Religious socialization and children's prayer as cultural object: Boundary work in children's 19th century Sunday school books

Studies of children and childhood are increasingly common but little is known about children and religion and specifically about the mechanisms by which religious socialization happens. This paper takes a dynamic approach to the study of religion and childhood and considers how children via their role as audience might help reflect and shape adult culture and religiosity. Through the lens of cultural sociology, the paper examines 19th century Sunday school books as cultural products and seeks to answer two fundamental questions: what can the content and form of materials produced for use by children tell us about “adult” religion and culture? and what does religion tell us about childhood as a social category? Content analysis of a sample of 100 Sunday school books published in the 19th century provides evidence that adults engage in boundary work to separate adults from children and the religious from the secular. Religion is presented in a child-specific format. This suggests both that adult religion is malleable and domain specific and that childhood is both a distinct stage in the life course and a social category.