Literature and Social Work Practices

This assignment focuses on literature related to social work practices, including family-centered care approaches, children's health, and social norms in young children. It also explores youth-centred participatory video as a tool for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. The literature review provides insights into vulnerability and young people, as well as social constructions of threat. The assignment is likely from a university course on social work or child development.

Social Construct of
Children and Young
People
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Critically analyse how children or young people have been portrayed in the particular film,
including the particular social constructs of children and young people.....................................3
Critical overview of the broad range of socio-cultural, political and economic factors that have
influenced and impacted on the social perspective of the chosen film........................................5
Critical discussion of theoretical perspectives, themes and research with regard to the way in
which the role of childhood is perceived.....................................................................................7
Critical examination of relevant, modern social constructs of childhood and youth including
the role of existing inequalities in society that influence the social construction of children.....9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
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INTRODUCTION
Social construct refers to theory of understanding about communication and sociology
theory which evaluates collaborative development of world and also formulates common
assumptions towards reality. Social constructionism can be related to anyone who exists in the
world. Social construct of children and young people refers to the values and belief of each
generation towards each other and collaborative development in coordination instead of separate
development (Best, 2017). The current project is based on the film named as “Goodnight Mister
Tom” which is directed by Mr. Jack Gold. This film is inspired from a novel written by author
Michelle Magorian. The novel was published in the year 1981. The overall story of this revolves
around a child named as William. This boy was abused by her mother. Later, with support of
circumstances and Mr. Tom, he got opportunity to live his life properly without any family
abuse. This project includes information on social construction of children and young people. It
further explains how young people and children are portrayed in the film. Along with this, it also
covers overview of socio-cultural, economic and political factors which impacts upon social
perspective of selected film. At last, it evaluates how inequalities in society impacts upon social
construct of children and young people.
Critically analyse how children or young people have been portrayed in the particular film,
including the particular social constructs of children and young people.
Overview of film (Goodnight Mister Tom)
The film is based on William(child) facing child abusement from his mother who
physically tortures him at home. Due to changing circumstances the guardianship of William
transferred to Mr Tom, a kind hearted man who lost his wife and son in world war. Mr. Tom
have provided better living environment to William to overcome his past experience related her
mother’s torture. With the passing time William converted into self confident child who
understands his own qualities and skills. But, this William was not accepted by her mother and
she called him back to her city by telling Mr. Tom that she is not well and wants William to take
her care. But, in actuality when William reach there he realises that her mother was lying and
called him back to torture once again. This time William’s mother have crossed every limit and
tortured William along with his half sister and locked of them in cupboard near stair case. Later
after locking both the children in cupboard Mrs Beech have the left home (Robins and Evans-
Jones, 2016). Mr. Tom was already having doubt on this lady and his attachment towards
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William have made him visit William’s home to check that he is fine or not. After reaching
London with his dog and communicating to neighbours Mr Tom got to know that William does
not came out from home after his arrival to London. This have confirmed doubt of Mr. Tom and
inspired him to call police so that they can enter into the house. After entering into house, they
all found William in very critical condition and half sister was already dead. This time, William
was in major trauma as he thinks that due to his helplessness his sister was no more. But, with
the support of Mr. Tom and friends, William recovered from trauma and came back to his
previous happy life. Mr. Tom has also adopted William in order to take legal rights on the child
and give him a better life.
Critical analysis
As per shown in the film, it has been analysed that various characters are reflected in the
picture who have played their role in best manner. The film contains both children as well as
young people who have different perception and behaviour which makes them separate from
each other. While comparing behaviour of young people, it has been evaluated that one side
there was cruel lady named as Mrs. Beech (Mother of William) who physically abuses his child
and tortures him every day. On the other side, Mr. Tom a kind hearted man who loves other
children as his own in order to get relief of his own pain which have been faced by him in the
loss of life of his son and wife. This shows different perception of people of same age group
towards children. Further, it can be said that society plays an essential role in the development of
children as they are the one who decides at what time child actually grows and becomes adult. At
next, it has been also analysed that circumstance in individual life are the main factors which
influences their behaviour. It can be said that this film effectively shown circumstances of
individual’s life which makes them grow before their actual or impacts upon their lifestyle in
society. With reference to film, it has been analysed that life situation and physical abusing in the
life of William have made him silent and self owned person who does not communicates to other
in frank manner. Excessive tortures in the life have also made him cut off his own life from other
who does not even know their own skills and talent (Lathey, 2017). But, with the passing time
when William got better environment and a good friend circle his confidence automatically
boosts up. As a result, William became confident child who draws very attractive drawings.
