DISOBEDIENT BOYS AND PROMISCUOUS GIRLS

ABSTRACT

Since the 1990s, numerous public investigations have been carried out around the world on the abuse of children in out-of-home care. In the case of Iceland, commissions were appointed by the Icelandic government in 2007 to examine the historical abuse of children and youth in institutions monitored by local or state authorities during the second half of the 20th century. All the institutions subject to national investigations in Iceland were created during the postwar era, the earliest one in 1947. This article addresses the discourse on institutions and out-of-home care from a long-time perspective. It is shown that ideas on those institutions came to the fore during the early 20th century and were closely linked to progressive ideas on child welfare at the time. World War II and the British occupation of Iceland shaped the views on institutional care, and the postwar era was a period of intensive institutionalization of children and youth. The study also shows that the rhetoric concerning disobedient youth was heavily gendered. Whereas boys were accused of petty larceny, truancy and vagrancy, the main evils of girls were related to their morals, promiscuity being their chief vice.

KEYWORDS:

• Child-protection
• child abuse
• out-of-home care

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Johanna Sköld, Professor at Linköping University, Pirjo Markkola, Professor at the University of Tampere and Guðrún Kristinsdóttir, Professor emeritus at the University of Iceland, for useful comments on an earlier version of this article. I also profited greatly from discussions with the late Guðrún Ögmundsdóttir, former Head of Counselling on Former Childcare Institutions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Parliamentary Record (Alþingistíðindi), March 12, 2009. https://www.althingi.is/altext/136/03/r12105029.sgml

2. Official Journal of Iceland (Stjórnartíðindi). Lög 47/2010 um sanngirnisbætur fyrir misgjörðir á stofnunum eða heimlum sem falla undir lög no. 26/2007.

3. Skýrsla um viðbörgð og starfshætti kaþólksu kirkjunnar á Íslandi vegna ásakana um kynferðisbrot eða önnur ofbeldisbrot vígðra þjóna og annarra starfsmanna kirkjunnar.

4. All but 30 individuals who applied for compensation received compensation.

5. For a useful overview of redress schemes across the globe see articles in: Sköld and Swain, Apologies and the Legacy of Abuse of Children in ‘Care.’

6. Skýrsla um framkvæmd á greiðslu sanngirnisbóta á grundvelli laga no. 47/2010; Skýrsla nefndar samkvæmt lögum no. 26/2007. Könnun á starfsemi Breiðavíkurheimilisins 1952–1979: Áfangaskýrsla no. 1; Áfangaskýrsla no. 2; Áfangaskýrsla no. 3; Könnun á vistun barna á Kópavogshæli 1952–1993.

7. The numbers have been retrieved from the five reports referred to in footnote 6.

8. On the introduction of the Norwegian law (Lov om Behandling av vanvyrdede og forsømte Børn) see: Dahl, Barnevern og samfunnsvern; and Andresen, Hender små.

9. Sköld and Söderlind, Forsterbarn i tid och rum; Lundström, Tvångsomhändetagande av barn; and Astri Andresen et al., Barnen och välfärdspolitiken, chapters 3 and 4.

10. As regards Iceland see: Jónsson, “The Icelandic Welfare State” and “Agents and Institutions in the Creation of the Icelandic Welfare State,” 86; and Guðrún Kristinsdóttir, Child Welfare and Professionalization, 17–18.

11. On Nordic collaboration within the sphere of family policy, see: Melby et al., Äktenskap och politik, 55–90; and Andresen et al., Barnen och välfärdspolitken, 85–135.

12. Andresen et al., Barnen och välfärdspolitken, 148–9.

13. Jónsson, “The Icelandic Welfare State,” 250–1.

14. For an overview of the political situation in Iceland see: Hálfdanarson, Historical Dictionary of Iceland.

15. On the Nordic influence within family policies in Iceland see: Garðarsdóttir and Björnsdóttir, “The Implications of Divorce,” 94–95.

16. Gunnlaugsson, “Milliþinganefndin í fátækramálum 1902–1905,” 6; Jónsson, “Agents and Institutions,” 61; and Jónasson, “Heiðraða fátækranefnd.”

