Social Inequality, Childhood and the Media. A Longitudinal Study of the Mediatization of Socialisation.

This open access book presents a qualitative longitudinal panel-study on child and adolescent socialisation in socially disadvantaged families. The study traces how children and their parents make sense of media within the context of their everyday life over twelve years (from 2005 to 2017) and provides a unique perspective on the role of different socialisation contexts, drawing on rich data from a broad range of qualitative methods. Using a theoretical framework and methodological approach that can be applied transnationally, it sheds light on the complex interplay of factors which shape children’s socialisation and media usage in multiple ways.

The study accompanied socially disadvantaged families and their children form early childhood/kindergarten over the period of their adolescence until their emerging adulthood. It follows a praxeological perspective, based on Pierre Bourdieu and Ralph Weiß and pays attention to the national environment (macro level), the settings and conditions of families (meso level) and the child/adolescent/young adult (micro level). The research deals with media usage of adolescents and their parents, but also with embedded practices and the complex processes of socialisation in different circumstances. Based on six waves of research, the book offers a family typology with four types, which are based on three characteristics: socio-economic background, socio-emotional circumstances and family climate, coping strategies.