What constitutes a 'normal' child? Throughout the nineteenth century public health and paediatrics played a leading role in the image and conception of children. By the twentieth century psychology had moved to the forefront, transforming our thinking and understanding. Andre Turmel investigates these transformations both from the perspective of the scientific observation of children (public hygiene, paediatrics, psychology and education) and from a public policy standpoint (child welfare, health policy, education and compulsory schooling). Using detailed historical accounts from Britain, the USA and France, Turmel studies how historical sequential development and statistical reasoning have led to a concept of what constitutes a 'normal' child and resulted in a form of standardization by which we monitor children. He shows how western society has become a child-centred culture and asks whether we continue to base parenting and teaching on a view of children that is no longer appropriate.
Shows how developments in scientific observation and public policy have transformed our view of childhood.About the AuthorAndre Turmel is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at Universite Laval.
Reviews'Andre Turmel's A Historical Sociology of Childhood is a magisterial work, international in scope, and theoretically sophisticated. Recommend it to your students, read it to refresh yourself on the strengths of postmodernism.' www.h-net.org
Book InformationISBN 9780521705639
Author Andre TurmelFormat Paperback
Page Count 376
Imprint Cambridge University PressPublisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 600g
Dimensions(mm) 228mm * 152mm * 22mm