Growing Up in the 1980s: Changes in the Social Biography of Childhood in the FRG

Sociological research into childhood, which would, for example, be comparable to the level of research into adolescence or the family, is only at its initial stages in West Germany. ‘Sociological interest in children and childhood is still mainly influenced by the aspects concerning socialization theory. Childhood is interesting for its significance in the genesis of adulthood’ (Kaufmann in Engelbert, 1986, p. 5). Childhood is seen as a transitional phase; only little attention is paid to childhood in its own right.