Childhood And Family In Canadian History

Drawing on archeological evidence, paintings, photographs, census records, case files, and parish rolls, the contributors to this collection of original essays draw a fascinating portrait of the lives of Canadian children from the seventeenth century onward, describing child labor practices,the many different models of child-rearing, the family structure and economy and the lives of children in and outside of institutions. Together, these articles constitute a strong, rich addition to Canadian social history.

“So often a long-awaited book is disappointing. Happily such is not the case with Sutherland’s masterpiece.” Robert M. Stamp, University of Calgary, in The Canadian Historical Review “Sutherland’s work is destined to be a landmark in Canadian history, both as a first in its particular field and as a standard reference text.” J. Stewart Hardy, University of Alberta, in Alberta Journal of Educational Research Such were the reviewers’ comments when Neil Sutherland’s groundbreaking book was first published. Now reissued in Wilfrid Laurier University Press’s new series “Studies in Childhood and Family in Canada,” with a new introduction by series editor Cynthia Comacchio, this book remains relevant today. In the late nineteenth century a new generation of reformers committed itself to a program of social improvement based on the more effective upbringing of all children. In Children in English-Canadian Society, Neil Sutherland examines, with a keen eye, the growth of the public health movement and its various efforts at improving the health of children.

Histories of Canadian Children and Youth is a survey of the history of children, youth, and Canadian families from New France and the fur trade to immigrant children in the last half of the 20th century. It covers topics from growing up Metis to sex education to literacy; work and school; race and ethnicity, including some important articles on residential schools. Each section is carefully arranged by time period and theme and includes both primary and secondary sources.

Home children were orphans or impoverished youth who were shipped to Canada from Great Britain through philanthropic agencies between 1869 and the 1930's.

Fostering Nation? Canada Confronts Its History of Childhood Disadvantage explores the missteps and the promise of a century and more of child protection efforts by Canadians and their governments. It is the first volume to offer a comprehensive history of what life has meant for North America’s most disadvantaged Aboriginal and newcomer girls and boys. Gender, class, race, and (dis)ability are always important factors that bear on youngsters’ access to resources. State fostering initiatives occur as part of a broad continuum of arrangements, from social assistance for original families to kin care and institutions. Birth and foster parents of disadvantaged youngsters are rarely in full control. Children most distant from the mainstream ideals of their day suffer, and that suffering is likely to continue into their own experience of parenthood. That trajectory is never inevitable, however. Both resilience and resistance have shaped Canadians’ engagement with foster children in a society dominated by capitalist, colonial, and patriarchal power. Fostering Nation? breaks much new ground for those interested in social welfare, history, and the family. It offers the first comprehensive perspective on Canada’s provision for marginalized youngsters from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century. Its examination of kin care, institutions, state policies, birth parents, foster parents, and foster youngsters provides ample reminder that children’s welfare cannot be divorced from that of their parents and communities, and reinforces what it means when women bear disproportionate responsibility for caregiving.

The sociology of childhood and youth has sparked international interest in recent years, and yet a reader highlighting Canadian work in this field has been long overdue. Filling this gap in the literature, The Sociology of Childhood and Youth in Canada brings together cutting-edge Canadian scholarship in this important and growing discipline. Thought-provoking and timely, this edited collection explores a breadth of essential topics, including research on and with children and youth, the social construction of childhood and youth, intersecting identities, and citizenship, rights, and social engagement. With a focus on social justice, the contributing authors critically examine various sites of inequality in the lives of children and young people, such as gender, sexuality, colonialism, race, class, and disability. Encouraging further development of Canadian scholarship in the sociology of childhood and youth, this unique collection ensures that young people’s voices are heard by involving them in the research process. Pedagogical supports—including learning objectives, study questions, suggested research assignments, and a comprehensive glossary—make this volume an invaluable resource for students of childhood and youth studies in Canada.

Dechêne's work, when first published, constituted a major milestone in the development of methodology and use of sources. Her systematic examination of difficult and massive documentary collections blazed a number of new trails for other researchers. Her judicious blending of numerical data and "qualitative" findings makes this book one of the rare examples of "new history" that avoids the extremes of statistical abstraction and anecdotal antiquarianism. Habitants and Merchants in Seventeenth-Century Montreal won the Governor-General's Award and the Garneau Medal from the Canadian Historical Association when it first appeared in French.