The Sociology of Childhood (Sociology for a New Century Series)

by Dr . William A . Corsaro (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1997

  $6.18

  This volume brings an extraordinary range of theoretical ideas and empirical research to a neglected area of sociology. William A Corsaro shows how children contribute to both social stability and social change through a process of interpretive reproduction, and breaks new ground by stressing the conceptual autonomy of children.

  Part One reviews traditional approaches to socialization and contrasts them with the author's perspective of interpretive reproduction. The second part places the new sociology of childhood in historical and cultural perspective. The importance of children's peer culture is defined and discussed in Part Three, and the last part considers children as social problems and also the social problems of children.

• Used

  Paperback
  2004

  $3.45

  'The provision of many amusing examples from Corsaro's own research experience

  with children make his book a thoroughly enjoyable read as well as a valuable

  critical sociological analysis of childhood' - Sociology

  The Sociology of Childhood is the Second Edition of a text that has been universally acclaimed as the best book on the subject available today. It is the only text that thoroughly covers children and childhood from a sociological perspective. The second edition retains the same quality coverage of social theories of childhood, the consideration of children and childhood in historical and cultural perspective, children's peer cultures from preschool through preadolescence, and the social problems of children. The book has been updated to include new research, information, and discussions on the latest social indicators regarding children in the United States and around the world.

  Key Features

  New chapter on up-to-date methods of research for studying children.

  New chapters on theory, cultural change, and children's peer cultures.

  New section on children's rights including a description and discussion of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

  Updated chapter on the Future of Childhood addresses current policy debates and changing demographics related to children in today's societies.

  Contains many examples of children's actual play and behavior.

  Provides photographs and charts that capture the complexity and diversity of children's lives.

  The Sociology of Childhood is highly recommended for use as the core text in courses on the sociology of children and childhood, as well as for parents, teachers, and other adults interested in the social lives and development of children. It can also be used in early education, child development, and child psychology courses, and as a supplemental text in the area of family studies.

  William A. Corsaro is the Robert H. Shaffer Class of 1967 Endowed Professor of Sociology at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he teaches courses on the sociology of childhood, childhood in contemporary society, and ethnographic research methods. Corsaro is the author of Friendship and Peer Culture in the Early Years (1985) and We're Friends, Right : Inside Kids' Culture (2003). He was a Fulbright Senior Research Fellow in Bologna, Italy, in 1983-84 and a Fulbright Senior Specialist Fellow in Trondheim, Norway, in 2003. His research has been featured on NPR, the BBC in London, and in the New Yorker.