Commentary / Commentaire Three paradigms of childhood

Le conflit social contemporain au sujet des relations parents-enfants, et spécialement en ce qui concerne la sexualité de l'enfant, est analysé ici à l'aide de trois paradigmes théoriques sur la construction sociale de l'enfance: a/ les enfants en tant que propriété, une définition sociale trouvant son origine dans la société pré-industrielle; b/ la protection des enfants, légitimée par l'industrialisation; et c/ l'enfant en tant que personne, une conception défendue par de récents mouvements de libération. Des exemples pour chaque paradigme sont tirés de sources canadiennes contemporaines. l'intensité actuelle de la 'révolution paradigmatique' est expliquée sous l'image d'un noeud de tabous étreignant la construction sociale de la sexualité aussi bien que du pouvoir.
Contemporary social conflict over parent-child relationships, especially concerning child sexuality, is analysed using three theoretical paradigms of social construction of childhood: a/ children as property, a social definition originating in pre-industrial society; b/ protection of children, legitimated by industrialism; and c/ the child as person, advocated by recent liberation movements. Examples of each paradigm are drawn from contemporary Canadian sources. The current intensity of 'paradigmatic revolution' is explained in terms of a nexus of taboos surrounding social construction of both sexuality and power.     

Evidence for attitudinal-behavioural consistency: Implications for consumer research paradigms

Evidence is presented in this paper to show that the view of marketing communication effects promulgated by numerous marketing, advertising and consumer behaviour texts and journals should be questioned. This is the portraval of advertising, in particular, as strongly persuasive, a prepurchase influence which acts upon purchase behaviour by first operating upon and modifying mental attitudes. The latent process conception of attitude upon which this perspective is founded lacks convincing empirical support. Situational rather than inner-state variables appear to mediate behaviour and may require prior importance in explicative and predictive accounts of consumer choice. Recognition of this would require a probability conception of the attitude construct which would have profound implications for consumer research and marketing management. Above all, it suggests that an alternative psychological paradigm might he accorded a more central place in investigations of consumer behaviour.     

Reading dis/ability: interrogating paradigms in a prism of power

The dichotomisation of literacy instruction into phonics instruction versus a whole language approach fails to realise a fundamental tenet of providing equitable educational opportunities to diverse groups of children. Diversity becomes a problem to solve through ‘inoculation programmes’ or ‘special’ education expertise. Moreover, children’s individual strengths can fail to be realised because they do not fit well with the programme of the day. Instead of being appreciated for the value that they may bring in higher order conceptual and intellectual tasks, these individual strengths may be neglected at great cost to the individual child because they offer cheap reward in the shape of aggregate test scores. This paper is a philosophical piece, which in refusing to prescribe what one should do on Monday morning joins other strident voices in disability studies in education to question what it is that we are doing today. Whilst not scientific, this is important work – it emphasises the a priori importance of philosophical, moral and ethical questions – reminding science that children are dynamic social beings who cannot be manipulated like genes to ‘express’ themselves in ways more conducive to quick and cheap educational programmes.     

Judging childhood

This article brings ethnohistorical inquiry to bear in exploring the certainties of Progressive Era reformers regarding the role of the state, the meaning of childhood, and the power of intervention in the lives of children, youth, and families in Butte, Montana. The author draws on the key themes of the Just Practice perspective (Finn & Jacobson, 2008)—as an organizing frame to explore assumptions and contestations regarding childhood, well-being, trouble, and intervention as expressed through primary source documents and reports of juvenile court proceedings in Butte from 1900 to 1914. Butte, a site of rapid industrialization at the turn of the last century, provides a local context in which to examine ways these certainties were asserted, negotiated, embedded, and resisted in the making of a nascent system of child welfare and juvenile justice. The historical analysis offers a foundation for critical reflection on the certainties embedded in contemporary practice with children and youth.     

Defining the psychomedical and systemic paradigms in marital and family therapy

A framework for defining paradigms within the field of marital and family therapy is presented. The term "paradigm" is critically analyzed as applied to mental health services. Paradigm crisis in marital and family therapy is described as resulting primarily from practical-theoretical, professional, andpolitical concerns rather than scientific anomaly. Subsequently, two paradigms are defined as related to marital and family therapy: the psychomedical and the social systems (systemic) paradigms. Both paradigms are defined according to basic propositions and methodological tenets. The need for, and the design of, critical paradigmatic experiments of the psychomedical paradigm against the systemic paradigm are addressed. Critical paradigmatic experiments are viewed as an offshoot of a postpositivistic empiricism in keeping with a contextual view of knowledge.     

Racialization and Black multiplicity: Generative paradigms for understanding Black immigrants

Black immigrants occupy a liminal space on the race ethnicity spectrum that defies traditional assimilation theories. The social distancing paradigm has emerged as one of the most influential theories to address this shortcoming in the field and explain the incorporation of Black immigrants. However, because this paradigm implicitly rests on an analogy to White immigrants, the articulation of Black ethnic options can often times be more derivative than generative. As a result, accounts of Black immigrant racialization reify provincialized notions of Blackness by relying on problematic comparisons to African American culture and outcomes. In this paper, I argue that moving away from these provincialized characterizations of Blackness requires building on theories of immigrant racialization that take Black multiplicities as its starting point. This review takes up that perspective in analyzing how narratives of Blackness emerge in segmented, classic, canonical, and neoclassical theories of assimilation. I then map out some theoretical and empirical trends that emerge across three waves of Black immigrant research agendas and outline the need to move beyond the White immigrant analogy in order to more aptly redefine Black immigrants for future research.     

