Rethinking Childhood examines attitudes towards, and experiences of, childhood. Focus is placed on opposing the processes by which children are made to be 'other': the ways in which children are separated and segregated by adults.
Phil Jones explores different aspects of childhood: from education to health, from national policies to home life. A wide range of thought, research and practice from different fields and countries is used to debate, challenge and re-appraise long held beliefs, attitudes and ways of working and living with children. Children's own perspectives on their lives and on adults' attitudes towards them are drawn on throughout the book.
The result is a wide-ranging invitation to the reader to become aware of current perspectives on children and childhood, to develop a critical relationship with the content, and to develop their own 'reading' of childhood.
Each chapter contains examples of research, reflections on research, activities, key points and guidance on further reading.
Areas include:
-How is childhood changing?
-What is research revealing about attitudes towards children?
-Do adults encourage the idea of children as incapable and incompetent?
-How do adults fear for, and their fears of, children affect children's lives?
-How does the media affect children's lives?
-How does a child rights perspective challenge service provision?
-In what ways are children's voices and opinions changing our world?
Rethinking Childhood is essential for those studying childhood at undergraduate and graduate level and for those working with children in any field, from education to health, from play to law.