James & Prout. Woodhead, Martin. "Psychology and the Cultural Construction of Children's Needs" (pp. 63-84)
Reader. Jones, Rachel K. & April Brayfield. 1991. "Life's Greatest Joy?: European Attitudes Toward the Centrality of Children," Social Forces, vol. 75, no. 4 (June): 1239-70.

Sep 15 Quiz 3 / Paradoxes of Childhood & Modern Society
Sep 17 Current Ideologies & Conceptualizations of Children
Sep 19 Group Activity: Doing Quantitative Analysis with the Eurobarometer Survey

• How could different cultural attitudes and values affect adult perceptions of children's needs? How might children's needs differ across cultures?

• In his postscript, Woodhead discusses the theoretical shift in the reconstruction of childhood from children's needs to children's rights. Why is an examination of children's rights important?

• How do attitudes toward children vary across national boundries? Why the similarities or differences?

• How can future sociological studies use this research as a basis to better understand differences amoung Western European attitudes toward children?

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