Aspects of childhood and adolescence in late eighteenth-century Malta

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to look into the different aspects of childhood and adolescence in the late eighteenth-century Malta. My interest in the different aspects of childhood arose during my reading for the Bachelor’s degree. I became very interested in the social and cultural aspect of history and in understanding the mentality that children and adolescents grew up in, and how this influenced them. I also wanted to see how childhood and adolescence were perceived in earlier times, and what the everyday activities undertaken by children were. Moreover, I also wanted to evaluate changes in Maltese childhood and its development in the eighteenth century compared to modern times. For me, the study of social history was an innovative aspect which differed from subjects studied in my previous years at school, where military and political aspects tended to dominate. This dissertation is divided into four chapters. The first chapter provides the background to the main historical views and discussions related to the existence of childhood and adolescence throughout the centuries. Chapter two focuses on relationships in the family, mostly the relationship between parents and children in the late eighteenth century. The following chapter examines the education of children and youths. This chapter also looks into types of work that were undertaken by Maltese children and adolescents, and any types of crime these two age groups were implicated in and/or committed. The last chapter deals with how religion and witchcraft had an impact on the lives of the children and adolescents under review.