Significance of childhood: childhood protection offered by the Holy House of Mercy in 19th- century Bahia

Authors

  • Antonio Marcos Chaves
  • Roberta Tavares de Melo Borrione
  • Giovana Reis Mesquita

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5380/psi.v8i1.3244

Keywords:

means of childhood, childhood protection, history of infancy

Abstract

 

When considering the significance of childhood, it is vital to look at the cultural and historical context. “Childhood” emerged, as a distinctive stage of life with demands of special care, in the nineteenth century. Based on philanthropic principles, the Holy House of Mercy from Salvador (Bahia) offered protection to orphan children and also children from needy families. Assuming that it would be possible to reveal the significance of childhood, for a particular era and society, through analysis of practices of protection provided by this institution, information contained in the Books of Minutes from 19th-century Board of Assembly of the Holy House of Mercy (numbers 16 to 23) was collected and analyzed. This information was e clustered according to the following categories: measures for childhood protection, institutional discipline, and post-institutional allocation. It was observed that the institution functioned as a place for institutionalized abandonment, since it provided the child’s basic needs and education. “To protect and to care” meant to assure means to a trade and to a productive future. The protection offered by the Holy House, and probably by society as a whole, consisted in protecting the child from his/her own ill-nature and ensuring his/her survival in conformity with the social norms of the time. Therefore, protection was associated to a concern with the child as “coming to be”.

Keywords: means of childhood; childhood protection; history of infancy.

 

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How to Cite

Chaves, A. M., Borrione, R. T. de M., & Mesquita, G. R. (2004). Significance of childhood: childhood protection offered by the Holy House of Mercy in 19th- century Bahia. Interação Em Psicologia, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.5380/psi.v8i1.3244

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2004)

Section

Articles

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