Criança: “futuro da nação”, “célula do vício” - políticas de assistência à infância em Juiz de Fora/MG na transição Império/ República

Abstract

This investigation is based on reflections concerning child welfare state associated with the education, in Juiz de Fora / MG. This research analyzes the period of transition from Monarchy to Republic – a crucial moment in the Brazilian social idea formation. The child and the child welfare work historiography highlight three elements: 1) the child welfare state in the period of Monarchy changes with the Republic; 2) the child and the childhood as category of analysis; 3) the cultural history and the ideas history as method of investigation. These elements draw a group of themes that form the welfare work institutional profile of that period, not only in the dimension of physical buildings and their rules, but also in the ideas expressed by those buildings. This is a documental research that analyses documents letters, legal or juridical records, photographs, legislation, tutelage cases and journal from the Town Hall Files, Murilo Mendes Library and Gloria Church Files, all in Juiz de Fora city.