What does a ten or eleven year old child think when driving past a group of picketers? How do youngsters react when they walk by a homeless person sleeping on the sidewalk? Does a police officer inspire respect and admiration in all children? More importantly, which variables account for any differences in the meanings children attach to these situations?
In this sociological exploration into children's worlds, they are the active social agents, defying the traditionally passive role assigned to them in the socialization process. As boys and girls from three public Baltimore schools express their fears and pleasures about urban life, traditional theories of stratification and conflict are put to the test in a non-conventional arena: the sociology of Childhood.