An Introduction to Childhood Anthropological Perspectives on Children's Lives

by Montgomery, Heather

• ISBN13: 9781405125901
• ISBN10: 140512590X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-10-20
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

In An Introduction to Childhood, Heather Montgomery examines the role children have played within anthropology, how they have been studied by anthropologists and how they have been portrayed and analyzed in ethnographic monographs over the last one hundred and fifty years. Offers a comprehensive overview of childhood from an anthropological perspective Draws upon a wide range of examples and evidence from different geographical areas and belief systems Synthesizes existing literature on the anthropology of childhood, while providing a fresh perspective Engages students with illustrative ethnographies to illuminate key topics and themes

Author Biography

Heather Montgomery is a Senior Lecturer in Childhood Studies at The Open University. She has written on children and sexuality, tourism, children’s rights and on the role of children in anthropology. Her publications include Modern Babylon? Prostituting Children in Thailand (2001), Understanding Childhood: An Interdisciplinary Approach (2003, with Martin Woodhead), and Changing Childhoods: Global and Local (2003, with Martin Woodhead and Rachel Burr).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. viii
Introduction	p. 1
Childhood within Anthropology	p. 17
Introduction	p. 17
Children: The First Primitives	p. 18
Culture and Personality	p. 22
Cross-Cultural Studies of Child-Rearing	p. 26
Children in British Anthropology	p. 34
The Gendered Child	p. 38
Child-Centered Anthropology	p. 43
Conclusion	p. 49
What is a Child?	p. 50
Introduction	p. 50
Childhood as a Modern Idea: The Influence of Philippe Aries	p. 51
Conceptualizations of Childhood	p. 53
Children as Incompetent or Subordinate	p. 56
Children as Equals	p. 61
Children as a Means of Forming Families and Giving Status	p. 63
Children as an Economic Investment	p. 67
Unwanted and Nonhuman Children	p. 70
Conclusion	p. 77
The Beginning of Childhood	p. 79
Introduction	p. 79
Fetuses	p. 80
Spirit Children	p. 87
Reincarnation	p. 95
Anomalies	p. 98
Conclusion	p. 103
Family, Friends, and Peers	p. 104
Introduction	p. 104
The Role of Parents	p. 105
Adoption and Fosterage	p. 107
Children outside the Family	p. 118
Siblings	p. 121
Friends and Peer Groups	p. 126
Conclusion	p. 132
Talking, Playing, and Working	p. 134
Introduction	p. 134
Learning Language	p. 135
Children and Play	p. 141
Work or Play?	p. 149
Conclusion	p. 155
Discipline, Punishment, and Abuse	p. 156
Introduction	p. 156
Discipline and Punishment in the Western Tradition	p. 157
Physical Punishment	p. 159
Alternatives to Physical Punishment	p. 166
Who Can Punish Children?	p. 170
Child Abuse	p. 172
Conclusion	p. 179
Children and Sexuality	p. 181
Introduction	p. 181
Anthropology, Sexuality, and Childhood	p. 182
Children and Sex: The Influence of Freud	p. 184
Incest and Abuse	p. 187
Ethnographies of Children and Sexuality	p. 190
Child Prostitution	p. 196
Conclusion	p. 200
Adolescence and Initiation	p. 201
Introduction	p. 201
What is Adolescence?	p. 202
Adolescence and Globalization	p. 207
Initiation	p. 212
Initiation: A Psychological Approach	p. 215
Initiation and Education	p. 221
Initiation and Gender	p. 224
Initiation: The End of Childhood?	p. 228
Conclusion	p. 231
Conclusion	p. 233
Bibliography	p. 239
Index	p. 270
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