| Children are among society’s most vulnerable people. Abuse, poor access to the good things of life, social stigma and death are just a few of the common life experiences facing children living below the poverty line or who are vulnerable for other reasons. Many service practices and structures have been developed to address the difficult circumstances facing young people, yet society’s response to vulnerable children is often shaped by its history and the mindsets that have developed overtime. Seldom do we take time to pause and reflect on where those mindsets come from and what approaches have been used.
This two hour presentation and discussion will selectively describe the age old problems of abandonment and infanticide; oblation and orphanages in the Middle -Ages; and the birth of modern child welfare services in the 1850s that foreshadows the principle of normalization. Raymond Lemay is a senior SRV teacher who has spent much of his career in child welfare and has an abiding interest in the history of services to children and youth, and its ongoing relevance to current human service trends. Please join ISRVA for this fascinating history of services to vulnerable children and youth, rooted in western countries but with lessons for all. |
ISRVA
