Childhood Sociology Essay

Historically, children and the sociology of childhood were understood as a passive, instable phase whilst undergoing the process of “becoming” a competent adult. Until that occurs, the children are considered insignificance in that their voices and experiences become unnecessary to be heard. The new sociology of childhood however fosters a different perspective on children and considers them as beings in their own right, capable of being social actors in the society (Colver, 2005). The purpose of this response is to highlight how new sociology of children has shaped the way literatures regarding children has changed by demonstrating it through the research article, “Joining in on Different Terms—Dealing with Poverty in School and among ‘Peers’” …show more content…
The homogenising’s of childhood in the old sociology of childhood has been a source of criticism from the new sociologists, as it harness the dominant perspective of the century that children are the same children wherever they are. Furthermore, this hegemonic perspective of childhood is manifested from Piaget who contributes to the discourse of childhood by supporting the process of being a child is a shared universal experience. Piaget’s development theory addresses that children are biologically predetermined to follow a set of linear cognitive development in correlation to the age order in order to reach the ultimate stage; adulthood (Robinson, 2008). Furthermore, sociologists at the time had a goal to create a universal definition of “the child”, which blinds society of the personhood of the children who are affected differently across different social contexts. The new sociology stresses the plurality of childhood because whereas previous literatures focused dominantly on the rice, white, western children, presently there is a bigger awareness of children outside those standards such as the Swedish children presented in this study. (Morrow,