Ethnographic Studies of Childhood: A Historical Overview

Abstract

In this article, I briefly survey the ethnographic research literature on childhood in the 20th century, beginning with the social and intellectual contexts for discussions of childhood at the turn of the 20th century. The observations of Bronislaw Malinowski and Margaret Mead in the 1920s were followed by later ethnographers, also describing childhood, some of whom criticized developmental theories; still others were influenced initially by Freudian and other psychoanalytic theories and later by the suggestions of EdwardSapir for research on the child's acquisition of culture. The Six Cultures Study led by John Whiting at midcentury was followed by diverse trends of the period after 1960-including field studies of infancy, the social and cultural ecology of children's activities, and language socialization. Ethnographic evidence on hunting and gathering and agricultural peoples was interpreted in evolutionary as well as cultural and psychological terms. The relationship between ethnography and developmental psychology remained problematic.

Cumulative cultural learning: Development and diversity

“…The universal goals of childrearing include promoting the survival, health, and cultural competency of children (79). Children, in collaboration with their caregivers and peers, interact in ways that ensure the transmission of cultural practices and beliefs across generations (37,80).…”

The Cultural Organization of Attention

“…1 For overviews of the comparative infancy and early childhood literature from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, see, for example, Bullowa 1979 ;Eibl -Eibesfeld 1983 ;Field et al 1981 ;Harkness and Super 1996 ;Jahoda and Lewis 1988 ;Lancy 2008 ;Leiderman, Tulkin, and Rosenfeld 1977 ;LeVine 2007 ;LeVine, Miller, and West 1988 ;Schwartzman 2001 ;Shweder et al 2006 ;Super 1981 ;Werner 1988 . 2 See, for example, Kendon 1997Kendon , 2004Kita 2003Kita , 2009Kleinke 1986 ;Rutter 1984.…”

Narratives of trajectories and narrated routes in the model superblock and Vila do Boa: utopias and dystopias in Brasilia

“…50 Levine (2007) nos lembra que os estudos etnográficos da infância são baseados na premissa de que as condições e formas da infância são sensíveis a contextos específicos e não são compreendidos sem conhecimento detalhado da organização social que atribuem significados a ela. Isto fica evidente quando analisamos os dados produzidos nos percursos narrados por Leo e Ana.…”