The Fate of Abandoned Children

授予布朗大学的这一奖项支持了一位人类学家对19世纪欧洲弃儿制度的历史人口统计学的研究。 通过分析来自意大利博洛尼亚一家弃婴之家的记录，以及附近社区的记录，研究人员将追踪在这个家庭长大的孩子的生活历程。 研究的目的是描述幸存到成年的儿童的生活，提供对当时家庭和社会生活更一般方面的见解，并分析性别差异。 初步数据显示，由于处于弃儿地位，男孩比女孩处于更不利的地位，因为女孩试图嫁到更高的“地位”。 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，但仍有成千上万的弃婴存活下来，成为社会的生产成员。 这项研究将追踪弃儿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、规划者和评论员都对家庭的“破裂”及其对儿童行为的影响感到惋惜。 非家庭机构，如孤儿院，被认为是功能失调的家庭状况的替代办法。 这个项目研究了过去的类似情况，并将促进我们对传统家庭抚养替代方案的后果的理解。 这种研究很重要，因为它将使历史的教训对这些当前的问题产生影响，并为比较分析提供宝贵的数据库。

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.