Abstract
In this first chapter, we want to preface a focus on childhood and sexuality by locating these connected fields within social and cultural theories that seek to explain how societies function, develop and change. These theories provide frameworks for understanding and explaining different perspectives on, and arguments about, how childhood and sexuality intersect. What should be stressed from the start is that neither childhood nor sexuality are things in themselves. They are concepts used to describe social phenomena – particular populations and practices – and as such are contestable in the boundaries they draw and the meanings they convey. We have outlined both the common framings and fluidities of these concepts in the introduction. The purpose of this theoretical chapter is to map both the conceptual underpinnings of their current orthodoxies as a prelude to the critical case studies in subsequent chapters, and articulate the different critical arguments that identify causes, consequences and impacts of attendant ideologies and policies on children, parents, families, those who work with children and how childhood and sexuality is represented in society.
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Notes
- 1.
It is also important to note that the authors do not consider this text as one using a social constructionist approach exclusively in its analyses, and the authors have different degrees of appreciation and criticism of the perspective.
- 2.
This quotation is often attributed wrongly to Socrates. For the proper attribution see http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/01/misbehaving-children-in-ancient-times/ (accessed 178/08/2016).
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Moore, A., Reynolds, P. (2018). Theoretical Approaches to the Study of Childhood and Sexuality. In: Childhood and Sexuality. Studies in Childhood and Youth. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52497-3_2
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