ABSTRACT
Along with the accelerated sociocultural changes typical of the twentieth century, especially of recent decades, concepts of childhood and adolescence, of education and socialization, have forfeited their general relevance. They have been placed into historical and cultural proportion, and have lost much of their normative power. Those disciplines which have traditionally addressed themselves to these concepts have responded to the changes by reformulating perspectives and research methods. So, for example, developmental psychologists reassessed dominant theoretical perspectives; sociologists became more involved in commissions and surveys; and educationalists adopted more explicitly social scientific approaches. The formulation of educational and social policy, together with the provision of associated social services, increasingly required research input; this itself attracted involvement in the field by a still wider range of disciplines. Social historians, for example, have raised their profile within the childhood and adolescence research community over the eighties. The same is true of sports studies, literature and linguistics, ehtnology, urban studies, social geography and political science (cf. Baader, 1979; Bauer and Hengst, 1980; Baur, 1987; Becker, 1982; Hengst, 1981; Henne, 1986; Hennig, Keim and Schulz zur Wiesch, 1984; Kaminski and Mayer, 1984; Kohr, Krieger and Räder, 1983; Lindner, 1983; Raschke, 1985; Sack, 1986; Striksrud, 1984; Tenfelde, 1982; Weber-Kellermann et al., 1985; Wild, 1987). Such increased interest and strengthened field identity is clearly enriching: it expands the empirical base, raises new questions, supports the foundation of research centres, prompts policy-makers to use research input more regularly, and draws more media attention to the area. Nevertheless, there are some problems.