Along with this, life experience of William have made him realise that life is not easy and for
making it better they themselves have to take initiative.
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Along with this, the film also shows that how both the children as well as young people
impacts upon each other’s growth and development in the society. It also shows that how
negative lifestyle of young people impacts upon development of children in their learning stage
(Teevan and Marlowe, 2016). Apart from this, it has been further analysed that government also
holds valuable position in the construction of children and individuals both. With reference to
chosen film named as “Goodnight Mister Tom”, it has been analysed that later government have
supported William and gave Mr. Tom permission to adopt this child in order to give better
lifestyle to him. This support of government has equally helped in the construction of childhood.
It can be said that with this support and legal of London police it was easier for Mr. Tom to
adopt William and provide him a better lifestyle with bright future. This shows positive impact
of governmental welfare on children life. On the other hand, while looking after another
perspective of this same scenario, it has been further analysed that this support of government
have also provided better reason to live life to Mr. Tom as by adopting William, he also got his
family and can pass his time effectively by providing better lifestyle to William.
Critical overview of the broad range of socio-cultural, political and economic factors that have
influenced and impacted on the social perspective of the chosen film.
Goodnight Mister Tom is a popular film which is based on famous novel published in the
year 1981 . The story revolves around childhood abuse. The film consist of various factors which
places impact over social perspective of the considered film that is Goodnight Mister Tom.
Influence of different factors like socio-cultural, political and economic factors over the social
perspectives. All of these factors along with their critical overview are stated as below:
Socio- cultural factor: With reference to chosen film, it has been analysed that Mrs.
Beech (Mother of William) was pressurising her children at regular basis. She beats them with
rode and instrument what so ever she find in front of her. It has been further evaluated that this
cruel behaviour of lady was not having any limit as she does even care how badly her children
are suffering due to abusive behaviour of Mrs. Beech. While, assessing behaviour of this cruel
lady, it can be said that there might possible chances that upbringing of Mrs. Beech would might
be in a same manner in which she was treating her children. Along with this, it can be said that
the culture of London is much open in each terms which allows elders to do whatever they wants
to do without even caring about others. Further, it can be said that there might be possible
chances that Mrs. Beech was torturing William for carrying out her frustration in order to feel
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better. In the biggest misconduct of Mrs. Beech, it has been identified in the scene of film that
the cruel lady have tortured William and her half sister at extinct level. This misconduct of Mrs
Beech have resulted into the death of Tudy(half sister of William). The small baby girl died
because of ill treatment of her mother as she locked both of the kids in cupboard below staircase.
While analysing influence of socio cultural factor over the social construction of children and
young people, it can be said that socio factor of country to which individuals are belonging
places high impact on the behaviour and lifestyle of children and young people both. In this, it
can be said that if socio cultural environment of children and young people is positive and
supporting then it directly influences their behaviour. On the other hand, in case if this behavior
is not positive or the upbringing of these young people is not good then it will develop similar
kind of environment in the society in future (Furth, 2017). In addition to this, it can be said that if
these young people gets positive environment in their childhood age then it will give them
guidance in treating their future generation effectively in coming years . As a result, it can be
said that socio cultural factor impacts upon social perspectives of children as well as young
people.
Economic factor: This factor is mainly related to monetary terms and economic
conditions. This factor holds high command over social construction of children as well as young
people. With reference to the chosen film, it has been analysed that Mr. Tom guardian of
William was a kind hearted man who lost his family in world war. This person was having soft
corner for children who are not treated well by their families. Mr. Tom was financially sound as
he was not any family on whom he have to spent money. This shows that he is financially well
off person who could hold responsibility of the child in every manner. This can be well
understood with the help of one example from the chosen film. In the film, it has been analysed
that when Mr. Tom got to know about the situation of William that how this poor child is
tortured by her mother at extinct. In this case, Mr. Tom have took decision of adopting William
as his son in order to give better life style to this child. Mr. Tom was confident about his decision
as he believes that his financial sound and have ability to take responsibility of taking of child.
This simply shows that influence of economic factor on social perspective of the film. It can be
further said that, if people existing in society uses their economic stability for the welfare of
society then it will valuable for all as it will improve existing condition of individual (Haynes
and Tanner, 2015). In addition to this, it has been further analysed that economic factor holds
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valuable position in the construction of children as well as young people. As if young people like
Mr. Tom uses this factor in effective manner then it makes easier for society in its improvement.
Along with this, effective usage of economic factor helps tortured and needy children in gaining
better lifestyle.
