The Fate of Abandoned Children

这个奖项授予布朗大学，以支持一位人类学家对19世纪欧洲弃婴制度的历史人口学研究。通过分析意大利博洛尼亚一个弃婴之家的记录，以及附近社区的记录，研究人员将追踪在这个家庭中长大的孩子的生活历程。这项研究的目的是描述那些活到成年的孩子们的生活，提供对当时家庭和社会生活更普遍方面的见解，并分析性别差异。初步数据显示，男孩在弃儿地位上比女孩更不利，因为女孩试图嫁给地位高的人。弃婴制度很普遍，虽然弃婴死亡率至少是一般人口死亡率的两倍，但成千上万的弃婴幸存下来，成为社会上有生产力的成员。这项研究将追踪弃婴身份对以后生活的影响。目前，家庭的性质和社会健康是整个社会关注的问题。许多政治家、规划者和评论家哀叹家庭的“破裂”，以及这对孩子行为的影响。像孤儿院这样的非家庭机构被认为是不正常家庭状况的替代办法。该项目研究了过去的类似情况，并将促进我们对替代传统家庭教育的后果的理解。这种研究很重要，因为它将把历史的教训应用于当前的这些问题，并为比较分析提供一个有价值的数据库。

This award to Brown University supports the research of an anthropologist on the historical demography of the European foundling system of the 19th century. Through analysis of records from a foundling home in Bologna, Italy, as well as records from nearby communities, the researchers will trace the course of the lives of children brought up in the home. The purpose of the research is to describe the lives of the children who survived to adulthood, to provide insight into more general aspects of family and social life at the time, and to analyze differences by gender. The preliminary data show that boys were more disadvantaged by foundling status than girls, since girls attempted to marry up` in status. The foundling system was widespread and while foundling infant mortality was at least twice as high as the general population's rate, many thousands of foundlings survived and became productive members of society. This research will trace the effects of foundling status on later life. At the present time the nature and social health of the family is a matter of concern to society at large. Many politicians, planners and commentators lament the `breakdown` of the family, and the impact this has on the behavior of children. Non-family institutions such as orphanages have been considered as alternatives to dysfunctional family situations. This project studies a comparable situation in the past, and will advance our understanding of the consequences of alternatives to traditional family upbringing. This sort of research is important because it will bring the lessons of history to bear on these current questions as well as making a valuable data base available for comparative analysis.