Spring 2004 - University of Kent

Families and children
Children and the issues around
them are the subject of much
academic work at Kent, and as
a research area, cross faculty and
department boundaries. Topics
range from the care of children
with disabilities, to prejudice in
children, to the costs and
practicalities of care and
approaches to autism and
dyspraxia. Following is a tiny
sample of ongoing work on
children-related subjects at Kent.
Sociology: working children
What jobs do children perform in ethnic
businesses and on behalf of their parents?
How do they understand and experience their
labour? In her book, Helping Out, by Dr Miri
Song, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Kent,
addressed the centrality of children’s labour
participation in various family-based ethnic
enterprises. Discussing the case of Chinese
families running take-away food businesses in
Britain, Dr Song examined how children
contribute their labour and the context in
which they come to believe in ‘helping out’ as
part of a ‘family – work contract.’ Many young
people, such as Anna, are aware of their
importance to the viability of the business:
‘You knew your parents depended upon you.
Half the reason they were pleased to have kids
was that they needed them to maintain the
business, and their lives got easier as you grew
older and took on more responsibility. I just
feel that my
mum and dad
could never
have had a
shop of their
own and not
had children.’
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Studies about
ethnic
businesses –
which usually
concentrate on
their relevance
to immigrant adaptation – have rarely
examined the work roles, family dynamics,
attitudes, and experiences of the people
involved. Song explored the implications of
these children’s labour for family relationships,
the formation of cultural identity, and the future
of the Chinese community in Britain. She
argues that the practical importance and
broader meanings of children’s work must be
understood in the context of immigrant
families’ experiences of immigration, social and
economic marginality, and racism in Western,
white – majority societies.
Paranoid parenting
Dr Frank Furedi, Professor of Sociology, has
written numerous articles in the popular press
on childcare, and his book, Paranoid Parenting,
has been widely
acclaimed by
parents and
childcare
professionals.
Hardly a day
goes by without
parents being
warned of a
new danger to
their children’s
wellbeing. Highprofile
campaigns
convince us that our children’s health, safety
and development are constantly at risk. It is
hardly surprising that parents become
paranoid, afraid to let their children out of
their sight. Even then, they are criticised by
one childcare expert or another. It seems that
parents can do nothing right. Parents do not
know whom they can trust, but one thing is
made clear to them – they cannot trust their
own judgement. Paranoid Parenting investigates
contemporary parental anxieties and suggests
that these fears are themselves the most
damaging influence upon children in modern
society. Children are actually physically safer
than they have ever been before and perhaps
more in danger from the conflicting advice
handed out to parents by different
generations of ‘childcare experts’. Frank
Furedi explains why parents feel paranoid and
looks at how they can deal with the insecurity
that is fostered by experts and the media. He
goes on to give examples and build a case for
parents relying more on their own judgement
and circumstances.
Psychology: how kids decide who’s in
the ‘In Crowd’
Researchers have long known that children
often dislike non-conformists. As they get
older, however, they learn to judge others as
individuals. Psychologists at Kent conducted a
study to test that theory. Professor Dominic
Abrams, Dr Adam Rutland and colleagues
questioned 476 English children, aged 5 to 11,
in the run up to the 2002 World Cup finals.
Professor Abrams: ‘We first asked them how
they felt about the English and German teams.
Not surprisingly, children of all ages showed a
strong preference for the English team.
‘Then we introduced two imaginary figures,
Alex and Mark. Alex was either an Englishman
who supported England or a German who
supported Germany. The children considered
Alex normal. Mark was introduced as either a
British or a German person who would cheer
for either team when they played well. The
children judged Mark ‘different’. Children as
young as five can understand the idea of loyalty,
at least as far as it deals with sports teams.
‘As they get older, children become more
sensitive to the attitudes of their own and
other groups. English children who strongly
support their own team may harshly judge an
English fan who recognizes the strengths of
both their own and an opposing team.
However, they may accept a similarly openminded
individual who belongs to an opposing
group. This implies that while children continue
to exhibit prejudice as they age, that prejudice