Abstract

CUNHA, Carolini Cássia  and  BOARINI, Maria Lucia. Childhood under state care: a few annotations. Psicol. teor. prat. [online]. 2010, vol.12, n.1, pp. 208-224. ISSN 1516-3687.

This article interprets the results of a study whose objective was to investigate the presence or absence of influences from eugenics and mental hygiene beliefs in public policies directed to childhood. To that end, we took as our main source the federal legislation that instituted the form of childhood assistance in Brazil, namely: the Minors Code of 1927, which was the first piece of legislation dealing exclusively with childhood and the Minors Code of 1979. We also checked periodicals and document from those periods, which revealed contractions and the manner in which they were confronted. A careful and rigorous reading of the consulted materials indicates a partial convergence between the path proposed by the legislation and the above-mentioned set of beliefs, with emphasis on the use of practices of exclusion, individualization and personalization of social problems.

Keywords : Childhood; Mental hygiene; Eugenics; Minors Code.

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