Study of Children in Religions

Susan B. Ridgely is Assistant Professor at University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh and the author of When I Was a Child: Children's Interpretations of First Communion.

• Foreword Acknowledgments IntroductionI. A Childist Approach to Theory and HistoryII . Using Ethnography to Talk with Contemporary ChildrenIII. Studying Children in SchoolsIV. Using Adult-Generated Material About Children: Sources and Methods for Accessing Children's Voices from the Past and Today Bibliography About the Contributors Index

"In this timely volume, contributors from a range of disciplines seek to understand childrens perspectives on their religious beliefs and practices and their own spiritual lives. All of the contributors are highly sensitive to both the limitations and benefits of studying childrens own perceptions and experiences, and the book as a whole addresses a range of significant methodological and ethical issues regarding research of and with children. By taking seriously the voices and agency of children, the volume contributes to childhood and religious studies and speaks to all those who care about childrens moral, spiritual, and religious needs and capacities." - Marcia Bunge,author of Children and Childhood in World Religions: Primary Sources and Texts " Ridgely has done a fine job assembling a mixture of diverse topics and approaches to childrens perspectives on spirituality and religious beliefs and practices. The combination of global case studies with useful methodological primers on such subjects as institutional review boards will appeal to a wide swath of social scientists of all stripes, as well as policy makers. Its comparative, interdisciplinary nature makes it a valuable resource for two of the most vibrant contemporary research fields, childhood studies and religious studies." - Melissa Klapper,author of The Experiences of Immigrant Children in the United States, 1880-1925