Kerry H. Robinson: Innocence, Knowledge, and the Construction of Childhood

Excerpt

Innocence, Knowledge, and the Construction of Childhood, by Kerry H. Robinson, assesses how children’s access to knowledge is regulated and its impact on child development in terms of the susceptibility and defenselessness of the uninformed. The book is based on 15 years of research into child sexuality and examines the development of gender and sexual biases. Robinson argues that knowledge gleaned from studies steeped in real world experience, rather than societal norms and government regulations in the best interest of the child, should guide the development of sex education programs and child protection policies. He further argues that what is done in the name of the “best interests” of the child has the potential, in fact, to encourage their manipulation and susceptibility to abuse. This book takes a candid look at how the governance of children, in particular with regard to sensitive knowledge such as sexuality, impacts childhood through to adulthood as well as the parent/child relationship and the continuation of normative standards that are fraught with contradiction and irrationality. …