Herman E
Department of History, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA.
Isis. 2001 Dec;92(4):684-715. doi: 10.1086/385355.
This essay considers the effort to transform child adoption into a modern scientific enterprise during the first half of the twentieth century via a case study of Arnold Gesell (1880-1961), a Yale developmentalist well known for his studies of child growth and the applied technologies that emerged from them: normative scales promising to measure and predict development. Scientific adoption was a central aspiration for many human scientists, helping professionals, and state regulators. They aimed to reduce the numerous hazards presumed to be inherent in adopting children, especially infants, who were not one's "own." By importing insights and techniques drawn from the world of science into the practical world of family formation, scientific adoption stood for kinship by design. This case study explores one point of intersection between the history of science and the history of social welfare and social policy, simultaneously illustrating the cultural progress and power of scientific authority and the numerous obstacles to its practical realization.
本文通过对阿诺德·格塞尔（1880 - 1961）的案例研究，探讨了20世纪上半叶将儿童收养转变为现代科学事业的努力。格塞尔是耶鲁大学的一位发展心理学家，以其对儿童成长的研究以及由此产生的应用技术而闻名：标准化量表有望测量和预测儿童发展。科学收养是许多人类科学家、专业助人者和国家监管者的核心愿望。他们旨在减少收养儿童（尤其是非亲生婴儿）所假定存在的众多风险。通过将来自科学界的见解和技术引入家庭组建的实际领域，科学收养代表了通过设计建立的亲属关系。本案例研究探索了科学史与社会福利和社会政策史的一个交汇点，同时展示了科学权威的文化进步和力量以及其实际实现过程中所面临的众多障碍。
