The historical evolution of simplicity paradigms in child social protection policies

Abstract

This article investigates the historical evolution of the paradigm of simplicity as a guiding principle in child social protection policies, from the earliest organized forms of assistance in Antiquity to contemporary reform models. Using a historical-analytical and comparative methodology, the article examines how the concept of simplicity - understood successively as resource economy, an ethic of sufficiency, intermediate technology, and relational efficiency – has shaped institutions, legislation, and care practices for children in difficulty. The contribution of the article lies in the construction of a diachronic typology of six paradigms of simplicity – an analytical framework absent from the specialized literature that systematically intersects the history of child protection with the philosophy of simplicity - and in the introduction of the operational distinction between administrative simplicity and relational simplicity as a diagnostic tool for social policy reforms. The diachronic analysis identifies six distinct paradigms: sacred simplicity (Antiquity), charitable simplicity (Middle Ages), disciplinary simplicity (early modern period), normative simplicity (modernity), systemic simplicity (welfare state), and relational simplicity (contemporaneity). Each paradigm reflects a different set of values regarding the child, the family, and the role of the state.