Political factor: This factor refers to legal norms or regulation which holds high impact
on the society as well as social construction of children and young people. It can be said that if
government gives support to young people and children then will be helpful for them in their
development. This can be well understood with the help of an example taken from the film. In
this film, when Mr. Tom understood actual intention of Mrs. Beech then this person took help of
legal entities in order to take legal action against the situation. Mr. Tom was emotionally
attached to William as he treats him like his son who passed away in world war. But, Mr. Tom
realised that William is no longer safe with her mother in London. Then, he took decision of
adopting William in order to give him a better lifestyle. In this situation, it can be said that
government support of London in term political factor have placed positive impact on the life of
William as with this only this child got opportunity to live better life in healthy environment
(Brown, 2015).
All per the above specified analysis of all the factors, it has been analysed that all of these
factors plays essential role in the growth of the society. At the same time it can be said, if these
young does use these factors in effective manner then it might reduce growth of children.
Critical discussion of theoretical perspectives, themes and research with regard to the way in
which the role of childhood is perceived.
In today’s world, it is essential to enhance the quality of life of young children as this has
now become a national as well as international priority expressed by way of research and policy
initiatives, programme development together with advocacy. Bringing improvements within
early childhood care as well as has become the primary theme in this regard. The participants
who collected at the World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien, Thailand, in the year
1990, pledged together to render primary education to all the children, thereby tremendously
decreasing illiteracy among the adults by the end of decade (Kitzinger, 2015). This was pursued
within 2000 with the Dakar Framework for Action on Education for All. The Goal 1 of this is to
“expand and improve the comprehensive early childhood care and education, specifically for the
most disadvantaged as well as vulnerable children.”
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In contemporary times, childhood policies and practices were shaped by competing
discourses and images of the young child. At present, there are four core perspectives that have
become the most influential ones in relation to assessing the role of childhood. Taking this
discussion forward, it can be said that there are four perspectives in this relation, namely,
developmental, social and cultural, political and economic and human rights perspective. In this
relation, these perspectives are briefly explained below:-
A developmental perspective of childhood significantly stresses upon the regularities
noticed in the physchosocial physical growth of the young children in the early phase of a
person’s childhood as well as their dependency and vulnerability during this formative phase of
their life. In this regard, William underwent physical abuse from his mother in his earlier stage of
childhood after which he was taken to a new caretaker, Mr. Tom. In the guidance of the new
caretaker, William was able to gain self confidence and possess the regard in relation to his life
and education and thus the developmental perspective of this child was improved under the
guidance of Mr. Tom.
A political as well as economic perspective of role of childhood is well versed by way of
the developmental principles, transformed into the educational and the social interventions and
supported by the economic model of human capital. Under the guidance of Mr. Tom, William
was able to develop into a positive and confident individual who possessed the abilities to face
the challenges of the world.
A social and cultural perspective of childhood aim at drawing the attention of people in
respect to the belief that early childhood is a constructed status and also towards the diversities of
ways in which it is comprehended and practised, for, by and with the young children along with
the consequences of implications for the manner in which the goals, models and standards are
defined, and by the person by whom they are described (Kitzinger, 2015).
A human rights perspective of childhood is aimed at reframing the conventional
approaches to the research theory, policy and practice in the ways that wholly respect the respect
and dignity of the young children, their entitlement as well as their capability to give their
contribution towards their individual development as well as towards the development of
services.
For each of the above mentioned overarching perspectives, it can be said that they
represent a cluster of specific theoretical, policy and research themes, summarise the primary
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areas of controversies and identifying a wide variety of alternative visions for the early
development and education of young children.
Based on the film, if it is talked about William then it can be said that there were a range
of specific constructions that came in front within the picture. Basically, looking at all the
situations where Mrs. Beech was continuously torturing/beating William, his nutrition level got
affected immensely, but then when he got shifted to Mr. Tom and there it was found out that his
confidence level got enhanced in a rightful manner, On the other hand, it was also being found
out that at the time when Mrs. Beech was directly accusing William for the wrong deeds when he
was not doing anything wrong, but there was a time in the film, where it showed that due to
wrong things, William became strong for a certain time frame.
