An exploratory study of the effect of age and gender on innocence

By Saroj Rathore

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• Language: English
• Publisher: hrithik
• Release date: Jan 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9781805240013

Book preview

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SURAJ RATHOD

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Introduction

Chapter 2

Review of Literature

Chapter 3

Research Method

Chapter 4

Results

Chapter 5

Discussion

Chapter 6

Summary, Conclusions and Suggestions

Chapter 7

Implications

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

1. Conceptual Framework

1.1 Switching Reactions Effortlessly

1.2 Distinguishing between Good and Bad

1.3 Need to Protect from Social Ills

1.4 Age and Learning Models

1.5 Sex and Gender

2. Rationale of the Study

3. Objectives of the Study

Clear understanding of the variables under study is extremely important in any research.

No research can be done without having the conceptual framework of the study in mind.

This chapter will explain the variables under study and in the end, will provide the rationale and objectives of the research. Innocence is a virtue predominantly associated with children. The joy of a child, his / her truthfulness, expressiveness and unadulterated love is innocence. This virtue of innocence may differ in the children due to their age, gender, social upbringing and numerous other factors.

1. Conceptual Framework

Innocence is defined in terms of the behaviour of the child which is a characteristic feature.

It is a freedom from sin as child has no knowledge about good or evil and is ignorant about the harsh realities of life. In the childhood, human beings would have made less number of wrong deeds as this phase of life is very much simple. Innocence keeps the mind healthy and spiritually good. Innocence has positive impact on the health and the mental state of mind. The decisions and perspectives that were made in childhood can stimulate to become a good adult but may not change the remaining life. Innocence is a virtue by which a child has a neutral mind and is unable to differentiate between right and wrong. Childhood innocence is something that everyone admires. The concept of childhood innocence, wherein children were seen as pure and sin-free. The concept was greatly influenced by the eighteenth-century French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778). Rousseau, (1765) believed that children are born good and guiltless, and through life experiences, they learn badness and guilt.

1.1 Switching Reactions Effortlessly

Society is filled with corrupt adults, which makes it inevitable for the loss of childhood innocence as children enter into the adult world. Some say that society can change and take a turn for the better, and though it may not be filled with honest, pure hearted people, it can be more genuine and more about the heart and less about success and materialistic pursuits.

Others say that society cannot change and that it will continue to be corrupt and filled with 2

selfish individuals, regardless of whether or not there are a few who are truly honest. In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield categorizes anyone, usually an adult, who is insincere as phony and runs away from the corrupt adult world, ultimately demonstrating (Salinger 1951).

The idea of childhood innocence exists in parallel with the concept of childhood guilt.

Mayhew (1861) portrays childhood innocence as a time of play and protection by parents.

In the extract from his book, London Labour and the London Poor, he writes about the eight-year-old Watercress girl who lost all childish ways because of the work she needed to do.

The necessity of her work forced her to become an adult like, and adults are not innocent. In tod ay' s Western society, working parents protect children's innocence. However, in the late nineteenth century, people were poor so the children lost their time of innocence and play, because they needed to go to work and support the family. Unfortunat ely, this is still happening in some parts of the developing countries.

Swaminathan (1998) examined the problem of child labor in western India. The children are easily available to do monotonous low skilled jobs. Since these work activities do not require high level of knowledge and skills, the wages for these activities are extremely low.

Such low payments and long working hours expose the children to drudgery and they become vulnerable to exploitation. This laborious work hinders the education for most children in India. Author argued that having high economic growth is good for the country, but, it should not happen at the cost of childhood innocence.

Limaye and Pantle (2013) observed that rights of children in Indian society are less spoken or discussed. The socio-cultural background of the country is responsible for the same.

Future of any society depends on the children. Childhood is most critical stage of human development; hence, children should be provided with an environment that enables them to develop their intellectual, physical and social progress. There have been different definitions and views on childhood innocence given by various agencies. There is a large gap and contradiction in these perspectives. Indian government has attempted various initiatives in its five year plans for eradication of child labour, but all the attempts have 3

gone in vain. Thus, authors suggested that there is a vital need of a social movement which may address and resolve this issue.

