A History of Childhood

Lesson 02
Child Psychology
Francesca Bocca del Monferrato
francesca.bocca@me.com
 Outline
Pre-Islamic Arabia

Roman Empire
Cultures
Middle Ages

Childhood in: Postmodernity

Islam
Pre-Islamic Arabia
(Before 630 CE)

Arabian desert
 Relevance

•Importance for appreciating the sociological &

historical context of Islam
•Did the Prophet get the psychological insights
from the wisdom of the Arabs?
•The relevance of Poetry
•The relevance of Quran and Sunnah
 Rights of Children
•The right to life was frequently denied to female
children

•And when the girl [who was] buried alive is asked for
what sin she was killed (81:8-9)
 Child sacrifices

• Those will have lost who killed their children in

foolishness without knowledge and prohibited
what Allah had provided for them, inventing
untruth about Allah . They have gone astray and
were not [rightly] guided. (6:140)
 Rights of Children

•And do not kill your children for fear of

poverty. We provide for them and for you.
Indeed, their killing is ever a great sin.
(17:31)
 Rights of Children
•The right to know the identity of the father
•Four types of marriages in Jahiliyyah
1. Similar to the present day
2. A man sending his wife to have intercourse
with somebody else
3. A group of less than ten men would have
intercourse with a woman
4. Prostitutes
 Rights of Parents
•All the parenting rights were given to the
father, including:
- Life or death over his children
- Combined marriage of his children to
strengthen tribal ties
- Obedience of the child for lifetime
•The tribe was the main value in their society
 The Roman
Civilisation
(753 BC - 476 (1453) AC)

Rome, Italy
 Roman society

•Differences in the society

- Romans vs non-Romans
- Free men vs slaves
- Men vs women
 Family structure
•Patriarchal system
•The pater familias :
- Authority over: children, slaves, relatives,
clients...
- Entitled to property
- Religious authority
•Extended family
 Rights of Children
•Abortion was practiced, but punished by
law
•Education was not free, nor widespread
•Moral education (sense of pietas) was
provided by the family
•Advanced instruction was given only to
males
Quintilian: The Art of Education
- What knowledge is worth learning?
- What is knowledge?
- What is a human being?
- What is learning?
- Who is to teach?
- What is society?
- Who is to be educate?
- Why do people disagree?
 Rights of Parents
•The pater familias had life and death rights
over the children.
•Once the baby was born, the pater familias
could decide whether to recognise him or
not
•No right of parents as such, but only of pater
familias
•Children could be adopted
The Middle Ages
th
(5 -15th century)

Florence, Italy
The concept of Childhood
• In medieval society the
idea of childhood did not
exist....[the] awareness of
the particular nature of
childhood, that particular
nature which
distinguishes the child
from the adult.
• 1962 (1960), Aries, Philippe.
Centuries of Childhood, p. 128
 Bernhard
StrigelPortrait of
the Cuspinian
Family1520
Cornelis de ZeewPortrait of the De Mucheron
Family1563
Pieter Bruegel
Peasant Dance
1568
 Gheeraerts
Barbara Gamage with Six Children
 Gerard
TerborchHelena van
der Schalcke as a
Child1644
 Terborch
Memorial Portrait of
Moses terborch1667-69
 Right of Children
•Infanticide was a culturally accepted practice
where Christianity was merged with pagan
practices
•In aristocratic families, parents did not have a
relationship with children, who were given to
wet nurses
•No explicit chart of convention of rights in the
middle ages
 Rights of Parents

•Obedience to the man obligatory by both

wife and children
•Women could not inherit, nor they were
allowed to have property
•Slavery was widespread
 The Original Sin

•Catholic catechism definition

•Baptism to remove original sin
•Children born before baptism go to hell
The Christian Doctrine of
Original Sin
•Man is made of: body, mind & spirit
•Original goodness (Islam) vs original sin
(Christianity)
•Pauline doctrine of Redemption
•The Islamic redemption: faith and works
•The Quranic account of the fall from Eden:
• But Satan caused them to slip out of it and
removed them from that [condition] in which
they had been. And We said, "Go down, [all of
you], as enemies to one another, and you will
have upon the earth a place of settlement and
provision for a time."

• Then Adam received from his Lord [some]

words, and He accepted his repentance.
Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of
repentance, the Merciful.
 Tawbah
•Significant & decisive role in a Muslim’s
life
•Knowledge of Divine mercy and goodness
of Fitrah causes
- Better hope of Salvation
- Confidence of potential
- Exhorts and admonishes to pursue the
right and resist the wrong
Irrationality of Original Sin
•Conflict between catholicism and other
Christian churches on the matter
•Can a person be responsible for the deeds
of somebody else?
•Does Christ suffering change human
nature?
•What happens to the souls before Christ?
Postmodernity
(1990s - today)

New York, USA

 Rights of Children
• The Convention on the Rights of the Child
(1989)
- Life
- Name & Identity
- Family & Cultural grouping
- Relationship with both parents
 Rights of Children
• But in practical terms:
- The right to life is severely threatened by
abortion laws
• Post-birth abortion
- No real relationship with both parents
- Consequences of working mothers
 Rights of Parents
•Rights are given within minor age
- Children can sue their parents for
psychological abuse , an ill-defined
concept.
•Old age homes are frequently the last
abode of old parents
Islam

Istanbul, Turkey
 Rights of
•Religion of the Mother
Children
•Good name
•Breastfeeding
•Education
- A father gives his child nothing better than a
good education
•Fairness
•"Be fair and just in terms of the gifts you offer
your children.
 Rights of Parents
-Respect and obedience
-Mother is to receive the best treatment of anybody else
-Parents are to be taken care of in old age
 Rights of Parents

- And your Lord has decreed that you not

worship except Him, and to parents, good
treatment. Whether one or both of them reach
old age [while] with you, say not to them [so
much as], "uff," and do not repel them but
speak to them a noble word. (17, 23-24)
 Rights of Parents

- And We have enjoined upon man [care] for his parents.

His mother carried him, [increasing her] in weakness
upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years. Be
grateful to Me and to your parents; to Me is the [final]
destination. (31:14)
 Concept of Children Rights Parents Rights
Child
Pre-Islamic Future strength Breastfeeding, tribal Parents rights are only of the
Arabia of the tribe, if safety and defence. father, Life or death over the
male children, Child sacrifices
Roman Culture If accepted by Moral Education to Rights are only to the pater
the father, a pietas, Inheritance (to familias, Life or death over the
member of the males, and dowry to children, Selling children to
family females) slavery
Middle Ages Miniature Inheritance (only for Life or death over the child,
adult, original males) Obedience to the man by both
sin wife and children
Postmodernis Separate entity Life, Name and Abortion, Parents spend their
m with its own identity, Being raised day working, No right after age
rights within a family, of majority, Divided families
Relationship with
parents
Islam Pure creature Good mother, Life, Mercy, Care in old age,
born in the Good name, Respect, High status of the
state of Fitrah Education, Fairness, mother
Inheritance
 Conclusion

•The comparison between the complete

way of life of Islam and various
civilisations teaches that although some
aspects are common, Islam is the only
way which balances Parents and Children
rights.
Some readings...
Centuries of Childhood
Philippe Aries
The Orator’s Education
Quintilian
The History of Childhood
De Mause
Children and Childhood in
Western Society Since 1500
Cunningham