The Social Function of History and Memory in the Conception of Child in the Constitution and Statute of the Child and Adolescent in Brazil

Abstract

The promulgation of the Brazilian Federal Constitution in 1988, inaugurated a new view about the child: that of a subject who has rights. However, it was with the Statute of the Child and Adolescent in 1990 that the concept of child became clearer, and perhaps because of this, in its twenty-nine years of existence, the Statute has been the main target of different public policy proposals aimed at children and adolescents. Thus, this article aims to propose a reflection on the social function that history and the study of memory can play on the child and its concept expressed in the Brazilian Federal Constitution and Statute of the Child and Adolescent, since the direction of policies aimed at children expressed in these documents depends on how the child and his childhood are understood throughout history, and therefore, history, as a specific form of scientific production, has a fundamental role.