Childhood and Society

Childhood and society is a field of study that examines the lives of children and young people not in isolation but in the complex social, cultural, economic, and political contexts that shape their experiences. It draws on sociology, psychology, education studies, social policy, and history to ask how childhood is constructed differently across cultures and over time, how children's rights are protected or undermined, what the evidence tells us about effective support for children and families, and how institutions including schools, social services, and the law respond to children's needs.

This three-year full-time programme at Nottingham Trent University gives you a grounded and critical understanding of childhood in contemporary Britain and internationally. You will study child development, safeguarding and child protection, educational policy, family sociology, poverty and inequality, and the legal frameworks that govern work with children. Research methods are a core component: you will learn to evaluate evidence, understand research design, and think critically about what the literature on children and childhood actually shows.

The programme encourages you to take children's perspectives seriously, recognising that children are social actors with their own agency, not merely recipients of adult care and protection.

Graduates from this programme pursue careers in education, social work, early years practice, youth work, family support, children's charities, and policy. Many go on to postgraduate professional training, including qualified social worker status, early years teacher training, and youth and community work qualifications. The broad analytical and research skills developed in the programme are also valued in roles in the voluntary sector, public health, and local government.

For those interested in academic research, the programme provides a good foundation for postgraduate study in sociology, education, social policy, and childhood studies.