Critical examination of relevant, modern social constructs of childhood and youth including the
role of existing inequalities in society that influence the social construction of children
Social inequalities is said as the difference in the distribution of the economic income and
assets as well as between the luxury and overall quality of each individual existence within the
society, while the economic inequality is grounded by the unequal accumulation of wealth
(Harris and White, 2018). Inequality can be generated through the gender, age, class, status,
colour, etc. In the present scenario, this has been seen that there was no inequality related to the
gender, Ms Beech was rude to both of their child, she was not taking care of her baby boy as well
as the baby girl, she seems to torture both of them by which the small baby girl die, The
inequality arises here by which the girl lost her life. Inequality affects both the society as well as
the economy, with growing evidence that excessive inequality which may be worst for the
growth. There are also some of the concerns that inequality many reduces the opportunities for
education for the children, as does in the scenario with William and the social mobility which
states the movement of the individual and the families within the society. This things of modern
childhood and the inequality are majorly affecting the society as by this many children's are
attempting the suicide by getting torture by their parents in the same way just like William and
his sister was torture by his mother Ms Beech. The parents must show the child how to set the
right things instead of pointing out for what they had done wrong. They always treat their
mistakes as an opportunity to learn and does their care in an effective and better manner. Ms
Beech had no reason for torturing her children's but then also she did so, and the result was that
her baby girl was died and the boy William was depressed by seeing all this situation occur in his
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house by his mother. So these things can affect on the mental health of the children's of the
society, they can be depressed or can also be suffered from the diseases of brain, so these things
should be done by the parents, and everyone should also treat the children's in the same manner
as Tom (Guardian of William) has done.
Childhood is totally depends from where you belong and where you live. As per the
analysis, it has been found that behaviour of children is totally depend on its external or internal
environment in which includes family members, friends, school, and so on. Along with this,
childhood is that type of time period when children learns from both their elders and younger
one. On the other hand, if a child belong to a family where his or her parents are well educated
and their living of standard is also good then that time, the values and behaviour of child is also
same. This is because they know how to provide knowledge to children by which they enhance
their skills and knowledge in order to attain more opportunities in their life (Breakwell, 2015).
As well as if a family is not so educated and they belong from village where they do not have
facility to provide some knowledge to their child then it will create negative impact on them. So,
this will create problems to both family and society as their standard of living graph goes
towards decrease. Along with this, it is going to be considered that for enhancing knowledge,
talent or skills families should enhance their knowledge by the motive of overall development of
the child and increasing living of standard (Delgado, Wing and Stefancic, 2015). For instance, it
has been evaluates from the above glimpses of move that there is a child whose name is William.
His mother is not so good, she always torture him by which this create negative on his mind and
because of this he is not aware about his own skills. Once upon a time, Mr. tom comes into his
life and guide him by which he realised that he is very good in drawing and motivates him to
enhance skills and grab various opportunities in the life.
Inequality in child and adults
Inequality for child: Inequalities in children can be seen as the discrimination among
children on the basis of their gender. It can be said that many parents discriminates among their
children in their education or the lifestyle which is given by them to children. These parents also
gives preferences of one child whom they like the most whereas they avoid another one. On the
other hand, it has been further analysed that this discrimination is not only done by parent but
also by the teachers and schools.
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Inequality for adults: Inequalities among adults can be done at any place. Mainly it is
done at workplace where one employee is getting more opportunities in comparison of others. It
can be said that this discrimination demotivate employees as they thinks only some people are
getting opportunities at workplace according to their relationship with superiors. This results in
high rate of employee turnover.
Socialisation theory
Socialisation refers to the process in which individuals learns to become effective
members of specific group. According to Freud's Theory, mind of an individual consists of three
parts which must interact with others in a proper way. If any one of these elements becomes
social, dominant and personal, it start creating problem. These parts are Id, Ego, Superego.
Under the case of Id, it is develop in the newborn babies, where they only want to satisfy their
physical desires. On the other hand, in case of superego infant move to childhood where their
mind develops and desire more from the family members. At last the third stage is Ego, where
child develop into adult. Generally, ego maintain a balance between the desire of superego and
id. But when they fails to maintain a balance they stated facing difficulties which affect their
decision making process.
CONCLUSION
As per the above analysis it has been concluded that social construction is a theory where
communication as well as sociology can help in development of overall world. It can related with
every individual of the country. In this research it has been critically analysed by the scholar
young people as well as children get affected by such kind of violence. It has been analysed that
development of children depends upon the internal as well as external environment of the family.
On the other hand it has also been evaluated that, there are various factors which affect the
development of children. These factors includes socio-cultural, political and economic factors.
As per the analysis it has been analysed that these factors affect in a positive as well as negative
manner. On the positive hand, development of the individual or children largely depends upon
the society culture. But on a negative point, if family members or society behaves badly with
children, there overall growth will be hamper. In addition to this, after analysing theoretical
perspectives of various individuals, it has been concluded that, development or growth of the
children largely depends upon the thought of society.
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