The Body Childhood And Society

Bringing together two topics of wide and growing sociological interest, The Body, Childhood and Society examines how children's bodies are constructed in schools, families, courts, hospitals and in film. Recognising that children's bodies are a target for adult practices of social regulation, the contributors show that children are also active in their construction, employ them in resistance and social action, and generate their own meanings about them. The editor, a leading sociologist of childhood, draws out the theoretical implications of this work, indicates the limits of social constructionism, and suggests new ways of thinking about the hybrid of material, discursive and collective processes involved. It will be a valuable text for social scientists interested in the body, childhood, schooling, the law, medicine and health.

The landmark work on the social significance of childhood. The original and vastly influential ideas of Erik H. Erikson underlie much of our understanding of human development. His insights into the interdependence of the individuals' growth and historical change, his now-famous concepts of identity, growth, and the life cycle, have changed the way we perceive ourselves and society. Widely read and cited, his works have won numerous awards including the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Combining the insights of clinical psychoanalysis with a new approach to cultural anthropology, Childhood and Society deals with the relationships between childhood training and cultural accomplishment, analyzing the infantile and the mature, the modern and the archaic elements in human motivation. It was hailed upon its first publication as "a rare and living combination of European and American thought in the human sciences" (Margaret Mead, The American Scholar). Translated into numerous foreign languages, it has gone on to become a classic in the study of the social significance of childhood.

The new edition of this established core textbook continues to give an insightful, authoritative and accessible overview of competing theoretical positions on the sociological study of childhood. The book explores the ways these theories inform key themes, including education, work, identity and agency. The study of childhood has taken on an increasingly global focus in recent years, honing in on how issues of rights, protection and development shape the lives of children and those around them at political, social and institutional levels across the world. As a result, this book guides students through the theories and research on childhood in both local and global contexts. Author Michael Wyness clearly illustrates how a study of childhood can inform sociological thinking on social crises, changes and problems such as globalisation, criminality and disruption of the social order. Written for students exploring childhood from a sociological perspective, this is the essential introduction to the topic. New to this Edition: - A broadened global focus throughout every chapter, including more on the developing world. - A revised chapter on researching children and childhood. - An updated critical appraisal of children's rights, as well as new data on child protection and schooling. - The introduction of new key readings and 'Academic Insights' boxes that explore research on important topics in more detail.

Demonstrating the contested and differentiated nature of childhood and youth embodiment, this book responds to political and media discourses that stigmatise 'unruly' youthful bodies, by combining the critical analysis of imagined and disciplined youthful bodies with a focus on young people's lived and performed, embodied subjectivities.

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Theories in Childhood Studies brings together an international group of childhood studies scholars who work with a range of critical theories. It speaks to both scholars and students by addressing questions such as how childhoods are diversely constructed and how children's experiences can be better understood. The volume draws together a diversity of theoretical perspectives from the social sciences and humanities such as critical race studies, disability studies, posthumanism, feminism, politics, decolonialism, queer theory and postcolonialism to generate a much-needed conversation about how to move childhood studies forward as a grounded field of research. The volume is subdivided into three sections - subjectivities, relationalities, and structures - each of which addresses different but interrelated approaches to childhood studies theorization. This handbook will be an essential text not just for childhood studies researchers, but for all those interested in theorizing what childhood is, what work it does and who children are.

In everyday life we are not, for the most part, actively conscious of our bodies or the bodies of others – we simply take them for granted. This new edition of a lively introduction to the sociology of the body examines what certain aspects of our bodies, such as the size, shape, smell and demeanour, reveal about the social organization of everyday life and how the body is crucial to the way we engage with the world and the people around us. The human body is endowed with varied forms of social significance which sociology has addressed by asking questions such as: To what degree do individuals have control over their own bodies? What interest does the state have in regulating the human body? How significant is the body to the development and performance of the self in everyday life? What images of the body influence people’s expectations of themselves and others? Written in a clear and comprehensible way, The Body in Society introduces students to the key conceptual frameworks that help us to understand the social significance of the human body. This second edition has been thoroughly updated to take into account recent theories and debates and also includes enhanced pedagogical features. Using familiar examples from everyday life, such as diet and exercise regimes, personal hygiene, dress, displays of emotion, and control over bodily functions, coupled with examples from popular culture, the text has strong contemporary relevance and will strike a chord with all who read it. This book will be essential reading for students taking courses on the body in sociology, anthropology, gender studies and cultural studies.

A landmark publication in the field, this state of the art reference work, with contributions from leading thinkers across a range of disciplines, is an essential guide to the study of children and childhood, and sets out future research agendas for the subject.

Considers ways in which raising questions about gender can help researchers and practitioners better understand family relationships and issues in children's development Draws on current developments in thinking about gender relations Offers an overview of sociological, psychological and developmental perspectives on family relationships, child welfare outcomes and the practice/policy realities of professional interventions with families Chapters address range of service settings; including family support, child health, education, child protection, domestic violence, ‘looked after’ children and youth justice