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child development ► Chile I 391
tional abuse and neglect are included. In many cases, the abuser himself suffered abuse as a child. When abuse results in death, evidence of child abuse or battered-child syndrome (e.g., broken bones and lesions, either healed or active) is often used to establish that death was not accidental.
child development Growth of perceptual, emotional, intellectual, and behavioral capabilities and functioning during childhood (prior to puberty). It includes development of language, symbolic thought, logic, memory, emotional awareness, empathy, a moral sense, and a sense of identity, including sex-role identity.
child labour Employment of boys and girls in occupations deemed unfit for children. Such labour is strictly controlled in many countries as a result of the effective enforcement of laws passed in the 20th century (e.g., the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959). In developing nations the use of child labour is still common. Restrictive legislation has proved ineffective in impoverished societies with few schools, although some improvements have resulted from global activ¬ ism, such as boycotts of multinational firms alleged to be exploiting child labour abroad.
child psychiatry Branch of medicine concerned with mental, emo¬ tional, and behavioral disorders of childhood. It arose as a separate field in the 1920s, largely because of the pioneering work of Anna Freud. Therapy usually involves the family, whose behaviour powerfully affects children’s emotional health. Parental death or divorce may affect a child’s emotional growth. Child abuse and neglect have also been recognized as significant in childhood disorders. Learning disabilities need to be distin¬ guished from emotional problems—which they can also cause if not diag¬ nosed in time.
child psychology Study of the psychological processes of children. The field is sometimes subsumed under developmental psychology. Data are gathered through observation, interviews, tests, and experimental meth¬ ods. Principal topics include language acquisition and development, motor skills, personality development, and social, emotional, and intellec¬ tual growth. The field began to emerge in the late 19th century through the work of German psychophysiologist William Preyer, American psycholo¬ gist G. Stanley Hall, and others. In the 20th century the psychoanalysts Anna Freud and Melanie Klein devoted themselves to child psychology, but its most influential figure was Jean Piaget, who described the various stages of childhood learning and characterized children’s perceptions of themselves and the world at each stage. See also school psychology.
childbirth See parturition
Childe, V(ere) Gordon (b. April 14, 1892, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia—d. Oct. 19, 1957, Mount Victoria, N.S.W.) Australian-British archaeologist. He taught at the University of Edinburgh (1927-46) and later directed the Institute of Archaeology at the University of London (1946-56). His study of European prehistory, especially in The Dawn of European Civilization (1925), sought to evaluate the relationship between Europe and the Middle East and to examine the structure and character of ancient cultures of the Western world. His later books included The Most Ancient Near East (1928) and The Danube in Prehistory (1929). His approach established a tradition of prehistoric studies.
Childebert Vchil-do-.bsrA II (b. 570—d. Dec. 595) Merovingian king of Austrasia (575-95) and king of Burgundy (592-95). (See Merovingian dynasty.) He inherited the eastern Frankish kingdom of Austrasia on the death of his father, Sigebert I, and was dominated by his mother in the early years of his reign. His uncle, Guntram of Burgundy, adopted Childebert as his heir in 577. When he came of age he purged the Austrasian nobility (584) and launched a series of unsuccessful campaigns against the Lom¬ bards of Italy. He became ruler of Burgundy on his uncle’s death in 592.
Children's Crusade (1212) Religious movement in Europe in which thousands, including many children and young people, set out to take the Holy Land from the Muslims by love instead of by force. The events of the Crusade are disputed. According to one version, only partially accu¬ rate, the first group of approximately 30,000 was led by a French shep¬ herd boy, Stephen of Cloyes, who had a vision of Jesus and received a letter from him. Stephen led the Crusade to Paris and delivered the letter to King Philip II Augustus, who dispersed the Crusaders. A German boy led the second group across the Alps; a few survived to reach Rome, where Innocent III released them from their vows. Contemporary accounts describing horrible fates of the participants should be treated cautiously because they were written by those hostile to the movement. Though the
movement ended without reaching the Holy Land, it excited religious fer¬ vour that helped initiate the Fifth Crusade (1217-21).
children's literature Body of written works produced to entertain or instruct young people. The genre encompasses a wide range of works, including acknowledged classics of world literature, picture books and easy-to-read stories, and fairy tales, lullabies, fables, folk songs, and other, primarily orally transmitted, materials. It emerged as a distinct and inde¬ pendent form only in the second half of the 18th century and blossomed in the 19th century. In the 20th century, with the attainment of near- universal literacy in most developed nations, the diversity in children’s books came almost to rival that of adult popular literature.
