Title- International Social Work. Question- How does the social Essay

Title- International Social Work. Question- How does the social construction of childhood inform and affect international child protection measures - Essay Example It is on account of these reasons that the international communities and organizations have taken active interest in promoting and protecting the interests and well-being of young children through introduction of effective laws. The UN Convention on the Rights of Child (CRC) is one such international body that seeks protection of children exposed to adversity and has included it as one of their key agendas. The child protection and welfare organizations have, over the years, actively supported and fought for safeguarding young children from intolerable conditions. They argued that a child comes into the world defenceless in the face of an aggressive and violent society and that he is the first to suffer the terrible consequences of famine, war and socioeconomic crisis (qtd. in James, 1997, pp. 191). Hence in order to uphold the moral and ethical values international agencies such as The International Union for Child Welfare, Defence for Children International, UNCRC etc seek the protection of such vulnerable groups in the society. This paper on international social work seeks to understand, assess and explore the role and impact of the concept of ‘social construction of childhood’ in the framin g of international child protection laws. The term social construction refers to the idea / notion that has been created by society. Sociologists argue that childhood is a socially constructed phenomenon since it varies across cultures and does not conform to any form of universal standard or definition. This is mainly because what is considered deviant behaviour in one culture may be considered completely normal and acceptable in another thus implying that the concept of childhood is more of a socially constructed term rather than a natural biological phase. According to Aries (1973) the concept of childhood did not exist in the middle ages (qtd. in Hunt, 2005). It is also argued