Rural public transportation and the mobility of older persons: paradigms for policy

Federal policy regarding public transportation in rural areas is examined through a comprehensive literature review. Then, three alternative approaches to future policy are suggested. The current fragmented panoply of rural transit programs that serve a minority of the rural population is the result of cycles of federal regulation and deregulation and chronic underfunding of rural transit compared to urban areas. The public purposes of transit, distinctions of need and demand, and funding comparisons with automobile usage are some contexts which set the framework for the social, and economic, and sustainability paradigms. Specific recommendations within each paradigm are suggested.     

Community and family in Venezuela. Reflections on paradigms and theoretical models

Based on an overview of the research done during the last 15 years on family and community in Venezuela, this article discusses the contributions and limitations of the different approaches under which the family has been studied. Since family research covers a wide spectrum of models, this article is organised in three sections. The first discusses an overview of anthropological and demographic findings, in order to illustrate the historical situation of Venezuela and compare these findings with those from Central American research. In the second section, the sociological and psychological approaches used to describe the cultural characteristics of the family, are discussed. Here, systems-oriented models and action-research methodologies applied in some intervention studies on family dynamics are introduced. The third section, focusing on the Educational Approach, is an example of the most recent trends in family and community intervention. It is intended to illustrate programs aimed at accelerating social change and strengthening family and community life around the school. Finally, it is concluded that an analysis of current trends in research with families and communities in Venezuela reveals a paradigm shift from positivist to postmodern approaches.     

Childcare and childhood

This paper draws on data from a recent study of parents' and health staff views on child health care. The study found that mothers and health visitors held broadly different views on good childcare. In this paper it is argued that these reflect different models of childhood and motherhood Findings about background were reported and discussed in CHILDREN & SOCIETY 4(2). The study was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and carried out by Berry May all and Marie-Claude Foster at the Thomas Coram Research Unit     

Shifting journalistic paradigms of American correspondents on contemporary China: The case of Orville Schell

This study examined the change and continuity in the journalistic paradigm of Orville Schell, a prominent China expert and journalist who exemplifies tumultuous cycles of idealism and discontent U.S. journalism has experienced toward China. The tilts in his prisms were shown to have conformed to the rise and fall of governing frames in American press and public cynicism in and after the Vietnam War and the Cold War. Despite the undisputed “end” of the China policy, the question of the “means” offered such individual correspondent as Schell much leeway to anchor his liberal predisposition characteristic of the Vietnam War generation.     

Psychological implications of childhood meatotomies

This paper informs clinicians about the nature of childhood meatotomies, and presents two cases which suggest that the presence of a meatotomy in the developmental history of male clients should alert clinicians to the potential significance of particular body damage fears and body integrity issues in the client.     

Neurobiological effects of childhood abuse

Child abuse and violence are significant public health problems. Research indicates a strong correlation between early childhood abuse and enduring neurobiological changes in specific regions of the brain. These neurobiological changes are often reflected in psychopathology and lifelong maladaptive behaviors. However, emerging research suggests that these neurobiological changes may be modified through specific evidence-based interventions. Nurses must be able to evaluate the current research and translate the findings into their practice, remembering that prevention is the most effective remedy for abuse and violence.     

Depression and childhood illness

Childhood depression as a component of the impact of childhood illness or developmental impairment on the latency age child is studied in relation to three diagnostic groups: children with asthma, cancer, and psychiatric diagnoses of behavioral disorders. The study revealed a range of coping styles to deal with the anxiety, loss and feelings induced by the specific crises. The special dimensions of stress and coping adaptations affected the child's developing self concept, the separation individuation process and the child-parent relationships. Depressive symptoms were variously present within and between the three groups of children.This study was funded, in part, by grants from the University of Michigan Medical School and the Horace Rackham Graduate School of the University of Michigan.     

Predicting, understanding and changing: three research paradigms regarding alcohol use among lesbians

The author presents a paradigmatic categorization and review of the literature that is available regarding lesbians and alcohol. She illuminates the characteristics, shortcomings, and strengths of Empirical Post Positivist, Interpretive, and Critical Social research paradigms. Results of the various studies are presented while research and funding directions are proposed.     

Ambicultural blending between Eastern and Western paradigms: Fresh perspectives for international management research

East and Southeast Asian worldviews are distinctly different from those of the West. Westerners and Asians construct their environments differently, not least because they construct the notion of ‘self’ very differently. This paper describes and exemplifies distinctions in cognitive and linguistic styles between the East and the West and outlines the implications of these styles for environmental perspectives and research paradigms. Examples from Thailand illustrate the philosophical roots and practical implications of an indigenous Eastern perspective for local business interactions. We explore the privilege afforded in Western, Cartesian paradigms in (Asian) management research and stimulate debate on the benefits of promoting alternative Asian indigenous perspectives for both management research and management practice. We support the idea that Asian management discourse needs more self-confidence and deserves a more prominent place in international research, not least because international management research will greatly benefit from freshly ‘blended’ perspectives that incorporate Eastern and Western perspectives.