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The sociology of childhood studies childhood’s relationship to society, including children’s rights and cultural aspects. Researchers focus on interactions between children and adults or with each other. Childhood is viewed as a social construction, challenging Western notions of childhood. Sociologists now depict children as active participants in their own development, with agency being debated. Conflicting views on childhood can lead to different conceptions of children’s rights, with some viewing children as a minority group needing special protection.
The sociology of childhood is a subfield of sociology that developed in the late 20th century. It seeks to define the nature of childhood and its relationship to society as a whole. Relationships involving children, children’s rights, and biological and cultural aspects of childhood are all research topics within the sociology of childhood.
Sociologists differ in the types of relationships they study when researching children. Some researchers focus on interactions between children and adults, making the sociology of childhood largely a subset of the sociology of the family. Others focus on children’s relationships with each other and the ways in which those relationships shape their subcultures.
Some models of the sociology of childhood describe childhood as a purely social construction rather than a universal phenomenon or biological necessity. Researchers who defend or work on this model can challenge the discourses surrounding childhood in different societies. Their findings often challenge the Western notion of childhood as a happy and protected period of development.
Prior to the 1980s, childhood had primarily been viewed through the lens of socialization and developmental psychology. In developmental psychology, children are viewed largely as passive beings who develop along a more or less biologically determined path. Socialization theories view children as passive receptors of culture who are not yet fully socialized.
Beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s, however, sociologists began developing alternative theories of childhood that depicted children as active participants in their own development. This ability to make choices is known as agency in the broader field of sociology. Agency for children is the subject of much debate in the contemporary sociology of childhood research.
Different conceptions of children’s rights can arise from these and other conflicting views on the nature of childhood. The idea that childhood is a construct rather than a necessary fact, according to some researchers, negates that children should be afforded a protected status in society. These sociologists are likely to view children as a minority group that lacks the power or ability to control most aspects of their quality of life and, therefore, should receive special protection.
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