Judson G. Everitt, PhD, a sociology professor and undergraduate program director in Loyola University Chicago’s College of Arts and Sciences, has published the sixth edition of the book, The Sociology of Childhood, with Sage Publications.  

"The new edition of Dr. Everitt’s outstanding book continues to provide important scholarly and practical insights into the sociology of children and childhood,” said Peter J. Schraeder, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “This book and Dr. Everitt’s scholarship more generally speaking nicely demonstrate how research and teaching are intimately intertwined among our scholar-teachers in the College of Arts and Sciences as they seek to address contemporary societal needs and challenges within the United States.”

This edition of Everitt and William A. Corsaro’s groundbreaking text discusses children and childhood from a sociological perspective—providing in-depth coverage of social theories of childhood, the peer cultures and social issues of children and youth, and children and childhood within the frameworks of culture and history. 

“The book advances a unique theoretical framework in the study of childhood, called ‘interpretive reproduction,’ that focuses on the collective, interactive, and interpretive ways that kids understand their own childhoods,” noted Everitt. “This represents an alternative to common understandings of child development that tend to view it as a fairly individualistic process. Our book focuses on their shared, collective experiences and peer cultures.” 

Everitt and Corsaro updated this edition with the most recently available data and placed an emphasis on debunking common misconceptions about children and childhood, in addition to the social problems children are currently facing.  

“Put simply, adults often get it wrong when coming to various conclusions about children and how they understand their lives,” said Everitt. “We encourage people to think about children as creative, active participants in their own lives, not just people learning to become adults.”  

A faculty member at Loyola since 2009, Everitt’s research examines the interconnections between organizations, culture, and socialization with a particular focus on the professions.  

Learn more about Dr. Everitt and his work, including The Sociology of Childhood.  

About the College of Arts and Sciences

The College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest of Loyola University Chicago’s 15 schools, colleges, and institutes. More than 150 years since its founding, the College is home to 20 academic departments and 37 interdisciplinary programs and centers, more than 450 full-time faculty, and nearly 8,000 students. The 2,000+ classes that we offer each semester span an array of intellectual pursuits, ranging from the natural sciences and computational sciences to the humanities, the social sciences, and the fine and performing arts. Our students and faculty are engaged internationally at our campus in Rome, Italy, as well as at dozens of University-sponsored study abroad and research sites around the world. Home to the departments that anchor the University’s Core Curriculum, the College seeks to prepare all of Loyola’s students to think critically, to engage the world of the 21st century at ever deepening levels, and to become caring and compassionate individuals. Our faculty, staff, and students view service to others not just as one option among many, but as a constitutive dimension of their very being. In the truest sense of the Jesuit ideal, our graduates strive to be “individuals for others.”