Infanticide and the Value of Child’s Life in Modern Practices of Ukrainian Society (On the Example of Right-Bank Ukraine)

The aim of the paper is to analyze the reasons that influenced the attitude of the Ukrainian society to the child’s death, as well as to determine the value of the life of the smallest members of society in the light of infanticide on the example of Right-Bank Ukraine in the second half of the 19th and the early 20th centuries. The research methodology is based on the tools of modern studies of childhood and the history of everyday life, which allow us to reveal the specifics of the problem. The scientific novelty is conditioned by the fact that the attitude of modern Ukrainian society to the child’s death is analyzed on the basis of archival materials of the State Archive of Zhytomyr region, which hightlight the problem of infanticide. Conclusions. High infant mortality was an everyday phenomenon in the modern age in Right-Bank Ukraine. The socio-cultural attitudes of the society contributed to the formation of an indifferent treatment towards the small child’s life at that time, especially one born out of wedlock. The fear of social condemnation and the desire to preserve the socio-economic status pushed unmarried, single women to commit crimes against the lives of their newborn in order to hide the consequences of extramarital relations. In fact, infanticide became the main "women's" crime of the modern period and acquired the characteristics of a social phenomenon. The problem of infanticide, which was considered in the light of the value of a child's life, made it possible to conclude that the child did not have a priority status in society. The community tolerated the commission of crimes against the children’s lives that did not conform to the established social order.