From Reformation to Child Saving: Crime and Punishment Pre-20th Century

From Reformation to Child Saving: Crime and Punishment Pre-20th Century

18th Century - From Natural to Romantic Child

- Emphasis on the natural goodness of children. 

- Affection towards children. 

- Innocence of childhood. 

- Ageing seen as a loss of paradise. 

- Focused heavily on the upper classes. 

- Examples: Rousseau's Emile (1762). 

19th Century - Evangelical to Wage Earning Child

- Industrial revolution. 

- Increased urbanisation. 

- Brutalization and exploitation of working children. 

- Sense of pessimism about childhood - sinful (evangelical) to the need to protect children (wage earning period). 

Henry Mayhew, 1861

Mayhew noted a change in youth as they began to challenge their position. Youths began to engage in underage sex and join gangs. 

The Delinquent Child - Mid 19th Century

- May, 1973:…