Lloyd De Mouse On The History Of Childhood

Lloyd de Mouse boldly remarked in the opening of his book, History of Childhood, that “the history of childhood is a nightmare from which we have only recently begun to awaken.” de Mause proposed the further back in history one explores, the greater the care of children deteriorates. Victorian era Britain offered few opportunities for the homeless and abandoned children of the working-class, relief effort were limited, and the upper- and middle-classes did not see it as their responsibility to help those the children of the intemperate and immoral. It was not until Dr. Thomas Barnardo, an Evangelical philanthropist, exposed the depravity of these children did the more affluent members of British society begin to take notice. In time
Barnardo of “faking his records” by misrepresenting the appearance of children in photographs by worsening their appearance. Dr. Barnardo was found guilty of producing “artistic fiction” , however he argued that these photographs captured the effectiveness of his work and the transformation of the child from “an initial state of abject sine to one of joyful salvation of Jesus” The images in question are those of the ‘Before and After’ series (Figures 6, 7, and 8). The change from before and after do appear dramatic, however the intent of producing these images was to provide irrevocable proof of power of the Evangelic ministry to transform even most downtrodden and immoral individual. However, even the illustration included on the cover of Dr. Barnardo’s novella, Out of the Gutter, is another example and claim, where it was said Dr. Barnardo worsened the appearance of the child in order to exacerbate his ‘identity’. On the British Home Children’s Advocacy & Research Association website this image is noted as being a replication of the photograph of Samuel Reed, who in 1877 testified during Dr. Barnardo’s arbitration hearing, stating “when he first arrived at Barnardo's in 1871, he was taken to the studio where Dr. Barnardo ‘took out his pen-knife and tore my clothes to pieces’ before positioning him for the photographs.” Thomas Barnes, the photographer for the studio
Barnardo was not intentional, especially in light of the number of provisions he established in the attempts to provide good care and safety for the children sent abroad; unannounced home/farm visits by representatives from the Homes to ensure the wellbeing of the children (Appendix A); embedding key provisions within the Home Agency’s Memorandum of Conditions Upon which Boys are Placed Out (Appendix B) and repeating those elements in the contractual agreements (Appendix C and D).
Upon departure for Canada, each child was given a package containing a document entitled Directions For Lads on Leaving for Situations (Appendix E) listing expectations of the child as well as those of the host family, instructions of how to report abuse by using a preaddressed and postage paid postcards (to the Homes’ agency in Canada).
It appears Dr. Barnardo also recognized the heightened vulnerability of the girls sent abroad, so much so he insisted the girls be placed in household which included an adult woman and “mistresses were instructed not to leave the girls at night when another woman was not present in the home,” unfortunately, this appears to not have been scrupulously reinforced, as seen with a letter written by Winnifred Titus entitled, I put up a fuss and cried at being left alone with her husband. Winnifred tells of her experiences of being sexual abused when left alone in the care of “her husband.” “Good care would