Abandonment

Abandonment is generally used to refer to the desertion of the aged, sick, deformed, crippled, or helpless, and is often considered to also refer to the practice of exposure, or the abandonment of infants.

In general it occurs for economic reasons, such as a lack of food, fear of lack of food, and a person becoming burdensome due to their inability to do things. The practice is most common in nomadic societies: historically, the Arabs either abandoned the old and helpless, or buried them alive; the ancient Persians and Armenians left them in deserts to be eaten by animals; early Romans would throw those over sixty into the Tiber; the Bushmen and Hottentots of South Africa, amongst others, took their elderly into the wild and left them in a small pen with little food; historically, the Hudson Bay Inuit, Hurons, and Iroquois would leave behind the old, sick, and weak when they moved to a new location; some Native American tribes from California killed or abandoned their elderly; certain Native American tribes from the central regions of the United States would leave their elderly behind when they moved camp, with a little food and water, with the Utes continuing to do so into the 19th century; Americans travelling westwards as recently as 1849 would leave the weak or dying by the side of the trail with a little fire; Melanesians historically burned or buried alive their elderly parents, and abandoned the ill notably quickly out of the belief they were possessed by demons; and a number of South American tribes also abandon their sick out of feat of evil spirits that cause the sickness.

Exposure of infants was generally done for the same reasons, but also because in many cultures the father had to pay a dowry for his daughters, making them an economic liability. On the flip side, in Sarawak the sons were often abandoned because a man's son-in-law would work for him, making daughters more desirable. Other reasons for exposure often include illegitimacy and the child being born to incest, as well as superstitions leading to a particular child being viewed as abnormal, such as twins and triplets being viewed as unlucky. Conjoined twins, even in the 20th century, were more likely than others to be exposed. In India, at least into the 20th century, children were more likely to be exposed if they were born on an inauspicious day. Ancient Sparta also had a state-sponsored exposure program for any children who were deformed or considered weak in any way. In Nilotic beliefs, it was thought that if a mother who had lost at least one child exposed her next one in the road at dawn as an offering to hostile spirits, her next children would survive. The Aboriginals of central and southern Australia are said to expose any child born while the mother is still suckling her previous one. Finally, the Smith Sound Inuit historically exposed any children they had in excess of two.

Only when the death of the child is desired is it exposed somewhere where they won't be found in time to save them, otherwise they are most likely placed somewhere they can be found, as seen in the appearance of orphanages throughout the world in the historical record. In the modern day, abandonment and exposure are generally illegal, and in some places even abandoning animals is illegal.

## See Also

* Abandoned Children
* Infanticide

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Unknown. (1972). "Abandonment", in Leach, M. (ed) *Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend*. 3rd ed. pp.2-3