood to become an extended period of adolescence. Individuals have been remaining emotionally and financially dependent on their parents up until their late twenties, and some even longer. Although John Rosemond had said, “the primary purpose of raising a child is to help that child get out of your life and into a life of its own,” it is proven that wealthier parents may create an easier living situation, involving less work for a for a young adult, which causes them to choose to stay living at home for a longer time period. When considering the reasons why an adult would return home after already leaving, or make the decision not to leave in the first place, it is important to recognize factors that have changed throughout history and time. In the past, a functionalist would argue that separation of youth from parents was a practical solution due to high rates of infant mortality and childhood illness; this led to nearly half of the population of children to die before the age of twenty. It was a necessity for parents to have many children, in order to ensure they would be supported in their old age. Parents in poorer families would often send their children to work for wealthier families, as this would allow them to avoid attachment and allow...
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...for most adolescence on the verge of becoming adults. While it allows for opportunities for new freedoms, it also signifies the beginning of increased responsibility. In the past, getting married and starting a family were important benchmarks in the transition of becoming an adult. However, in Furstenberg, Kennedy, Mcloyd, Rumbaut, and Settersten’s (2004) article, many Americans eighteen years and older now view completing one’s education and financial independence as the most significant signs of becoming an adult. These are important steps to placing one’s self in a position to start a family if one chooses to do so, but the act of marriage and parenthood are no longer viewed as key milestones (p. 36). Furthermore, the manner in which people view their...
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...ESSAY – VERNISSAGE In the short story “Vernissage”, written by Claire Anderson-Wheeler, we meet a young boy named Alex. Alex is facing the dilemma whether he wants to stay in childhood or move on and enter adult¬hood. Alex’s parents, John and Frances, are having trouble figuring out their marriage. These troubles affect their son, and make him decide, that he wants to grow up and become an adult. The coming of age is the dominating theme through the story. Alex is a young boy, which exact age we do not know, but trough the story he seems like a boy who is being at the crossroads between childhood and adulthood. In the opening of the story, we can trough comparison with his mother se that Alex is clearly on a different level. On page 1 Alex is being a child by thinking of the fact that he did not get the subject beetles, which he wanted but instead he got earthworms, as a problem. Frances does not manage to understand his problem, which illustrate the differences between them and their experiences in life. Alex is using his imagination very much, which makes him childish as well. Alex likes to think of the dad’s vernissage as a person, he stretches out the word and transforms it to a persons name: Vernie Sadge. In this quotation Alex describes what “Vernie Sadge” would look like and how he would be: It is obvious that Alex does not like “Vernie Sagde”. Alex knows that the vernissage is to blame for the troubles between his parents. Later on (page 2), Alex is eating...
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...------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Just for a “Piece of Paper” Warren Green PSY202 Dr. Allyse Sturdivant 3/02/13 Outline I. What did I do after I left high school? A. I’ll be back B. Life begins C. No Choices II. What did I want to become when you grew up? A. Singing B. Lawyer C. Physiologist III. My educational experiences A. I’m back in school again. B. It’s harder getting into school than out of school. C. Receiving my first degree IV. My personal, professional, and academic goals A. My Degrees B. Business C. College Instructor V. Conclusion Introduction Life, before graduation, starts when you are about to graduate from high school. You envision college, girls...
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