Infancia

The evolution of Childhood.

By lui_sln
  • Ancient times.
    900 BCE

    Ancient times.

    • Most of the children weren't named or considered people until a few days after their birth due to the low probability of survival due to the dangerous deliveries for both parties.
  • Infanticide - Antiquity
    220 BCE

    Infanticide - Antiquity

    • Children were considered the property of their parents and, therefore, like any property, they could decide over their lives. If there was something that caused discomfort in the family, they were killed, and there was no penalty, as it was a common and accepted practice.
  • Infanticide (4th century)
    300

    Infanticide (4th century)

    • Until the 4th century AD. C., neither the law nor public opinion considered infanticide bad in Greece or Rome. The great philosophers agreed. But in 374 AD the law began to consider the murder of a child (only in certain parts of the world).
  • Sale of children (12th century)
    1101

    Sale of children (12th century)

    • In the 12th century, the English had been selling their children to the Irish. For slaves, the Norman invasion was a punishment from God for this slave trade.
    • In many areas, the sale of children continued sporadically until modern times and was not banned in Russia, for example, until the 19th century.
  • Abandonment of children.
    1200

    Abandonment of children.

    • It's recognized that they have a soul, and therefore, they can no longer be simply killed, so they opt for abandonment.
    • 4th–13th centuries.
  • Ambivalence (17th century)

    Ambivalence (17th century)

    • Swaddle the child
    • Restraints were thought necessary because the child was so full of dangerous adult projections that if it were left free, it would scratch its eyes out, tear its ears off, break its legs, and distort its bones.
  • Intrusion (18th century)

    Intrusion (18th century)

    • During the 18th century, the modern feeling of childhood appeared. The vision of the child as a dangerous enemy fades towards another in which the child begins to be considered for himself, but still perfectible.
    • During the 17th century, children were given enemas, it wasn't until the 18th century that they switched to the potty.
  • Return of infanticide

    Return of infanticide

    It never really went away, Child murder had declined in the Middle Ages, but it never went away. During the 19th century, it returned.
  • Bells

    Bells

    Doctors and parents sometimes appeared before the child armed with knives and scissors, threatening to cut off the child’s genitals; circumcision, clitoridectomy, and infibulation were sometimes used as punishment; and all sorts of restraint devices, including plaster casts and cages with spikes, were prescribed.
  • Socialization (19th century – mid 20th century).

    Socialization (19th century – mid 20th century).

    • The upbringing of the child, more than mastering it, consisted of proper training.
    • From this stage, the psychological models of the 20th century are derived
    • As projections continued to diminish, the raising of a child became less a process of conquering its will than of training it, guiding it into proper paths, teaching it to conform, and socializing it.
  • Help (begins in the middle of the 20th century).

    Help (begins in the middle of the 20th century).

    The helping mode involves the proposition that the child knows better than the parent what it needs at each stage of its life, and fully involves both parents in the child’s life as they work to empathize with and fulfill its expanding and particular needs. There is no attempt at all to discipline or form “habits.” Children are neither struck nor scolded, and are apologized to if yelled at under stress.