Children's Moral Lives

Children's Moral Lives makes use of case studies,
observation, interviews and questionnaires to offer a fascinating,
behind-the-scenes view of children's school lives and the
complex moral issues and disputes they routinely negotiate

• The first ethnography of childhood to focus on children's
  morality in the peer group

• Case studies shed light on the psychological, social and
  cultural processes by which children and adults reach starkly
  different moral judgments of the same situations

• Combines qualitative insights and quantitative data into
  recommendations for practice

Auteur

Dr. Ruth Woods is currently a Research Fellow in a multidisciplinary team at the University of Aberdeen, UK, and an Associate of Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. A psychologist by training, Ruth completed her PhD among anthropologists, learning to apply ethnographic methods to psychological questions. Ever since, she has combined quantitative and qualitative methods and analyses in innovative ways to improve our understanding of how children conceive and experience morality, aggression, friendship, and ethnic identity. She has published on these topics in a series of journal articles.

Résumé

Children's Moral Lives makes use of case studies, observation, interviews and questionnaires to offer a fascinating, behind-the-scenes view of children's school lives and the complex moral issues and disputes they routinely negotiate

• The first ethnography of childhood to focus on children's morality in the peer group
• Case studies shed light on the psychological, social and cultural processes by which children and adults reach starkly different moral judgments of the same situations
• Combines qualitative insights and quantitative data into recommendations for practice

Contenu
Acknowledgements ix 1 Introduction: Children's Moral Experiences at School 1

1.1 Adults' Interest in Children's Morality: From Indifference to Intervention 1

1.2 Understanding Moral Development in Culture 5

1.2.1 Theoretical approaches 5

1.2.2 The need for ethnography 9

1.2.3 But what is morality? 11

1.3 The School 13

1.3.1 Socioeconomic and ethnic composition 14

1.3.2 Values and discipline 16

1.4 The Research 18

1.4.1 Methodology 18

1.4.2 The researcher 20

1.5 Structure of the Book 21

2 What Counts as Harm?: Playful Aggression and Toughness 25

2.1 The Prevalence of Playful Aggression 25

2.2 Playful Aggression in Children's Friendships 26

2.3 Finding the Line Between Play and Harm 28

2.4 Drawing the Line Differently: Contrasting Interpretations of Playful Aggression 31

2.4.1 Being sensitive 31

2.4.2 Girls and boys 33

2.4.3 Adults and children on playful racism 38

2.5 Crossing the Line 39

2.5.1 Demonstrating toughness 39

2.5.2 Using harm to demonstrate toughness 41

2.5.3 Toughness, playful aggression and social class 43

2.6 Implications for Schools 44

3 Physical Aggression: Prioritising Harm Avoidance, Reciprocity or Dominance? 47

3.1 School Rules: No Hitting 47

3.2 The Morality of Fairness, Reciprocity and Retaliation 49

3.2.1 Reciprocity versus harm avoidance at Woodwell Green 51

3.2.2 'She has to get her own back': Zak and Faizel on reciprocity 53

3.2.3 Fairness in aggressive boys' lives 58

3.3 Hierarchy, Respect and Physical Aggression 63

3.3.1 Masculinity and violence 64

3.3.2 'Mr Gardner said don't hit, tell a teacher, but it never worked': Paul negotiating hierarchy at Woodwell Green 68

3.4 Implications for Schools 70

4 'Whose Game Is It?': Understanding Exclusion 75

4.1 School Rules: All Play Together 75

4.1.1 Children's views of exclusion 78

4.1.2 Understanding exclusion on the playground 79

4.2 Exclusion and Power 80

4.2.1 'Whose ball is it?' Exclusion from boys' football games 80

4.2.2 Dominance struggles: 'Holly tries to take over from me as leader of the gang' 85

4.3 Exclusion for Game Maintenance and Success 92

4.4 Exclusion Without an Excluder 95

4.4.1 Three's a crowd 97

4.4.2 Ethnic identity and friendship 99

4.4.3 Distorted perceptions 102

4.5 Exclusion as Reciprocity 104

4.6 Implications for Schools 105

4.6.1 Mismatches between classroom representations and playground reality 105

4.6.2 Power, status and accountability 108

5 Loyalty in Girls' Friendships 112

5.1 Possessiveness, Loyalty and Independence 112

5.2 Loyalty in Best Friendship 114

5.2.1 Maria: 'I let her play with other people but why can't I play too?' 115

5.2.2 Navneet: 'She's running off with Sarina' 118

5.2.3 Zena: Prioritising independence and popularity 121

5.2.4 Erickah: Loyalty and loneliness 123

5.2.5 Multiple values: Reconciling loyalty with freedom and status 125

5.3 Loyalty through Sharing Enemies 127

5.3.1 'She'll say if you talk with Anjali I won't be your friend': Taking sides 127

5.3.2 'Sarina wanted to talk to me but Anjali kept saying no': Submission and possession 130

5.3.3 Toxic loyalty: Friendship through sharing enemies 134

5.4 What About Boys' Loyalty? 136

5.5 Implications for Schools 138

5.5.1 Loyalty as availability 140

5.5.2 Loyalty as sharing enemies 141

6 Racism: A Special Type of Harm? 144

6.1 Prioritising Prejudices: Racism versus Homophobia 144

6.1.1 'There is simply no room for racism at Woodwell Green' 144

6.1.2 Homophobia: The silent harm 146

6.2 Defining Racism 150

6.2.1 Race, religion or language? 150 ...