Childhood and Privacy

Abstract

In 1930, Plant cited lack of privacy as a factor contributing to children's emotional disorders. Since then, the topic of privacy and its relation to child development and experience has all but disappeared from available literature. Child psychology books contain few if any references to "privacy" but are replete with references to social development, social interactions, and children's behaviors in groups. Yet it is untrue that the child development literature had nothing to tell us about "privacy." Rather, it is the word "privacy" that rarely if ever appears. The present chapter attempts to answer the questions: "What role might privacy experiences play in child development?" "What is the nature of privacy experiences during childhood?" "How do childhood experiences contribute to or affect children's patterns and concepts of privacy?" To answer these questions, I focus, first, on the general issue of conceptualizing the nature of human privacy. This conceptualization will provide a perspective for understanding age and age-related experiences as well as the role of cultural and sociophysical environmental factors. Research about privacy for children will be described and its contribution to our understanding of the role of privacy in child development will be explored. Finally, I attempt to suggest new and unexplored areas of research which might fruitfully extend our present knowledge.