Chapter 9: Childhood Beyond Developmental Psychology

Different disciplines have approached the study of children and childhood in different ways. Certain disciplines, such as psychology and education, lay emphasis upon children, and for some other disciplines, such as sociology, childhood as a concept is built around processes of socialization. In this chapter an attempt has been made to present the ways in which Developmental Psychology and other disciplines have approached the study of children and childhood. Exploring these perspectives, the chapter questions the universalistic lens through which different disciplines have traditionally understood children and childhood. It highlights the ways in which the emergent field of Childhood Studies offers fresh perspectives, and sometimes diverse ways of looking at children and childhood. Further, it builds an argument to accommodate the plurality of ways in which children and childhood can be approached and understood. As a case in point, the myriads of possible childhoods that exist within the universe of Indian childhood have been proposed. The rather competing perspectives arising out of the universality and multiplicity debates on childhood, and the influence that each of these positions may posit on children and childhoods have been brought to fore. The chapter seeks to bring solidarity into existing childhoods by beading together the commonalities in children and their childhoods.