In reading this book on Child Psychotherapy, the
reader must take into consideration the influences
attributed to childhood. Childhood is after all a very
influential phase in the human life-cycle, which
stretches roughly from infancy to puberty or to the
legal age of majority. Because children can be
distinguished from adults by certain biological and
cognitive characteristics, childhood is perceived as
separate from adulthood, and the transition is
normally accompanied by a significant change in
social and legal status and marked by rites of
passage and initiation. The social significance,
experience, and duration of childhood are
extremely variable, both historically and
geographically. For example, before the 20th
century, children in Europe generally worked
alongside their extended family in factory, field, or
mine. In many developing countries, children still
work alongside their parents, marry and have children at an age when their coevals elsewhere are required to remain in school.