Abstract
Socialising Children serves as a timely reminder to sociologists and social scientists working with children and families not to ignore the voices and views of children when conducting research. Although primarily academic in its tones, this book will provide an important resource for child practitioners, educators and policy makers. It represents a personal journey for the author, in which she integrates her various empirical studies on the sociology and anthropology of childhood with related social science research to produce a solid and important piece on what it means to be a child, from a child’s perspective. The two main datasets she draws on are: the Children and Time Study (in which children’s understanding of time was studied) and the Changing Families, Changing Food study (in which children and their parents’ relations with food were studied). Throughout, James discusses her hopes for a revival of childhood in the field of sociology.
The book comprises eight chapters. In Chapter 1, James particularly draws on the thinking of Carol Smart and ‘the sociology of personal life’ in which Smart discusses how personal lives are not the same as private lives. While ‘private’ is more aligned with individualisation, ‘personal’ continues to acknowledge the centrality of individualisation and agency, but also allows for social and cultural connectedness and embeddedness. Aligning herself with this approach, James attempts to explain the personal life of the child. She lays down five key assumptions: First, children, like adults, have personal lives and thus as individuals they reflect from time to time. Second, children’s lives are lived in interaction with others. Third, the life experiences of children are essentially embodied and emotional. Fourth, through interactions, children experience the diverse and multifaceted structures and institutions comprising the human world. Fifth, the personal lives of children are biographical, lived in historical time and include changing social and material environments.
In her second chapter, James provides a detailed and interdisciplinary review of the literature around how children conceptualise and experience the process of becoming social. She visits the ‘traditional’ idea of child socialisation in popular literature highlighting its unidirectional approach focusing on the adult rather than the child and traces its historical evolution towards a more child-centred approach. The ideas of theorists such as Parsons, Durkheim, Mead, Bourdieu and Piaget are incorporated. More contemporary research is also discussed, and James highlights the work of Connolly, Corsaro and Tudge as being key in causing a shift in thinking in this area. She impressively moves away from a purely eurocentric approach to child socialisation, outlining some important cross-cultural research (e.g. Rogoff). James stresses the importance of contextual factors, including cultural ones, in understanding the world of a child from a child’s perspective. This chapter will no doubt be of great use to students and lecturers hoping for a critical review of literature in this area.
The lived daily experiences of children within families are highlighted in Chapter 3, using references from James’ past work. James argues that children have a central role in shaping the role and function of the family. In Chapter 4, children’s interactions are explored. Using examples of how children socialise in their neighborhoods and on the journey to school, the author describes the importance of interactions for young people outside the space of the family. Children’s experiences of embodiment and emotions are explored in Chapter 5. How children engage with the institution of the school in the context of their individual personal lives, and how they grapple with feelings about exam-taking, are all aspects considered by James in Chapter 6. Lastly, in Chapter 7 James explores the importance of using a bibliographical approach in a child-centred view of socialisation. She argues children’s past experiences and memories shape who they are today.
Overall, the text is well-written and accessible to a wide audience interested in child studies. One criticism that may be levelled is that, in trying to emphasise the message of a child-centred approach to socialisation, James becomes repetitive at points. Further, while credit should be given to James for bringing together her important studies and trying to interpret them in this text, one is left feeling that the examples used are sometimes ‘made to fit’ rather than the best possible available ones. Indeed, how children socialise in a school bus is important, as well as their experiences with the SAT exams, but what about more critical concepts such as peer interaction? Granted, James covers this briefly in some of her other examples. Yet, surely such an important part of socialisation merits a standalone section. Also, what about religion and other social structures? These are just possible pointers for the future editions of this text. I have no doubt the current book will be widely accessed and will provide an excellent starting text for understanding child socialisation through a child-centred approach.