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Print Price: $188.99

Format:
Paperback
372 pp.
1 line illus., 226 mm x 150 mm

ISBN-13:
9780195330786

Copyright Year:
2007

Imprint: OUP US

Children and Society

The Sociology of Children and Childhood Socialization

Gerald Handel, Spencer Cahill and Frederick Elkin

Children and Society presents a comprehensive sociological portrayal of children and childhood from birth to the beginning of adolescence. A major theme is the tension between children's active agency and the socializing influences of the family, school, peer groups, and mass media. The book incorporates the most recent research and theories of childhood socialization. Its theoretical perspective is primarily symbolic interactionism which emphasizes the development of the self. The volume features research that documents cultural variations within American society shaped by social class, race and ethnicity, and gender.

Children and Society is organized into four parts, each with an introduction. Part I, "Understanding Childhood Socialization," consists of four chapters. Chapter One reviews how social scientists have conceptualized children, leading to today's understanding of childhood as a social construction. Chapter Two briefly discusses the characteristics of the human organism that both require and make socialization possible, and the characteristics of society that receives the newborn. Chapter Three reveals the range of meaning of the concept of socialization in western and non-western societies and includes a review of the history of western childhoods. Chapter Four offers a careful exposition of the development of the self.

Part II, "Agencies of Socialization," focuses on the major agencies that help shape the development of the self in the United States and similar societies. One chapter each covers families, schools, peer groups, and mass media respectively. "Diversities of Socialization" are the focus of Part III. Whereas Chapter Four presented a general account of how the self develops, the three chapters of Part III examine the variations that are shaped by social class, race, ethnicity and neighborhood, and gender. The single chapter in Part IV, "Looking Back and Looking Ahead," stresses that socialization is a life-long process. It briefly sketches issues of continuity and discontinuity in socialization throughout adolescence, adult life, old age, and death.

Reviews

"These authors, all seasoned veterans of childhood research, have enlightened us with a book that illuminates our understanding about the social worlds of children. We learn about how children become acclimated to their societies, the major agents of socialization that influence them, and how social class and subcultures help to create diverse experiences for our youngest citizens. Accessible, well documented, and current, Children and Society provides the most contemporary, complete, and accurate overview of the field to date."--Peter Adler, University of Denver

Part I: Introduction: Understanding Childhood Socialization
Complexities of Childhood Socialization
Limitations of the Study of Socialization
Organization of the Book
Chapter 1: Studying Children
Competing Images of Children and Childhood
The Natural Development of Children:
The Social Inculcation of Children:
The Social Construction of Children:
Appreciating the Complexities of Children's Lives
Methods of Studying Children
Chapter 2: Foundations of Socialization
Isolated Children
The Human Organism
An Ongoing Society
Chapter 3: Cultural and Historical Constructions of Childhood
Socialization in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Children in Non-Western Societies
The History of Western Childhood
Continuing Cultural Contrasts: Japan and the United States
Chapter 4: Basic Processes and Outcomes of Socialization
Society and Socialization
Emotionally Significant Relationships
Communication
Symbols, Language, and Interaction:
Language and Memory:
Conversation:
Language Mastery:
The Significance of Significant Others
Development of the Self:
Play Stage and Game Stage:
Time and Outcomes of Socialization
More about the Self:
Self Concept, Identity, Self Esteem, Self Efficacy:
Sentiments and Emotions:
Values and the Self:
Incipient Adult Roles:
Truncated Childhood, Premature Adulthood:
A Stock of Social Knowledge:
Part II: Agencies of Socialization
Chapter 5: Families
Some Cross-Cultural Comparisons
Families in the Community
Families as Groups of Interacting Persons
Family Composition and Interaction
Two-Parent First-Marriage Families:
Stepfamilies:
Single Mothers:
Teenage Mothers:
Siblings:
Grandparents in the 21st century:
Chapter 6: Schools
Preschools and Daycare Centers
Head Start:
Daycare Centers:
School and Society
The Classroom as an Organization
Authority:
Class Size:
Evaluation:
Moral Climate:
Family-School Interaction
Chapter 7: Peer Groups
Peer Culture
Play:
Sports:
Peer Group Structures and Processes
Play Groups:
Friendships:
Cliques:
Bullying:
Chapter 8: Media of Mass Communication
The Major Issues
Viewing as an Activity:
Violent Program Content and Children's Aggression:
The Power of Advertising:
Gender and Racial Stereotyping:
Research Methods in Television Studies
Experiments:
Surveys:
Content Analysis:
Audience Interpretive Response:
Theories of the Relationship Between Children and Television
Uses and Gratifications:
Cultivation Theory:
Semiotics:
Computers, The Internet, and Video Games
Access to Computers:
Implications for Socialization:
Video Games:
Computers, Parental Authority, and Children's Autonomy:
Part III: Diversities of Socialization
Chapter 9: Social Class
Upper Class
Upper-Middle Class
Middle Class
Working Class
Working Poor
The Underclass
Social Class and Individualism
Chapter 10: Ethnic Groups, Minorities, and Neighborhood Communities
African American Socialization
White European Ethnic Groups
Hispanic, Caribbean, and Asian Immigrants
Neighborhood Communities
Chapter 11: Sex, Gender, and Socialization
Sex Category and Social Organization
Sex and the Social Division of Labor:
Sex and Gender Hierarchies:
The Biology of Sex
The Development of Sex-Related Characteristics:
Nature and Nurture:
Socialization Processes and Agents
Family Interaction:
The Media:
Preschools and Schools:
Peer Relations and Cultures:
The Complexities of Gender Socialization:
Part IV: Continuities With and Discontinuities From Childhood
Chapter 12: Looking Back and Looking Ahead
Socialization in Adolescence
Continuities:
Socialization in Adult Life
Continuities:
Socialization in Aging and Death
Continuities:

There are no Instructor/Student Resources available at this time.

Gerald Handel is at The City College and The Graduate Center at City University of New York. Spencer Cahill is at the University of South Florida. Frederick Elkin is at York University, Toronto.

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