17. Guðlaugsson, Skýrsla um þurfamenn og munaðarlaus sveitarbörn.

18. The report from the committee includes detailed tables on the individual poor. A number of Icelandic historians have researched those reports and in a recent publication, the historians Jón Ólafur Ísberg and Sigurður Gylfi Magnússon have analysed the documents. In their publication, the lists of the poor is included, which has furthered research on the poor. See: Ísberg and Magnússon, Fátækt og fúlga. See articles in Jónasson, Ólafsdóttir and Magnússon (eds.).Hýbíli fátkætar og veraldleg gæði. Jónasson. “Heiðraða fátækranefnd.” For earlier research see: Gunnlaugsson, “Milliþinganefndin í fátækramálum 1902–1905” and “The Poor Law”; and Sigurðsson. “Örbirgð og upplausn fjöskyldna.”

19. Official Journal of Iceland (Stjórnartíðindi). Fátækralög (Fattiglov) no. 44/1905, articles 48–51.

20. Official Journal of Iceland (Stjórnartíðindi) Fátækralög no. 37/1927, article 36 and 39.

21. Sigurðsson, “Örbirgð og upplausn fjölskyldna,” 76–77.

22. Jónasson, “Heiðraða fátækranefnd”; and Kristinsdóttir, Child Welfare and Professionalization.

23. Jónasson, “Heiðraða fátækranefnd.”

24. Official Journal of Iceland (Stjórnartíðindi). Lög um afstöðu foreldra til óskilgetinna barna no. 46/1921, articles 33. and 34.

25. Dahl, Barnevern og samfunnsvern, 148–53; Valtonen, “How did Popular Educators Transform into Experts”; Sundkvist, De vanartade barnen; and Lundström, Tvångsomhändetagande av barn, 11–13.

26. On the three acts relating to child welfare that were passed in Sweden in the beginning of the 20th century, see: Sköld and Söderlind, Fosterbarn i tid och rum, 14 [SFS 1902: 63. Lag om fosterbarns vård; SFS 1902: 67. Lag angående uppfostran åt vanartade och sedligt avseende försummade barn; SFS 1902: 72. Lag om behandlingen av minderåriga förbrytare].

27. Dahl, Barnevern og samfunnsvern; Abrams and Curran, “Wayward Girls”; Pasko, “Damaged Daughters.” See also Stanley Halls classic article Adolescence.

28. Official Journal of Iceland (Stjórnartíðindi).Lög nr. 39/1907 um skilorðsbundna hegningardóma og hegningu barna og unglinga (Lov om betingede Straffedomme og Straf for Børn og unge Personer).

29. Parliamentery Record (Alþ.t) 1907-A, 194 and 291.

30. Jónsson, “The Icelandic Welfare State,” 254–5.

31. Parliamentary Record (Alþ.t.) 1932-A Parliamentary document no. 156, 406–7 (paragraphs 9 and 10).

32. Harðardóttir and Karlsdóttir, Um líðan, nám og kennslu heyrnarlausra, 21.

33. See: Lützen, “The Cult of Domesticity”; Løkke, “Børnereddere”; Vammen, “Ambiguous Performances”. For Iceland: Hákonardóttir, “Philantrophy, Politics, Religion and Women.”

34. Styrkársdóttir, From Feminism to Class Politics, chapter II.4.

35. For a useful historical overview on those early institutions see: Guðbrandsson, “Barnavernd og uppeldisstofnanir,” 178–82. See also: Erlendsdóttir, Veröld sem ég vil, 149–50 and 179–89.

36. See: Hákonardóttir, “Philantrophy, Politics, Religion and Women”; and Erlendsdóttir, Veröld sem ég vil.

37. Erlendsdóttir, Veröld sem ég vil, 179–89; and Kristinsdóttir, Child Welfare and Professionalization, 137–42.

38. Among those instituions was Vorblómið (1928) run by Þuríður Sigurðardóttir, Sólheimar í Grímsnesi (1930–) initiated by Sesselja Guðmundsdóttir, a boarding school in Laugarnesskóli in Reykjavík (1935–1962) for neglected and deprived school-children and Silungapollur in 1931. Guðbrandsson, “Barnavernd og uppeldisstofnanir”; and Garðarsdóttir, “Félagskerfi skólans.”

39. Félagsmál á Íslandi, 197–8; and Guðmundsson, 25 ára. Barnavinafélagið “Sumargjöf.”

40. Guðmundsson, 25 ára. Barnavinafélagið “Sumargjöf.”

41. Guðbrandsson, “Barnavernd og uppeldisstofnanir.”

42. Parliamentary Record (Alþ.t.) 1936-C, 584.

43. Parliamentary Record (Alþ.t.) 1934-A, 363–4.

44. On professionals who were educated abroad during this era see: Guttormsson, “Barnakennarar,” 141–2. See also discussion on some of those individuals below.

