In Search of Child Perspectives and Children’s Perspectives in Contextual–Relational Developmental Psychology

Abstract

As in childhood sociology a paradigm shift has occurred in developmental psychology. This chapter searches for an eventual child perspective and children’s perspectives within a contextualistic and relational understanding of children. First, it is clarified if a child perspective is present at all in contemporary developmental psychology. Second, the focus is on the child paradigm in contextual–relational psychology. Third, the importance of phenomenology in the contextual approach is addressed. This leads to the formulation of some necessary distinct criteria for taking a psychological child perspective. An empirical Example of the pre-verbal infant’s intersubjective world is presented in order to show some problems and promises inherent in a child perspective approach.