Childress Vchil-drosV Alice (b. Oct. 12, 1916, Charleston, S.C., U.S.—d. Aug. 14, 1994, New York, N.Y.) U.S. playwright, novelist, and actress. She grew up in Harlem and studied drama with the American Negro Theatre, where she wrote, directed, and starred in her first play, Florence (produced 1949). Her other plays, some featuring music, include Trouble in Mind (produced 1955), String (1969), The African Garden (1971), and Gullah (1984). She was also a successful writer of children’s books, including A Hero Ain’t Nothing but a Sandwich (1973).
Chile Vche-la,\ English Vchi-le\ officially Republic of Chile Country, southwestern South America. Area: 291,930 sq mi (756,096 sq km). Popu-
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lation (2005 est.): 16,295,000. Capitaclass="underline" San¬ tiago. About three-fourths of Chileans are mestizos; most of the rest are of European ancestry or Aracanian (Mapuche) Indians.
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392 I Chilka Lake ► Chin-sha River
The indigenous peoples before Spanish colonization included the Diagu- ita, Picunche, Mapuche, Huilliche, Pehunche, and Cunco Indians. Spanish colonists arrived during the 16th-17th centuries, followed by Basque set¬ tlers in the 18th century. A relatively homogeneous population of mesti¬ zos has developed. Language: Spanish (official). Religion: Christianity (predominantly Roman Catholic; also Protestant, other Christians). Cur¬ rency: Chilean peso. Chile is noteworthy for its unique topography: it is a long, narrow country lying between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. From north to south it is about 2,700 mi (4,300 km) long and nowhere more than 217 mi (349 km) wide. The north has an arid plateau, the Atacama Desert, and contains several peaks above 16,000 ft (4,900 m), but most of the highest peaks are on the borders with Bolivia and Argentina. The rivers, including the Bio-Bio, are limited in size. There are many lakes, including Lake Llanquihue. The extreme southern coast is marked by many inlets, islands, and archipelagoes; the western half of Tierra del Fuego (including the island on which Cape Horn is located) is in Chilean territory, as are small islets of Juan Fernandez and Easter Island. Chile has a partially developed free-market economy based mainly on mining and manufacturing. It is a republic with two legislative houses; its head of state and government is the president. Originally inhabited by native peoples, including the Mapuche, the area was invaded by the Span¬ ish in 1536. A settlement begun at Santiago in 1541 was governed under the Viceroyalty of Peru but became a separate captaincy general in 1778. Its people revolted against Spanish rule in 1810; independence was finally assured by the victory of Argentine and Chilean forces under Jose de San Martin at the Battle of Chacabuco in 1817. The area was governed by Chilean Gen. Bernardo O'Higgins until 1823. In the War of the Pacific (1879-83) against Peru and Bolivia, Chile won the rich nitrate fields on the coast of Bolivia, effectively severing that country’s access to the coast. Chile remained neutral in World War I (1914-18) and for most of World War II (1939^-5), though in 1942 it joined other Latin American coun¬ tries in declaring war on the Axis. In 1970 Salvador Allende was elected president, becoming the first avowed Marxist to be elected head of state in Latin America. Following economic upheaval, he was overthrown in 1973 in a coup led by Augusto Pinochet, whose military regime harshly suppressed internal opposition. A national referendum in 1988 and elec¬ tions the following year removed Pinochet from power and returned the country to democratic rule. Chile’s economy maintained steady growth through most of the 1990s and in the early 21st century remained one of the strongest in Latin America.