How We Socially Construct Childhood And Children And How This Is Related To Child Labour

Introduction

Wyness (2002) presents the idea of a childhood in crisis, because as he argues there is a way of looking at childhood in the post-war period, which is related to childhood in contested terms. Childhood has been viewed as something that needs to be rescued because there is less relevancy of a universal and natural conceptualisation of childhood. Sociologists are increasingly required to reconceptualise childhood or reconstruct childhood in a way that is able to take into consideration the changing nature of the lives of children around the world and also the increasingly contested versions of childhood (Wyness, 2002). There is also the concept of children not being likely to be treated as subjects but as competent social actors who are able to participate in their social environment shaping (Wyness, 2002). As he points out, there are two dominant themes within the sociology of childhood, which are related to first the alleged breakdown in family relations, and second to the “diminution of the child’s world of play” (Wyness, 2002, p. 3).

The notion that childhood is contested in sociological theory is a problem that may help to explain the way childhood is constructed across different cultures and how childhood in one culture may be seen very differently from the others. In contemporary European culture, childhood may be seen “as a formal category and as a social status embedded in programmes of care, routines of surveillance and schemes of education and assessment” (Jenks, 2013, p. 5). This may have implications for the laws that relate child labour in European contexts, that are very different from how these are conceptualised in other parts of the world. The social construction of childhood from a particular historical context in European thought and theory, and the social status attached to childhood, determining the rights of child, may be very different in the European or western context as compared to other places or cultures (Jenks, 2013). Conventions and discourses relating to childhood and therefore, the relationship between childhood and social institutions like education and employment may also be different in different cultural contexts, as noted by Jenks (2013) that “comparative material drawn from cross-cultural contexts reveals divergent sets of conventions and discourses, and thus institutional forms, some utterly different from our own but others bearing strong resemblances, all bound together through homology” (p. 5). However, as noted towards the end of this statement, even though divergent, there may be a strong resemblance in how we construct childhood in a cross-cultural context. This homogeneity may provide the basis for making international conventions that have universal reach and appeal, related to children and their rights, such as the right against child labour, and expect that these rights will be universally accepted and applied.

Prout and James (1990), write that there are six key features of sociology of childhood. The first feature is that socially constructed childhood is not the same as biological immaturity and it is in fact based on societal beliefs and cultures. The second feature is that childhood is linked with other social variables like gender or class, which may mean that within the same society, there may be differences in how childhood is constructed. Third feature is that independent perspectives of children are to be considered while studying childhood. The fourth feature is that child must be viewed as an active participant in construction of knowledge and society as a whole. The fifth feature is that ethnography is to be used for construction of knowledge about childhood. The sixth feature is that childhood sociology is to respond to the process of reconstructing childhood (Prout & James, 1990, pp. 8-9).

Thus, sociology can be used for construction of childhood; however, in itself this is an area that is contested as construction of childhood can be embedded in cultural contexts (Jenks, 2013). Social construction has been defined as “a theoretical perspective that explores the ways in which ‘reality’ is negotiated in everyday life through people’s interactions and through sets of discourses” (James & James, 2008, p. 122). The theoretical approach of social constructionism seeks to understand the social construction of children and childhood knowledge and it is grounded in understanding the construction of childhood based on different cultures, societies and even time periods in history (James & James, 2008). In this way, social constructivism allows the use of diversity of situations and circumstances for constructing the idea of childhood (James & James, 2008).

Jenks (2013) explains the contested nature of childhood’s social construction from an earlier period to the present times by saying that “after centuries of debate and practice we have still not achieved any consensus over the issue of childhood” (p. 2). The problem with the social construction of childhood is that there is an ambiguity attached to the social construction of childhood as a social practice (Jenks, 2013). Within the domain of socialisation theory and even developmental psychology, there is a focus on attention to processes of integration, even before the question of what a child is, is answered, because there is a tendency to presume that the question is already answered (Jenks, 2013).

From a sociological perspective, the need to socially construct childhood comes from the premise that childhood is not a natural construct and it is not appropriate to use natural changes in children that come with growing up, as the sole characteristics of delineating childhood from adulthood. As Jenks (2013) points out physical morphology may provide some difference between children and adults but these differences are not to be taken as form of difference intelligible basis in themselves for defining the relationship between adult and child. This may be particularly useful for conceptualising childhood from a social perspective where just because children show certain physical changes that come with adolescence, this cannot be taken to mean that the difference between them and adults is narrowed to the point that children can be taken to be as adults. In context of child labour, this understanding of childhood from a social instead of natural or physical perspective can be useful in justifying the making of laws that prohibit the use of children as labour resources simply because they appear to be older in physical sense.

