ABSTRACT
In short, the way in which authors perceive childhood and children's rights will have a highly significant bearing on how they view international child law and the international community's approach to legal regulation and standard setting. This chapter includes a brief overview of the historical, psychological, sociological and social policy perspectives on childhood. The study of childhood has become a truly multi-disciplinary activity. Indeed, there are now a number of research centres dedicated to the study of childhood, see the 'Internet Resources' at the end of this chapter. He defines the 'boundary' for childhood as the point at which it ends. Children's rights can only be properly understood in the context of the human rights movement as a whole. There is now a considerable academic literature relating to the subject of children's rights.