The term innocence is synonym to harmlessness , blamelessness, guilelessness, simplicity and freedom from guilt (Macdona ld, 1996). Innocence as a term is derived from Latin word nocere which means ' to harm' . The social upbringing of a child affects his I her innocence and is greatly influenced by the experiences a child has in the life. However, it also depends on the age, gender, time in history and culture they are brought up in. Every society and culture portray innocence in different ways and there is no right or wrong way.

In the western society, the concern about the sexual innocence is usually attributed to girls, whereas the concern in relation to child crime is attributed to boys. Therefore, gender as well as age plays an important role in portraying childhood innocence. Adults generally believe that as the child gets older the virtue of innocence gets reduced. Innocence does not only refer to vulnerabili ty, it is a strength too that propagates life having been given by God must move towards him.

The property of innocence has been widely used in well known poetries, stories, articles and other art works of poets like Blake and Wordsworth. Blake (1789) advocates for the endurance and transformative power of innocence as it helps in overcoming the harshness of life which comes with bad experiences. Radical innocence overcomes the propensities and appetites of freedom of movement , familial belonging , natural compassion and desire including sexual desire. Blake' s poetry of childh ood, links the 'contrary states' of Innocence and Experience, whereby explaining the gradual reduction in innocence due to experience. Wordsworth (1798) has considered innocence as a privilege over philosophical mind. Davis (2011) in his paper compared the concept of childhood innocence to the prevailing constructions of childhood. He did a deep study of history of childhood innocence and found that the concept of innocence is very complicated and not as simple as people think. He determined that primary education of children is diminishing the childhood innocence as it is not based on Romantic account of the innocence of childhood.

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The orthodox view of childhood innocence as pure, perfect and lovable creature is a mobilizing virtue i.e., it reduces with age (Saward, 1999). The Romantic view of innocence gained importance in the period 1750-1830 AD, since innovation in industries had started and disciplinary regulation with standardization became social routine. The structures and standardization among parents impacted the children and they were also tried under a particular framework of learning which affected their creativity and inn ocence. It's very difficult to understand the romantic and orthodox views which influenced the childhood innocence in nineteenth century. Romantic view of childhood innocence represents only a corrupt, disturbing and discipline imposing phenomenon on the lives of children due to the changing social systems (Phillips, 1998).

Innocence is primarily defined as absence of evil. It complements the concept of innocence as lack of knowledge of the presence of evil in one's actions. Innocence for Morrison (1999) refers not to a virtuous state of isolation from worldly evils, but a male fantasy of pure, unadulterated, intact selfhood and sovereign will untainted by the intrusion of shame.

Weinstein (1993) found that Morrison though used the word male fantasy but was not targeting a gender in particular. He was gender neutral as females too have big ego and commit criminal activities. It is the innocence in people which makes them to sin and harm others as they think that it is necessary for their survival. He emphasized that the term

innocence is not the absence of evil but the unawareness of the existence of evil in one's action. Gates (2000) posited that novelty of American innocence is however, the refusal or failure to recognize evil while participating in that evil. Thus, the big American ego of an individual indicates that innocence is not absence of evil, but, innocence is evil.

In an interview with Elliot (1989), the Afro-American author Angelou suggested that the kindness and compassion in the human race is because of the innocence in living beings.

This is the reason that even before the death by execution, the last wish of the individual is fulfilled . A child is surprisingly equipped to switch its reactions between intense hatred and love effortlessly according to situations that these feelings finally culminate in abject hostility. The child's innocence prompts such tremendous feelings: A child carries simultaneously aggressive and lovable feelings for the objects he / she possesses. A child 5

cannot live without the object and can even destroy it ruthlessly without feeling concerned about it.

1.2 Distinguishing between Good and Bad

Human beings are born innocent like all the other living creatures, as they are harmless.

Innocence is most appealing in children. Childr en's physical beauty; their love, happin ess,