Connecting a sociology of childhood perspective with the study of child health, illness and wellbeing: introduction

Abstract

The health and wellbeing of children and young people has been studied from a range of different perspectives in social science and the health sciences as a whole. Much of the research to date has been for or on children and has focused on promoting health, detecting illness and its causes or investigating the social determinants of health. While these make vital contributions to making the world better for children and young people, we would argue there is also a need for research with children, research from a child perspective, to fully understand the meaning and impact of health and illness in children's lives. Furthermore, there is a need to explore the social and cultural contexts of child health that frame the lived experiences of children and their parents. More specifically, there is a need to interrogate the explicit as well as the implicit perceptions of childhood and the child in health policy, perceptions that are reproduced in various health and social practices. The purpose of this issue is to contribute to a further understanding of these issues by bridging developments in the sociology of childhood and the sociology of health and illness.In the last decades we have seen a growing interest across disciplines in research on children's own experiences and understandings of health and illness. It can be argued that this increasing interest has been stimulated by developments in the sociology of childhood. Through the 1990s a body of work emerged which criticised dominant notions of child development where children were largely depicted as immature and passive objects of socialisation (Burman 1994, Halldén 1991, James and Prout 1997, Qvortrup 1994.Scholars of the sociology of childhood problematised these notions of the child by theorising the ways in which childhood is socially constructed and understandings of the child vary across different sociocultural contexts. Importantly, the focus was shifted from seeing children as immature becomings on their way to adulthood to a focus on children as beings and as competent actors with a social agency of their own, not only influenced by but also influencing their social worlds (James et al. 1998, James and Prout 1997, Qvortrup 1994. Moreover, by understanding children as a specific social group, attention could be directed at children's rights and the structures that enabled and restricted control over their lives (Alanen and Mayall 2001).Since these early years, the theoretical positions and central concepts in the sociology of childhood (and its place in sociology) have been, and are, debated (see, for example, Alanen 2014, James 2010, Moran-Ellis 2010). At the same time, empirical studies of children and childhoods have been burgeoning in sociology and in other disciplines. Although a full account of these developments and disciplinary differences falls outside the scope of this issue, here we want to draw attention to some of the central concepts and theoretical points of departure in this tradition that we find of particular interest for studies of c...

Children of parents with alcohol problems performing normality: A qualitative interview study about unmet needs for professional support

“…She also emphasizes cultural notions reproducing ideals of or assumptions about family life (Smart, 2007 ). The sociology of childhood has drawn attention to children within the structure of society and family relationship, acting as social agents and co-constructioners of their social world (Brady, Lowe, & Olin Lauritzen, 2015 ; Wilson et al, 2012 ). There is an extensive literature on the outcome for families living with alcohol problems.…”

Schoolgirls’ health agency: silence, upset and cooperation in a psycho-educational assemblage

“…Within the sociology of children and childhood, researchers have argued for an actor-oriented perspective of children's and young people's health (e.g., Brady, Lowe, & Olin Lauritzen, 2015;Halldén, 2003;James & Hockey, 2007;Mayall, 1998). The aim has been to direct attention to children and young people themselves, their actions and how they experience and reason about their health, thus including children's and young people's own perspectives.…”

“…In introducing the concept of health actors, I aim to expand the focus on children as service users or receivers of medical interventions to include children's and young people's experiences and negotiations of the multiple efforts by authorities and private entrepreneurs to prevent psychological ill health (cf. Brady et al, 2015). Seeing children and young people as health actors opens the door to alternative interpretations of psychological health and helps broaden our knowledge about how to deal with children's psychological problems.…”

Customizing Methodological Approaches in Qualitative Research on Vulnerable Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…This sociological childhood agenda is in line with the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (1989), prescribing that children have the right to express their views freely in matters affecting them. Children are essential receivers of social support, and this is why researchers demand increased recognition of children's own perspectives in organizing welfare services aimed toward children [5][6][7][8]. In line with this growing demand to involve children in societal planning, the literature on methods and ethics in research on children has expanded over the past decades [7,[9][10][11][12].…”

“…This might explain why there seem to be very few studies that link qualitative research methodology with childhood research as well as with autism research. Indeed, there is virtually no literature examining methods and practices for involving children with autism in qualitative research [6,24]. Consequently, this article set out to explain the methodological and practical knowledge gained from a qualitative study conducted with 22 school-aged children with autism, living in the capital region of Denmark.…”