Abstract
Children’s age ascription across family life situations is culturally constructed in every society. Relevant literature suggests that children’s age ascription and its consequences across family life situation are enormous and pervasive across the cultures. Despite this, there is a paucity of systematic cross-cultural evidence on which social workers may play important roles in changing age ascription and its negative consequences. Reviewing cross-cultural literature, this study compares age ascription and its consequences in family life situations between Muslim and Santal cultures in Bangladesh. Evidence suggests that age ascription of the Santal for working/earning, marrying, mothering and family authority is earlier, but later in schooling, separation between boy and girl, separate sleeping between son and daughter and/or parent than that in the Muslim community. Santal children with early or late age assignment in those family life situations compared to Muslim ones are more likely to suffer from negative social, psychological, and health consequences. Based on the evidence, social work implications are discussed to change age status assignment and consequences in the family life situation between the two ethnic communities in Bangladesh.
Highlights
Sociologists and anthropologists over the decades have studied age assignment and its consequences in familyHow to cite this paper: Uddin, Md
Sociological and anthropological literature reveals that age ascription and its negative consequences occur in family sociocultural context
Evidence suggested that age ascription of the Santal children for working/earning, marrying, mothering and family authority was earlier, but later for schooling, separation between boy and girl, separate sleeping between son and daughter and/or parent than in the Muslim community
Summary
How to cite this paper: Uddin, Md. E., & Kabir, Md. Kabir life situations across the societies or ethnic groups within a society (Biddle & Thomas, 1966) Their evidence may have implications in social work practice to combat personal and social consequences related to age assignment in family life situations. Conservative parents compared to the liberal parents are more likely to prohibit interaction between adolescent boys and girls These age-behaviors of the minority groups have more negative consequences on their children’s proper development and adult role taking than the dominant children. Relevant literature reviewed suggest that age assignment and its related negative consequences in the family life situations, including schooling, sleeping, working, interaction, marrying, childbearing, and family authority continuation are well-evidenced. Cross-cultural evidence suggests that minority ethnic children compared to children from dominant cultures suffer from negative consequences, depending on early or late age assignment across the family life situations.
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