PA948-7-AU-CO:
Relational Childhoods

The details
2023/24
Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Postgraduate: Level 7
Current
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 15 December 2023
15
24 August 2023

 

Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)

 

(none)

Key module for

MA L52012 Childhood Studies

Module description

The sociology of childhood emerged in the latter part of the twentieth century, developing the well- established paradigm of the social construction of childhood to examine the active construction of children`s lives, the lives of those around them and of the societies in which they live.

This module on `Relational Childhoods` will critically explore the dominant theoretical assumptions that lie behind the social construction of childhood, developing an interdisciplinary perspective that can integrate the relational aspects of three related disciplines, sociology, developmental psychology and psychoanalysis. Relational concepts such as `habitus`, `love and learning` and `interdependencies` will be used to examine core issues in childhood studies such as parenting in families and educational institutions.

Module aims

1. To provide a critical understanding of the major theoretical assumptions in the established paradigm in the sociology of childhood.
2. To introduce students to the `relational` turn in sociology, developmental psychology and psychoanalysis, discussing some of the key theoretical concepts that can bridge and overcome disciplinary divisions.
3. To encourage the development of an alternative interdisciplinary perspective that can be applied to explain the lives of children in different institutional contexts.

Module learning outcomes

1. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the different theoretical frameworks and debates in the sociology of childhood.
2. To demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the key relational concepts and theories in the disciplines of sociology, developmental psychology and psychoanalysis.
3. Capacity to draw upon and apply interdisciplinary, relational concepts to the institutional lives of children.

Module information

Week 1 – An Introduction to the Sociology of Childhood

The first module session will introduce students, irrespective of background, to the Sociology of Childhood. Students will consider some of the key assumptions behind the `new paradigm` or social construction of childhood, questioning the major assumption that there exists one universal childhood, a `standard` childhood that is based on the experiences of children in developed countries.

Week 2 – Strengths and Limitations in Sociological Approaches to Childhood

In this seminar, we will critically explore the strengths and limitations in social constructivist approaches to childhood. Although researchers working within the new social studies of childhood have researched the active involvement of children in providing meaning to their lives, they continue to face a set of dichotomies in their research programme, such as nature v culture and sociology v developmental psychology. We will investigate the sources and contradictions in these dichotomies by tracing their historical development.

Week 3 – Relational Sociology

Students will be introduced to some of the key thinkers in relational sociology by discussing their relevance and application to childhood studies. We will discuss some of the important relational concepts developed by two of the most important relational sociologists, Norbert Elias and Pierre Bourdieu, showing how these can be used to `bridge` and overcome some of the theoretical tensions in the sociology of childhood.

Week 4 – Relational Perspectives in Developmental Psychology

In this week we focus on one of the most important debates in the sociology of childhood which has centred on the role of developmental psychology – sociologists of childhood have traditionally rejected most forms of `developmentalism`, especially those based on the Piagetian perspective, as a `stage` and `age` approach to children`s development. To foster an alternative and relational understanding of childhood we will develop an interdisciplinary approach that can help to integrate the biological and socio-psychological aspects of children`s lives.

Week 5 – Relational Psychoanalysis

In the early 1980s, a distinctive school of relational psychoanalysis developed in opposition to classical Freudian drive theory. This `new tradition` draws on three long-standing bodies of thinking in psychoanalysis: the American interpersonal tradition that emphasised the importance of understanding the network of relationships within which individuals exist; the British object relations tradition and the more recent work of American psychoanalytic feminists. This seminar explores how we can apply the findings of relational psychoanalysis to understand contemporary childhood, exploring the way in which children are intertwined in a web of interweaving relationships.

Week 6 – Relational Childhoods

How can we integrate the different relational aspects of these three disciplines, sociology, developmental psychology and psychoanalysis to explain how children grow up to adulthood in contemporary societies? We begin this session by introducing concepts that can more fully explain the development of socio-psychological processes in society, emphasising the strong, affective ties that link children with one another across generations in different societies. We will emphasise the importance of personal interdependencies and emotional bonds that bind society together: children are social beings born into and embedded in figurations that are interdependent networks that are always moving, changing and developing.

Week 7 – Institutionalisation of Childhood

More than ever before, children are spending a greater part of their childhood in a range of institutional settings such as nurseries and primary and secondary schools. Such developments make it even more vital to develop a sociological approach that can explain the institutional arrangements that children experience. This seminar will use the work of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu to explore the significance of group processes (social habitus) in children`s relationships. Bourdieu`s theoretical framework is important for providing a set of relational concepts that can be finely tuned to explain the shifting fields of power that affect the lives of children.

Week 8 – Parenting in Families

In the twenty-first century media commentary and discourses on contemporary childhood commonly invoke a notion of `crisis` fuelled by debates about changes in family structure and growing attention to parenting from a broad range of professionals. However, this analysis of the parenting crisis in contemporary families tends to be focused on short-term developments which can be explained by long-term relational processes, based on changes in the balance of power between men, women and children. These changes can be viewed as part of longer trend of informalisation that has occurred from the late twentieth century onwards, a period of movement from an authoritarian to a more egalitarian parent–child relationship where there is a loosening of barriers of authority in relations between children and adults.

Week 9 – Love and Learning Relationships

Students will be introduced to Norbert Elias`s concept of `love and learning`, where it will be suggested that his distinctive approach to learning can be used to integrate the findings of relational of psychoanalysis, where schools are considered as anxious institutions where children have to exercise a more intensive and all-embracing control over their emotions. We will explore two of the major psychoanalytic thinkers of the British object relations school, Donald Winnicott and Wilfred Bion, to understand how processes of learning are sometimes `blocked` by teachers where it is assumed that pedagogy is predominantly a rational, conscious and deliberate process.

Week 10 – Conclusions: Integration and Synthesis

In this last session we summarise some of the key arguments that have been used for developing an interdisciplinary approach to childhood, one that integrates the different relational aspects in three of the major disciplines in childhood studies, sociology, developmental psychology and psychoanalysis.

Learning and teaching methods

10 x seminars The learning and teaching methods for this module reflect its postgraduate positioning and rely significantly on student participation. Sessions will contain some ‘lecture style material’ but will largely be dialogue based including discussion and debate, workshops, reflections and small group work. Students will be encouraged to evaluate perspectives, draw critically on relevant theoretical frameworks and engage in critical, respectful discussion.

Bibliography

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam Description Deadline Coursework weighting
Coursework   3000 word essay    100% 

Exam format definitions

  • Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
  • In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%

Reassessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Norman Gabriel, email: n.r.gabriel@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Norman Gabriel
PGT: ppspgt@essex.ac.uk 01206 873745 Room 5A.202

 

Availability
Yes
Yes
Yes

External examiner

Dr Marie Lavelle
University of Plymouth
Lecturer Early Childhood Studies
Resources
Available via Moodle
Of 20 hours, 20 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.

 

Further information
Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies

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