Childhood: A Social Construct

Romanticism: children are no longer untamed brutes, but rather the purest form of nature, that being innocence.

• Today, scientists often think of childhood as a social construct, due to how radically it has changed throughout geography and history.

The 19th Century Childhood

• The child is a tabula rasa (blank slate), and needs to be trained to develop into a rational being.
• The child embodies a state of innocence, purity, and natural goodness; this is only contaminated by contact with corrupt forces (humans!).
• The child is inherently evil and innately sinful; therefore, it must be controlled and punished in order to submit to the rules of God and society…
  • This was the most popular belief at the time and resulted in mass child abuse; it was largely derived from Protestantism/Puritanism.

Chapter 1