Theoretical Frames of Childhood Studying: Classification and Heuristic Possibilities

Abstract

Presented paper describes the main theoretical perspectives of childhood studies (psychological, educational, philosophical, historical, cultural, anthropological and sociological theories). The classification of sociological study of childhood prospects based on the criteria of «emancipation» (which means the acquisition of children and childhood particular independence from adults and adulthood) is proposed. Paper also deals with studying the capabilities of these approaches to the sociological analysis of the phenomenon of childhood in contemporary social and cultural conditions. Appropriation of using such concepts of childhood, which focuses on the activities and competence of the child as a subject of interacting with the adult world, is concluded.