Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book summarises the rapid progress in Paediatric Oncology as the context for the emergence of Serious Fun camps. It draws attention to inspirational leaders responsible for these major paradigm shifts in Paediatric care. The book outlines the development of new treatments for childhood cancer and leukaemia in the latter half of the twentieth century and highlights the children’s separation from their everyday routines during Serious Fun experiences. It suggests how the spatial and temporal structures around rites of passage may facilitate more than a change in social status. The book explores the mimetic apparatus of desire and how it may be the key to understanding how rites of separation, transition and re-integration are effective in transforming the attitude of sick children towards salutogenesis and recovery in such a short time.