45. Andresen et al., Barnen och välfärdspolitiken, chapter 3. See also a number of articles in the educational journal of Menntamál on the participation of Icelandic teachers in the Nordic teacher meetings.

46. One of the professionals who worked closely with child protection authorities and the police during the 1930s and 1940s was the teacher Sigurður Magnússon (b. 1911). His publication on delinquent youth: Abrotaæskan í Reykjavík. On this issue see also Jónasson, Uppeldi vandræðabarna í Sviss; and Sigmundsson, Borgarbörn.

47. Hjörvar, “Vandræðabörn.”

48. Ibid., 46.

49. Böðvar frá Hnífsdal, “Uppeldi vandræðabarna.”

50. See for example: Jónasson, Uppeldi vandræðabarna.

51. Parliamentary Record (Alþ.lt.) 1936-C, 584.

52. See note 49 above.

53. Hjörvar, “Vandræðabörn,” 45.

54. Parliamentary Record (Alþ.t.) 1936-A, 585 (Greinargerð með frumvarpi til laga um uppeldisheimili fyrir vangæf börn og unglinga).

55. Whitehead, Bretarnir koma.

56. Whitehead, “Ástandið og yfirvöldin,” 96.

57. Valur Ingimundarson estimates that the number of US-soldiers were 50 thousand at its most during the years 1942–1943. Ingimundarson, Í eldlínu kalda stríðsins, 22. Considering the fact that for some time both American and British troops were stationed in Iceland a total of 50 thousand might be seen as a relatively low estimate.

58. See for example: Baldursdóttir, “Kynlegt stríð”; Bernharðsson, “Blórabögglar og olnbogabörn”; Björnsdóttir, “Public view and private voices”; Hafsteinsdóttir, “Hún var með eldrauðan varalit”; Helgadóttir, Úr fjötrum and “Konur í hersetnu landi”; and Whitehead, “Ástandið og yfirvöldinvöldin.”

59. Ericsson and Simonsen, “On the Border”; and Simonsen and Pettersen, “The Politics of Apology,” 117–8.

60. On the Norwegian redress scheme see: Simonsen and Pettersen, “The Politics of Apology.”

61. See for example: Rose, “Sex, Citizenship and the Nation”; and McCormick, “One Yank and They’re Off.”

62. Jónasdóttir, “Eigum við að eftirláta hernum stúlkubörnin” Jónasdóttir's thesis deals with the actions of Icelandic authorities regarding relationships adolescent girls had with foreign soldiers.

63. Hafsteinsdóttir, “Hún var með eldrauðan varalit”; and Whitehead, “Ástandið og yfirvöldin.”

64. On this tradition see: Garðarsdóttir, “Working and Going to School” and “Sheep, Fish and School.”

65. Magnúss, Virkið í norðri, vol. 1, 122–31.

66. See; Hafsteinsdóttir, “Hún var með eldrauðar varir”; and Whitehead, “Ástandið og yfirvöldin.”

67. An archive containing those reports was opened for research in 2012 and since then a number of studies have been carried out on the basis of those reports. Hafsteinsdóttir, “Hún var með eldrauðar varir”; and Whitehead, “Ástandið og yfirvöldin.”

68. Official Journal of Iceland (Stjórnartíðindi).Bráðabirgðalög um eftirlit með ungmennum o fl. nr. 122/1941, article 1.

69. Official Journal of Iceland (Stjórnartíðindi).Lög nr. 62/1942 um eftirlit með ungmennum.

70. Official Journal of Iceland (Stjórnartíðindi).Bráðabirgðalög um eftirlit með ungmennum o fl. nr. 122/1941, article 1. On the relationship between women and the British and the American forces see: Bernharðsson, “Blórabögglar og olnbogabörn,” 12–23; Baldursdóttir, “Kynlegt stríð,” 64–74; and Þór Whitehead, “Ástandið og yfirvöldin.”

71. Vilmundur Jónsson wrote another even more detailed letter to the minister in September 1941. Both letters are printed in Magnúss, Virkið í norðri. Vol. 2., 620–4 and 643–54.

72. The three men came to be influential in postwar Iceland: Broddi Jóhannesson had a Ph.D. in pedagogy and was later the rector of the College of Education in Iceland, Sigurbjörn Einarsson had a Ph.D in theology. He was a professor at the University of Iceland from 1944 and later bishop over Iceland. Benedikt Tómasson, headmaster in one of Reykjavík‘s primary schools. Virkið í norðri. Another report was later composed by a group of women.

