Abstract
This article explores the construction of childhood and parenthood in rural communities in Indonesia based on a series of focus group discussions with service providers, community decision makers, and paraprofessionals; a group that we refer to as “frontline providers”. By examining the providers’ definition of successful children and their perception of factors that could undermine a child’s success, we provide insights into how frontline providers understand the role of parents, and how parenthood is constructed accordingly. We found that the providers’ definition of successful children reflects a strong neoliberal logic and that education is seen as the primary mechanism of such investment, an evolution of the idea of a modern nation under the previous regime that has permeated into an individual assessment. The paternalistic culture has further cemented the tendency among the frontline providers to problematize parents as the main risk factor for children’s educational achievement and to ignore the structural and ecological factors. We traced this paradigm in Indonesia’s educational and child protection policy framework, prompting a myriad of parenting programs that put parents from the underprivileged group as the main subject of intervention. Informed by studies in different countries, we argue that without changes in structural factors, any intervention on parenting will be deemed ineffective.
Highlights
There is a growing recognition that childhood is a constructed concept shaped by social, political, and economic contexts and factors (James 1997; Qvortrup 2008; Tesar et al 2016)
Drawing from a series of Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) in rural communities in West Sulawesi, Indonesia. This study fills this gap by exploring how childhood adversity is understood by service providers and paraprofessionals who provide immediate services to children and families in the community; a group that we refer to as “frontline providers”, following the term used by Pepinsky, Pierskalla, and Sacks (Pepinsky et al 2017)
Several studies have demonstrated the manifestation of the neoliberal project of childhood and education in the global north, especially among educators and social workers
Summary
There is a growing recognition that childhood is a constructed concept shaped by social, political, and economic contexts and factors (James 1997; Qvortrup 2008; Tesar et al 2016). When one sees children who have problems, one looks for parents, especially mothers” This intersection of the construction of childhood and parenthood has. Sci. 2019, 8, 64 drawn substantial scholarly interests in developed countries (Davies and Bansel 2007; Gillies 2005; Holloway and Pimlott-Wilson 2014; Hyslop et al 2018; Peterson et al 2011; Russell et al 2008) These studies suggest an alignment of childhood and parenthood with the neoliberal paradigm that emphasizes parental responsibility in children’s educational achievement. Drawing from a series of Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) in rural communities in West Sulawesi, Indonesia This study fills this gap by exploring how childhood adversity is understood by service providers and paraprofessionals who provide immediate services to children and families in the community; a group that we refer to as “frontline providers”, following the term used by Pepinsky, Pierskalla, and Sacks (Pepinsky et al 2017). Aspirations echo a remnant of developmentalim and modernization discourse that was prevalent under the Soeharto era, and idealizes industrial-urban life over agrarian life
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