Children Fairy Tales as an Instrument of Social Control Cover Image

Bajki dla dzieci jako instrument kontroli społecznej
Children Fairy Tales as an Instrument of Social Control

Author(s): Liliana Fabisińska
Subject(s): Preschool education, Social development, Sociology of Culture
Published by: Instytut Profilaktyki Społecznej i Resocjalizacji UW
Keywords: fairy tale; moral of the story; message; normative message; socialization; focus studies

Summary/Abstract: In order to address the question of fairytale socializing function, and more precisely the impact of fairytales and their morals on the child, focus studies were con ducted which covered 160 primary school pupils aged 6-12. They were asked to talk about fairytales which were most impressive, about most frightening characters from the fairytale of their choice, and next about Grimms’ fairy tales only. Additionally, to find out what traces of childhood reads stay in an adult mind, we analyzed an on-line discussion on the subject, and conducted a similar focus study with adults. The study covered 44 subjects, aged 30-45. Some interesting patterns were identified, among all, that children are perfectly aware of the moral which adults strive to convey in a specific fairytale, and that adults would change their attitude to specific fairytales with time and experience gained.

  • Issue Year: 2015
  • Issue No: 16
  • Page Range: 79-90
  • Page Count: 12
  • Language: Polish