73. Later, a committee consisting of three women, Sigríður Eiríksdóttir, Guðrún Pétursdóttir and Aðalbjörg Sigurðardóttir and the man Símon Jóh. Ágústsson who represented child protection authorities. See: Jónsdóttir, “Eigum við að eftirláta hernum stúlkurnar,” 30. Ágústsson came to be a central actor in the field of child protection during the postwar era.

74. See a table in Magnúss, Virkið í norðri, vol. 2, 626–7. The figures presented in Magnúss' book have been confirmed by more recent research. See Whitehead, “Ástandið og yfirvöldin.”

75. A few scholars have used the term ‘circumstances’ instead of ‘situation’ to describe ‘ástandið’.

76. Jónasdóttir, “Eigum við að eftirláta hernum stúlkubörnin,” 55–60.

77. See: Ómarsdóttir, Sviptar sjáflræði.

78. Jónasdóttir, “Eigum við að eftirláta hernum stúlkubörnin,” 69–70.

79. Parliamentary Record (Alþingistíðindi) B-1942, 108–9.

80. Parliamentary Record (Alþ.t.) Alþt. A-1943, 279.

81. Parliamentary Record (Alþ.t.) 1942, Parliamentary document no. 249, art. 61–64, 341.

82. Parliamentary Record (Alþ.t.) 1944, Parliamentary document no. 799.

83. Official Journal of Iceland (Stjórnartíðindi). Lög um vernd barna og ungmenna no. 29/1947.

84. NAI (National Archives of Iceland. Milliþinganefnd í skólamálum [Ad hoc Committee on Education] 14 February 1945. Th. Mr. 1976–B/58/1).

85. NAI (National Archives of Iceland. 1976–B/58/1). Milliþinganefnd í skólamálum. Letter dated 14. febr 1945.

86. See note 53 above.

87. Arvidsson, “Contextualizing Repartion Politics.”

88. Rytter and Rasmussen, “Denmark: The Godhavn Inquiry”; and Rytter, Godhavnsrapporten.

89. Johanna Sköld has discussed how the establishment of inquiries on child abuse follows a similar pattern in a number of counties where the media play a central role. See: Sköld, “The Truth about Abuse?”

90. An overview of the media coverage about Breiðavík in February 2007 is to be found here: Þetta var andrúmsloft ofbeldis. http://www.ruv.is/frett/thetta-var-andrumsloft-ofbeldis. See also autobiographic evidence in: Magnúsdóttir, Litróf lífsins and Elíson and Jónsson, Breiðavíkurdrengur.

91. Björgúlfsson et al., Syndir feðranna, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1297978/

92. Skýrsla nefndar samkvæmt lögum nr. 26/2007. Könnun á starfsemi Breiðavíkurheimilisins 1952–1979.

93. See an interview with Magnús Sigurðsson dating from 1964: Úr dagbók lífsins, 27.

94. Skýrsla nefndar samkvæmt lögum nr. 26/2007. Áfangaskýrsla nr. 1.

95. Guðjónsson, Delinquent boys in Reykjavík.

96. Jökulsson, “Harðræði á stúlknaheimili?”

97. Skýrsla um framkvæmd á greiðslu sanngirnisbóta á grundvelli laga nr. 47/2010.

98. Hagskinna, Table 2.10.

99. See: Björnsdóttir, “Public View and Private Voices”; Bernharðsson, “Blórabögglar og olnbogabörn”; Helgadóttir, Úr fjötrum. Íslenskar konur og erlendur her; Baldursdóttir, “Kynlegt stríð”; and Whitehead, “Ástandið og yfirvöldin.”

100. See however: Kristinsdóttir, Child Welfare and Professionalization; Guttormsdóttir, Fósturbörn og skólaganga; Ívarsdóttir, Farsæld í fóstri See also: Sigurðsson, “Örbirgð og upplausn fjölskyldna.”

101. On the placement of children and youth on the countryside during summers see: Garðarsdóttir, Sheep, Fish and School. Recently, Professor Jónína Einarsdóttir has initiated a project on Icelandic children staying in rural areas during summer (Independent Child Migration in Iceland during the 20th century funded by the Icelandic Science Foundation).

102. See note 60 above.

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Notes on contributors

Ólöf Garðarsdóttir

Ólöf Garðarsdóttir is Professor in Social History at the School of Education at the University of Iceland. Garðarsdóttir has published various articles and books on family history, historical demography and history of childhood.