There will Be No Help…: Newborn Abandonment and Baby Hatching

The article summarizes attitudes regarding abandonment of newborn children and baby hatches (or baby boxes). We have interviewed 2,000 respondents in 8 federal districts of the Russian Federation, conducted 27 expert interviews and 15 focus groups (N=142) with managers, specialists, and parents. The share of baby box supporters makes 67.2% with the opponents’ share reaching 22.5%. We point out that the opinions of the community in general, the experts, and the parents on the reasons for newborn abandonment mostly coincide. We have concluded that a set of social and economic, psychological, as well as objective and subjective reasons lead to newborn abandonment. Various stereotypes about deviant and asocial behavior of abandoning mothers as well as stereotypes about their social alienation result in a simplified understanding of the issue. We insist that pregnant women in critical conditions require comprehensive assistance on the part of the state and society which can work as preventive measures. We conclude that a comprehensive state response to the crisis symptoms is needed at all stages of parenting that should take into account the goal of humanization measures intended to support mothers and children.

Keywords

motherhood, pregnant women, newborn infant abandonment, infanticide, child abuse, baby box, social orphanhood

Acknowledgment

The study was funded by RFBR, research project No. 19-011-00543.

Received

24.05.2021

Publication date

28.06.2021

Number of characters

29695

Cite

GOST	Bezrukova O., Samoylova V., Shishkina E., Yashina M. “There will Be No Help…”: Newborn Abandonment and Baby Hatching // Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya – 2021. – Issue 5 C. 47-57 [Electronic resource]. URL: http://ras.jes.su/socis/s013216250014214-8-1-en (circulation date: 17.01.2025). DOI: 10.31857/S013216250014214-8
MLA	Bezrukova, Olga N, Samoylova, Valentina A, Shishkina, Evgenia V, Yashina, Maria N "“There will Be No Help…”: Newborn Abandonment and Baby Hatching." Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya 5 (2021):47-57. DOI: 10.31857/S013216250014214-8
APA	Bezrukova O., Samoylova V., Shishkina E., Yashina M. (2021). “There will Be No Help…”: Newborn Abandonment and Baby Hatching. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya (5), pp.47-57 DOI: 10.31857/S013216250014214-8

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