This comprehensive reader combines post-graduate level theory with contemporary case studies to illustrate and analyse the complications of children and young people's lived experiences in the UK and worldwide in the early 21st century. Authors in several fields of childhood and youth studies apply their expertise to areas such as young people and the law, children's rights, child protection, sexuality, participation, politics and family life. Using the voices of the children and young people themselves, key topics illustrate important contemporary issues in the study of childhood and youth and show how these impact on policy initiatives and practical interventions in children's lives.

Child abuse casts a long shadow over the history of childhood. Across the centuries there are numerous accounts of children being beaten, neglected, sexually assaulted, or even killed by those closest to them. This book explores this darker side of childhood history, looking at what constituted cruelty towards children in the past and at the social responses towards it. Focusing primarily on England, it is a history of violence against children in their own homes, covering a large timeframe which extends from medieval times to the present. Undeniably, the experience of children in the past was often brutal, and children were treated with, what seems to contemporary mores, callousness, and cruelty. However, historians have paid far less attention to how the mistreatment of children was understood within its contemporary context. Most parents, both now and in the past, loved their children and there have always been widely shared understandings of the boundaries that separate the acceptable treatment of children from the intolerable and morally wrong. This book will examine how these boundaries have changed and been contested over time and, in doing so, provides a context to the many forms of violence experienced by children in the past.

Child prostitution became one of the key concerns of the international community in the 1990s. World congresses were held, international and national laws were changed and concern over "cemmercially sexually exploited children" rose dramatically. Rarely, however, were the children who worked as prostitutes consulted of questioned in this process, and the voices of these children brought into focus. This book is the first to address the children directly, to examine their daily lives, their motivations and their perceptions of what they do. Based on 15 months of fieldwork in a Thai tourist community that survived through child prostitution, this book draws on anthropological theories on childhood and kinship to contextualize the experiences of this group of Thai child prostitutes and to contrast these with the stereotypes held of them by those outside their community.

Child prostitution became one of the key concerns of the international community in the 1990s. World congresses were held, international and national laws were changed and concern over "commercially sexually exploited children" rose dramatically. Rarely, however, were the children who worked as prostitutes consulted or questioned in this process, and the voices of these children brought into focus. This book is the first to address the children directly, to examine their daily lives, their motivations and their perceptions of what they do. Based on 15 months of fieldwork in a Thai tourist community that survived through child prostitution, this book draws on anthropological theories on childhood and kinship to contextualize the experiences of this group of Thai child prostitutes and to contrast these with the stereotypes held of them by those outside their community.

This landmark publication from Routledge reflects the widespread recognition of Childhood Studies as a significant and mature area of cross-disciplinary study and research. And as serious scholarly work in and around Childhood Studies blossoms as never before, this new four-volume collection from Routledge's acclaimed Critical Concepts in the Social Sciences series meets the need for an authoritative reference work to make sense of a rapidly growing and ever more complex corpus of literature. With contributions from a broad range of disciplines (including Sociology, Social Policy, Social Work, Education, Anthropology, Cultural Studies, History, Geography, and Law), Childhood Studies assembles the key theoretical and empirical major works in a 'one-stop' resource. It covers themes such as: generational relations; everyday lives; practice and participation; and children's rights and their place in the world. The collection shows how Childhood Studies has widened its focus from developmental issues to the broader concerns of children in society, as actors and agents, and as subjects of policy intervention. Edited by a leading scholar, Childhood Studies is an indispensable resource for all those concerned with the study of children and childhood.

Although the plight of children can sometimes seem grim, there are positive indicators. This interdisciplinary textbook examines children's lives across the world, acknowledging the great differences as well as points of comparison, between childhoods in different contexts. It examines children's use of their own resources and coping strategies, revealing that few children are passive victims of fate, helplessly awaiting rescue. The book considers the problems caused by poverty, social inequality, ill-health and violence and emphasises that these are challenges for children everywhere, not just those in the poorer countries of the world. A key feature of the book is the children's voices which feature prominently in many chapters in interviews and research conducted by the authors. This well-presented and engagingly written book is an ideal introduction for undergraduates interested in contemporary global childhoods.

This substantially updated new edition sets out the contexts of children's and young people's lives and encourages students to explore their complexities and contexts. Each chapter challenges students' assumptions and examines crucial issues in the field, such as participation, race, and transnational childhoods.