Childhood in Australian Sociology and Society

Abstract

This article outlines the specific form taken by the social scientific study of childhood in Australia, identifying both what is shared with childhood research in other English-language countries, and what is distinctive in the Australian setting. It begins by sketching the social history of childhood in Australia, with particular reference to what was specific about the childhood experiences of Aboriginal children, as well as the peculiarities of settler-colonial family life. It then goes on to identify the moves towards a distinct focus on childhood in Australian sociology, which have until now been relatively modest, closely linked to other social science disciplines (notably history, anthropology, social policy and psychology), and theoretically more or less derivative of international developments in childhood sociology. The key research themes are outlined, including Aboriginal childhoods, the children of asylum-seekers and refugees and children’s experience of divorce and separation, against a background of an increasingly neoliberal organization of social science research activity. The article then sketches the place of childhood in Australian public debate, and concludes with some observations on the possible future directions of the sociology of childhood in Australia.