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Sociology Essay

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Sociology Essay
Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that working-class children under-achieve because they are culturally deprived.

Cultural deprivation is the theory that many working-class and black children are inadequately socialised and are therefore lacking in the culture which is deemed as being right, this is things such as if their families don’t instil the value of deferred gratification. Which is a government policy about the lack of underachievement. Many sociologists argue that if there is a lack in your family structure and your, cultural, social and soft skills their child is more likely to underachieve. There are many arguments both agreeing and disagreeing with this, which is still a continuing idea in the present day. Many children are saw as being underachievers if they have not received the right socialisation to make them culturally aware.
Often, the intellectual development of a child is seen as being vital in the earlier years of a person’s life, purely because it is the period of their life that they will take the most in and start to understand new thing i.e. a child’s ability to solve problems. J.W.B Douglas 1964 found that working class children scored lower on tests to those of middle class, he said that this was due to the fact working class parents are less likely to support their child’s intellectual development through reading with them etc. Bernstein and Young 1967 both argue that middle class families will be able to buy toys which stimulate their child’s mind, whereas the working class may struggle to buy them equipment and clothes, and are less likely to buy them stimulating toys.
Language is also associated in a child’s progress into being able to learn. Basil Bernstein 1975 identified two different types of language which is used throughout the classes. The elaborated code which is used by members of the middle class and uses more complex sentences, this is used commonly by teachers and exam questions. Early

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