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Period: 3000 BCE to 400
Infanticide
During this period, it is a common practice for mothers to wish death and subsequently murder their children. This is related to their own bad relationships and fear towards their mothers. There are numerous references of everyday occurrences that involved mothers drowning their children, starving them to death or exposing them to dangerous animals. -
Period: 400 to 1300
Abandoning
This period is characterized for a general abandonment of children. Upper class infants were left at wet-nurses, and then given to the care of servants. They spent minimal time with their parents. Low class children weren’t so lucky, often being sold as slaves. They could also be used as political hostages and guarantee for debtors. It was also common for parents to give up their children, for them to be returned at an older age. This indicates a general disregard for children as human beings. -
Period: 1300 to
Ambivalent
Beatings were regular during this period. Even the gentlest of teachers and nurses were often documented giving stern interventions to the children they were caring for. This also marked the start of potty training, and progress regarding the management of feces and sexuality. -
1320
Child explotation
During this time, it was common for children to be exposed to dangerous labor work practices -
Period: to
Intrusive
The intrusive period saw a considerate reduction in what DeMause called projection. The parents wouldn’t projects their fears and guilt into the child, and mothers were more involved in the nursing process. They would attempt to mold the infants mind and behavior. -
Industrial revolution
With the industrial revolution, child labor drops considerably in number. Children working are no longer seen as an acceptable social convention -
Period: to
Socializing
Following the intrusive period, the parents efforts shifted towards socializing the child, instructing it, as opposed to subduing it. Fathers start getting involved in the raising process for the first time. Social scientists grew interested in theorizing childhood, which also contributed to a new paradigm under which children were thought of as people of their own. -
Child’s rights
Children are recognized as important subjects to social and cultural events. They now have rights protecting them violence and allowing them to develop more freely -
Period: to
Helping
This last period refers to a new era in which children are heard when discussing their needs, and thought of as capable of understanding their circumstances and reaching resolutions related to them. Parents and children work together in order to resolve issues, as opposed to conquering or training the young. New disciplines have also developed interest in childhood and its effects on culture.