Children's Moral Lives

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.

“Far from being destined to specialists only, this rich and pleasant book is a tactful analysis of crucial social issues faced by pupils in school that mirror issues at play in the wider society around them. It will provide great interest for psychologists, anthropologists, educators, social workers as well as to anyone interested in schooling, children, youth and in the power dynamics operating in urban multicultural communities.”  (Anthropological Notebooks, 1 October 2014)

• Acknowledgements ix 1 Introduction: Children’s Moral Experiences at School 11.1 Adults’ Interest in Children’s Morality: From Indifference to Intervention 11.2 Understanding Moral Development in Culture 51.2.1 Theoretical approaches 51.2.2 The need for ethnography 91.2.3 But what is morality? 111.3 The School 131.3.1 Socioeconomic and ethnic composition 141.3.2 Values and discipline 161.4 The Research 181.4.1 Methodology 181.4.2 The researcher 201.5 Structure of the Book 212 What Counts as Harm?: Playful Aggression and Toughness 252.1 The Prevalence of Playful Aggression 252.2 Playful Aggression in Children’s Friendships 262.3 Finding the Line Between Play and Harm 282.4 Drawing the Line Differently: Contrasting Interpretations of Playful Aggression 312.4.1 Being sensitive 312.4.2 Girls and boys 332.4.3 Adults and children on playful racism 382.5 Crossing the Line 392.5.1 Demonstrating toughness 392.5.2 Using harm to demonstrate toughness 412.5.3 Toughness, playful aggression and social class 432.6 Implications for Schools 443 Physical Aggression: Prioritising Harm Avoidance, Reciprocity or Dominance? 473.1 School Rules: No Hitting 473.2 The Morality of Fairness, Reciprocity and Retaliation 493.2.1 Reciprocity versus harm avoidance at Woodwell Green 513.2.2 ‘She has to get her own back’: Zak and Faizel on reciprocity 533.2.3 Fairness in aggressive boys’ lives 583.3 Hierarchy, Respect and Physical Aggression 633.3.1 Masculinity and violence 643.3.2 ‘Mr Gardner said don’t hit, tell a teacher, but it never worked’: Paul negotiating hierarchy at Woodwell Green 683.4 Implications for Schools 704 ‘Whose Game Is It?’: Understanding Exclusion 754.1 School Rules: All Play Together 754.1.1 Children’s views of exclusion 784.1.2 Understanding exclusion on the playground 794.2 Exclusion and Power 804.2.1 ‘Whose ball is it?’ Exclusion from boys’ football games 804.2.2 Dominance struggles: ‘Holly tries to take over from me as leader of the gang’ 854.3 Exclusion for Game Maintenance and Success 924.4 Exclusion Without an Excluder 954.4.1 Three’s a crowd 974.4.2 Ethnic identity and friendship 994.4.3 Distorted perceptions 1024.5 Exclusion as Reciprocity 1044.6 Implications for Schools 1054.6.1 Mismatches between classroom representations and playground reality 1054.6.2 Power, status and accountability 1085 Loyalty in Girls’ Friendships 1125.1 Possessiveness, Loyalty and Independence 1125.2 Loyalty in Best Friendship 1145.2.1 Maria: ‘I let her play with other people but why can’t I play too?’ 1155.2.2 Navneet: ‘She’s running off with Sarina’ 1185.2.3 Zena: Prioritising independence and popularity 1215.2.4 Erickah: Loyalty and loneliness 1235.2.5 Multiple values: Reconciling loyalty with freedom and status 1255.3 Loyalty through Sharing Enemies 1275.3.1 ‘She’ll say if you talk with Anjali I won’t be your friend’: Taking sides 1275.3.2 ‘Sarina wanted to talk to me but Anjali kept saying no’: Submission and possession 1305.3.3 Toxic loyalty: Friendship through sharing enemies 1345.4 What About Boys’ Loyalty? 1365.5 Implications for Schools 1385.5.1 Loyalty as availability 1405.5.2 Loyalty as sharing enemies 1416 Racism: A Special Type of Harm? 1446.1 Prioritising Prejudices: Racism versus Homophobia 1446.1.1 ‘There is simply no room for racism at Woodwell Green’ 1446.1.2 Homophobia: The silent harm 1466.2 Defining Racism 1506.2.1 Race, religion or language? 1506.2.2 Name-calling or discrimination? 1546.2.3 ‘I’m not racist but’: English parents and ethnic identity 1586.3 Implications for Schools 1626.3.1 Racism versus homophobia 1626.3.2 Controversies in defining racism 1637 Guilty or Not Guilty: Interactive Struggles for Meaning 1667.1 Children’s Willingness to Tell Tales 1667.1.1 Telling tales for fun 1687.1.2 Teachers’ responses to tales 1697.2 Children Constructing Accountability 1707.2.1 ‘It was by accident’: The role of intention in allocating blame 1707.2.2 ‘He started it’: Provocation and reciprocity 1787.3 High Court Judges: Teachers ‘Sorting it Out’ 1857.3.1 Deception 1857.3.2 ‘Getting to the bottom of it’: Teachers’ quest for truth 1887.3.3 Witnesses 1917.3.4 Trustworthiness: Truth-seeking or taking sides? 1937.3.5 Resolving disputes 1957.4 Implications for Schools 2017.4.1 Constructing responsibility 2017.4.2 Intervening effectively 2038 Children’s Moral Lives in Cultural Context 2088.1 Understanding Children’s Interpretations and Priorities 2098.1.1 Interpretations 2098.1.2 Priorities 2118.2 Constructing Responsibility: The Importance of Power and Narrative 2178.2.1 Intention and provocation 2188.2.2 Children’s narratives to adults 2198.2.3 Dominance and subordination 2208.3 Children’s Moral Lives: Complex, Constrained, Cultural and Unique 222References 225Appendix 233Index 237