The idea that childhood is socially constructed is also reinforced by the fact that the conceptualisation of childhood differs from society to society, and from context to context, where such differences of conceptualisation are based on differences in cultures and beliefs of the peoples (Norozi & Moen, 2006). Not only is the social construction of childhood different for different societies, but also may be different in the same society depending on social factors like gender and social class (Norozi & Moen, 2006). The fact remains that societies around the world do not conceptualise childhood in the same way, and this proves that the conceptualisation of what it is to be a child is not universal or natural (Norozi & Moen, 2006). In other words, childhood is to be socially constructed so that when it is “understood as a social construct; it makes reference to a social status delineated by boundaries that vary through time and from society to society but which are incorporated within the social structure and thus manifested through and formative of certain typical forms of conduct (Jenks, 2013, p. 7).

A global context

Child labour is one of the continuing issues with respect to children and their rights. There is a global movement that has been used to make conventions against use of child labour. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 is the principal convention on the rights of children, which has a universal appeal as this is a multilateral convention adopted under the aegis of the United Nations (James, 2007). One of the key ideas propagated by the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 is that children have voices, which must be heard while making policy (James, 2007). The Convention is the culmination of the movements that were seen in the West, and which were also manifested in the declaration of the international year of child in 1979, under the aegis of the United Nations (James, 2007). This marked the development of the idea of universality of rights of children to happy, safe, protected and innocent childhood. The idea of the voice of children under the international or global conventions of children rights, is also an idea that speaks to universality of children’s rights, that children anywhere in the world can speak for children anywhere else; however, in the context of specific situations such as child labour, the universalising view that the Convention on Rights of Child has been ineffective for problematising rights of the children that are differentiated in different cultural or political contexts, such as, child labour (James, 2007). At the same time, the Convention on the Rights of the Child speaks of acting in the best interests of children in Article 12, but it has been argued that instead of giving children greater audibility and visibility to children as social actors, they are disempowered, as their best interests are to be decided by others (James and James 2004) .

UK childhood and child labour

The International Labour Organisation does not permit child labour and many countries in the world have now accepted or adopted the child labour legislation prepared by the organisation (Nieuwenhuys, 1996). This is in line with the development of the consciousness that child labour is not appropriate, which has evolved in the western industrial society from the mid-nineteenth century onward, when legislation to eliminate the exploitation of children first began to develop (Nieuwenhuys, 1996). Since that period, progressive state legislation has been undertaken to respond to the problem of child legislation until it has been completely eliminated in the West (Nieuwenhuys, 1996). Such legislation generally defined child labour in terms of waged work undertaken by a child under a certain age (Nieuwenhuys, 1996). In the UK, laws banning child labour go back to the 19th century with the passage of the Factory Act 1833.

Sub Saharan Africa children and child labour

Child labour is common in Sub Saharan Africa. Cultural factors as well as socio-economic factors play a role in construction of childhood and there are practices that allow the practice of child labour (Nieuwenhuys, 1996). One example of child labour being allowed in social contexts is the use of children of poorer (pseudo-)relatives as workers or domestic help (Nieuwenhuys, 1996). There is also an unclear or ambivalent definition of childhood or adolescence which is responsible for allowing children to work in factories and industries of Sub Saharan African countries (Nieuwenhuys, 1996). There is also more cultural acceptance of children helping run the family business from a young age, which makes the issue of child labour complicated as far as legal responses are concerned given that there is social acceptance for the practice (Edmonds, 2007). However, due to the adoption of the International Labour Law conventions in African nations, many countries have made laws to restrict or regulate child labour. For instance, in Ghana, Children's Act 1998 forbids employment of a chiId in exploitative labour. Section 88 prohibits anyone from employing any child at night, but sections 89 and 90 do permit children above the age of 13 to engage in light work. The law also allows children above 15 years to be involved in non-hazardous work (Edmonds, 2007). The laws are not strictly implemented in African nations and therefore legal restrictions on child labour remain ambivalent (Edmonds, 2007).

Evaluation / Argument

The different social constructions of childhood is responsible for the differences in how child labour is viewed by African nations. As compared to the West, where universality about childhood is generally achieved, there is a difference in how childhood is constructed in Africa. The social construction of childhood is therefore to be held responsible for the differences in the implementation of child labour laws in different countries.

Conclusion

To conclude, child labour and other similar issues related to children are not applied in a universal sense despite there being international laws and more global consensus on childhood and rights. To a great extent, the reason for this is that childhood is not a natural construct but a social construct, where construction of childhood as well as the application of rights depends on cultural meanings attached to childhood.

Bibliography

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