The Science of the Child in Liberal Italy

<p>This book investigates a forgotten chapter of history: the role of Italian sciences within the child study movement. Between the 1880s and the First World War children became the focus of unprecedented professional and scientific interest in Europe and the United States. The bodies and psyches of children their care and growth their development 'normal' and 'abnormal' intelligence and moral sense constituted a new field of research. Italy which had just become a nation also took part in this international movement: on the study of the child a substantial part of the Italian ruling class launched itself with a mixture of enthusiasm hope and concern on the frontier between different areas of knowledge. Using a broad spectrum of sources this book offers the first overview of the Italian scientific movement of child study.</p>