will explore the concept of childhood studies and child psychology and how this has evolved over time and across different societies. I will also take a closer look at the different sociological and anthropology perspectives of childhood and will use these to interpret children’s experiences in order to gain a greater knowledge and understanding of childhood. I will explore how certain constraints of childhood have emerged over time and how these have shaped our knowledge and understanding of children’s lives.
The concept of childhood studies emphasizes on an interdisciplinary and international in scope approach to the generational cohort of children from 0 to 18 years of age. Childhood studies claim that its main focus is to understand childhood. Sociology and anthropology differ from psychological accounts in many ways. Sociologists consider how the experience of childhood may change over time and over different social contexts. Anthropology focuses on exploring how culture shapes the lives of children and young people.
Childhood studies consider how social and cultural views influence children’s development and challenges developmental views of the child as passive, weak and dependent. They have a respect for children’s rights and always aim to see things through the eyes of children. They see children as social actors and listen to what children have to say. Childhood studies uses multiple rather than singular methods of study and they need to be research-based in order to obtain the views of children. Childhood studies recognize that childhood is a social construction which varies across time and place and also recognize that children have their own cultural worlds