Category of Child Rearing in Family Law: A Cultural-Historical Analysis

The article focuses on the cultural-historical analysis of the category of child rearing in Russian family law. It shows how the objective (i.e. defined in customs, church constitutions and substantive law) side of the social situation of upbringing, representing a certain aspect of the social situation of development, has changed dramatically in the historical context. Perhaps, the most considerable changes occurred in the goals of upbringing: there is a clear shift from absolute obedience to taking into account the child’s interests and opinions in a whole range of issues concerning rearing and education. This shift creates conditions for proper development of the child’s inner position that reflects his/her proactive position towards the social reality. The paper provides a historical overview of parental responsibilities and the system of prohibitions in child rearing. It concludes that the subject of forensic inquiry in civil cases concerning post-separation parenting is the possible negative impact of personality features and mental state of parent on the development of child.