Part 1: What are the main features of childhood studies?
Childhood studies was developed in the 1980’s to focus on the lives of children from the entire age range of 0-18 years old. This is grouped in to three concentrations which are; Early years, Middle childhood and Youth. The first and the latter are the areas that are focussed on the most.
This is used for professional reasons as well as personal reasons. It was only recognised quite recently; it looks at all aspects of a child’s life. A wide range of subjects are involved in this study such as; History, Law, Anthropology, Psychology, Sociology, Education, Medicine and Health and Social Care.
Compared to some scientists who see childhood as “’natural’, a biological state of being which reflects the biological immaturity of children”. (Heather Montgomery, 2014 – What is Childhood studies p4 – An introduction to childhood studies and child psychology) Childhood studies sees a child’s development as a “social construction” – this can depend on various environmental, economic, cultural, political and social factors. For example – how and where they were raised, their family life, and if they did or didn’t go to school etc.
Childhood studies acknowledges children’s rights to protection and identifies that children should have the right to be involved in decisions that affect their lives, this is called having agency. Children’s rights are enforced to ensure that the safety of a child and their best interests come first. The UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) have set out rights to guarantee that this is adhered to, these rights are split in to 3 categories which are best known as the “3 P’s”; Provision (the rights to housing and food) – Protection (against abuse and exploitation) – Participation (the right to have an input on decisions that affect their lives themselves).
Childhood studies researches how the upbringing of children has evolved dramatically since the 1950’s. For example; the eldest child used to be expected to care for their younger siblings, leave education and complete household tasks.
“To give a simple example, there was a common saying in Britain until the 1950’s that ‘children should be seen and not heard’”. (Heather Montgomery, 2014 – What is Childhood studies p6 – An introduction to childhood studies and child psychology). Nowadays this is looked at very differently, children are kept as children for as long as possible. They are left with little or no responsibility, given time to play, mature and develop naturally.
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Part 2: What are the main features of child psychology?
Child psychology is very similar to childhood studies in many aspects, however it focuses on the individual child and how they develop rather than focusing on children as a whole. Working in this way allows child psychologists to assess a child’s abilities and the way in which they change through the 3 stages of childhood (early years, middle years & youth).
Psychologists observe children’s behaviour and compare them to milestones (the steps in which children are expected to develop at). To ensure they are developing correctly and at the expected levels for their age. Child psychology concentrates on describing how children grow from birth to adolescence and how these changes occur. Some of the changes are much more noticeable than others, such as; language, height and growth and physical ability. Others are more difficult to recognise such as; how a child thinks and processes the world around them.
Child psychology is considered by different views and theories created by research. One of the main theories in child psychology is Piaget’s theory – this was where Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980) began to research the intelligence quotient (IQ) of children. “The intelligence quotient (IQ) test was originally developed by psychologists in France to target children who were considered to be at potential risk of delay.” (Nathalia Gjersoe, 2014 – What is child psychology p29 – An introduction to childhood studies and child psychology). After Piaget began his research he noticed a pattern in the mistakes made by children in the same age groups – they were similar results. Due to these results Piaget then began to think children could see the world from a different point of view from adults.
Another popular theory is that a child’s behaviour can be changed using the correct reward and/or punishment system. This theory is known as ‘Behaviourism’ and was conducted by John Watson (1878-1958). John Watson carried out the experiment after previous work on animals, behaviourists thought that humans and animals were born with the ability to link one thing with another. For example; a mother attending to her infant if it became unsettled. A psychologist’s concepts will have an influence on their predictions and the data that they receive.
Child psychology seeks to explain and understand cognitive development and support children with developmental delays rather than focussing on the wider environmental problems. In order to accomplish this, psychologist’s conduct tests with children using different systems to explore the development of cognitive behaviour.
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Part 3: Outline the differences between childhood studies & child psychology
Child psychology and childhood studies have many differences as well as similarities. Child psychology mainly focuses on scientific experiments and research methods such as; gaining first hand results – observing an individual child, asking direct questions to the child and involving children in their experiments (these experiments are also done on animals and plants) etc. These methods are commonly carried out in schools to gain the best concepts on the reasons why a child behaves in a certain way and how to help them develop. Whereas childhood studies concentrates on the upbringing of children such as; where they were born, their educational opportunities and their social lives etc. The research method results for these are usually based on questionnaires and surveys etc.
Child psychology broadly focuses on all areas of a child’s development from infant to adult. The main subjects of development looked at are; social, cognitive, physical and emotional. They look to discover more in the way a child interacts with others and their ability growth in other areas. Childhood studies on the other hand researches the areas of development in social, cultural and economic environments. Childhood studies discusses children’s rights and how they should be treated throughout the childhood stages.
Child psychology considers what development milestones a child should reach by what age whereas childhood studies looks more at how children should be treated within the different childhood categories and also depending on the groups they are divided in to like; boys to girls, upper class to middle class and early years to middle years and youth.
Child psychology carries out research on the reasons why children are not reaching their development milestones by the time they are expected to and aim to discover what effects this. It seeks to try and understand and support the development going forward. It studies the impact a child can have on its own development. Childhood studies looks at the broader area affected such as; children can not only make a difference to their own lives but also to the people around them.
To conclude, although there are a number of similarities between the 2 areas, the differences are greater. Child psychology works to understand an individual child where childhood studies looks at understanding children as a whole. Child psychology will always aim to find ways in conquering the effects caused to a child developing and childhood studies will continuously focus on the way ‘the world’ perceives children based on their overall lifestyle.
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Reference list
An introduction to childhood studies and child psychology, Lee Farrington-Flint & Heather Montgomery.
https://lifehasafunnywayofsneakinguponyou.wordpress.com/2015/09/28/key-differences-between-childhood-study-and-child-psychology/