Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T20:39:39.156Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Deceit of Self Help: Preschool Playgroups and Working Class Mothers*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2009

Janet Finch
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article explores the voluntary, self help sector of preschool provision, using material from an in-depth study of playgroups in economically deprived areas of Lancashire. It argues that such playgroups tend either to collapse or to abandon the principle of self help because the economic, structural and cultural location of working class women makes these alternatives to statutory provision not a viable option in such localities. The restructuring of welfare to encourage self help is deceitful because it promotes forms of provision which working class women cannot provide for themselves; it fits well, however, with encouraging them to be ‘better’ mothers on a full-time basis.

Type
Article
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , January 1984 , pp. 1 - 20
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bell, L. (1976), Underprivileged Underfives, Ward Lock, London.Google Scholar
Bottomore, T. (1954), ‘Social stratification in voluntary associations’, in Glass, D. (ed.) Social Mobility in Britain, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, pp. 349–82.Google Scholar
Brown, G. & Harris, T. (1978), The Sociology of Depression, Tavistock, London.Google Scholar
Bruner, J. (1980), Under Five in Britain, Grant MacIntyre, London.Google Scholar
Bulmer, M. (1978), Social Policy Research, Macmillan, London.Google Scholar
Butcher, H., Collis, P., Glen, A. & Sills, D. (1980), Community Groups in Action: Case Studies and Analysis, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.Google Scholar
David, M. (1980), The State of the Family and Education, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.Google Scholar
David, M. (1982), ‘Day care policies and parenting’, Journal of Social Policy, 11:1, 81–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Health and Social Security (1978), Towards Participation: A Study of Self-Management in a Neighbourhood Community Centre, HMSO, London.Google Scholar
Edwards, S. (1977), ‘Time to speak out’, Contact, 06, p.22–3.Google Scholar
van der Eyken, W. (1974), The Pre-School Years, Third Edition, Penguin, Harmondsworth.Google Scholar
Ferri, E. & Niblett, R. (1977), Disadvantaged Families and Playgroups. NFER, Slough.Google Scholar
Finch, J. (1983a), ‘Dividing the rough and the respectable: working class women and preschool playgroups’, in Garmarnikov, E., Morgan, D., Purvis, J. & Taylorson, D. (eds) The Public and the Private, Heinemann, London, pp. 106–17.Google Scholar
Finch, J. (1983b), ‘A first class environment? Working class playgroups as preschool education’, British Educational Research Journal, 11.Google Scholar
Finch, J. (forthcoming), ‘Can skills be shared?’. Community Development Journal, in press.Google Scholar
Finch, J. & Groves, D. (1980), ‘Community care and the family: a case for equal opportunities?’, Journal of Social Policy. 9:4, 487–511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hadley, R. & Hatch, S. (1981), Social Welfare and the Failure of the State, George Allen & Unwin, London.Google Scholar
Hatch, S. (1981), Outside the State: Voluntary Organizations in Three English Towns, Croom Helm, London.Google Scholar
Hughes, M., Mayall, B., Moss, P., Perry, J., Petrie, P. & Pinkerton, G. (1980), Nurseries Now: a Pair Deal for Parents and Children, Penguin, Harmondsworth.Google Scholar
Joseph, A. & Parfitt, J. (1972), Playgroups in an Area of Social Need, NFER, Slough.Google Scholar
Leach, P. (1979), Who Cares? A New Deal for Mothers and Their Small Children, Penguin, Harmondsworth.Google Scholar
Lewis, J. (1980), The Politics of Motherhood 1919–1939. Croom Helm, London.Google Scholar
Moss, P. (1982), ‘Community care and young children’, in Walker, A. (ed.) Community Care: The Family, the State and Social Policy, Blackwell/Martin Robertson, Oxford, pp. 118–40.Google Scholar
Newson, E. & Newson, J. (1968), Four Years Old in an Urban Community, George Allen & Unwin, London.Google Scholar
Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys (1982), Social Trends No. 12, Central Statistical Office, HMSO, London.Google Scholar
Plowden, Lady B. (1973), ‘The playgroup movement: a cycle of opportunity’, in Preschool Playgroups Association, Focus on the Future of Playgroups, PPA, London, pp.2–12.Google Scholar
Plowden, Lady B. (1982), ‘We did not know then what we know now’. Times Educational Supplement, 8 04.Google Scholar
Preschool Playgroups Association (1978), ‘Telling Parliament about playgroups’. Contact, 09.Google Scholar
Preschool Playgroups Association (1980), Playgroups in the Eighties: Opportunities for Parents and Children, PPA, London.Google Scholar
Pringle, M. K. (1980), The Needs of Children, Second Edition, Hutchinson, London.Google Scholar
Shinman, S. (1981), A Chance for Every Child? Access and Response to Preschool Provision, Tavistock, London.Google Scholar
Smith, T. (1980), Parents and Preschool, Grant MacIntyre, London.Google Scholar
Sylva, K., Roy, C. & Painter, M. (1980), Childwatching at Playgroup and Nursery School, Grant Maclntyre, London.Google Scholar
Tizard, J., Moss, P. & Perry, J. (1976), All Our Children, Temple Smith, London.Google Scholar
Watt, J. (1977), Co-operation in Preschool Education, SSRC, London.Google Scholar
Woodhead, M. (1976), Intervening in Disadvantage: A Challenge for Nursery Education, NFER, Slough.Google Scholar