This book investigates a forgotten chapter of history: the role of Italian sciences within the child study movement. Between the 1880s and the First World War, children became the focus of unprecedented professional and scientific interest in Europe and the United States. The bodies and psyches of children, their care and growth, their development, 'normal' and 'abnormal', intelligence, and moral sense, constituted a new field of research. Italy, which had just become a nation, also took part in this international movement: on the study of the child, a substantial part of the Italian ruling class launched itself, with a mixture of enthusiasm, hope and concern, on the frontier between different areas of knowledge. Using a broad spectrum of sources, this book offers the first overview of the Italian scientific movement of child study.

Provides the first overview of the Italian child study movement Analyzes its theories, methods, and goals through the conceptual lens of children's symbolic value Explores the intersection of the history of childhood and the history of science

Autorentext

Luisa Tasca is an Independent Researcher based in Florence, Italy.

Inhalt
Introduction.- 1. The Massacre of the Innocents.- 2. How Italian Children Lost Their Souls.- 3. The Century of the Child in Italy.- 4. Giannetti and Giannettini.- 5. The Margins.