English Version | Article 11

It is the article on the presumption of innocence that appears in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Here, presuming legal innocence, different, but not totally disconnected, from the innocence that we tend to fit into an age group - and the one we want to address here. As far as the age of innocence is concerned, we're only guilty of wondering: why is it associated with childhood? What does it mean to lose one’s innocence? Will it forever be a virtue? And an equal idea for all?

“Any person accused of a criminal act is presumed innocent until his or her guilt is legally proven in the course of a public process in which all the necessary guarantees of defense are assured.” Article 11 of the UDHR refers to the innocence inherent to not committing a criminal act, but the term innocence has more layers than the one attributed to it, concretely, in judicial matters. Just peek into any dictionary - or live a few years in a (modern and not-so-modern) society - to realize that the broad sense has a metaphorical dimension that can be applied in practice. The fact is innocence, in terms of a concept that goes beyond the legal scope, intersects with the idea of naivety, of purity, with no sense of evil, not conditioned by the unhealthy experiences of life. It is a term, in this broader sense, difficult to categorize in a watertight way, although we all more or less know what we mean when we call someone innocent or when we talk about an age of innocence. Perhaps the best way to paraphrase it is to quote St. Augustine when he referred to time, saying “when we speak of it, we understand what we say. We also understand what they tell us when they talk about him. (…) If nobody asks me, I know; but if I were desirous to explain it to one that should ask me, plainly I do not know.” This is similarly the herculean task of defining 'innocence', in the larger sense that we normally associate it with childhood, but which can also be applied to a range of situations of adult individuals; that which we find in the word purity a synonym, but which is not exhausted in that word; the one we associate with naivety, but which is not equivalent to naivety. 

“The definition of innocence, which can be seen in the Dictionary of Psychology, ‘characterizes the mental state of a person who ignores evil (...) and who does not feel responsible for any harm’. It is, however, a vast, profound concept, and transversal to a diversity of Psychology studies", contextualizes the clinical psychologist Joana Janeiro, corroborating the vastness of the term at the same time elucidating its basic notions and confirming its connection to the pure, immaculate, naive, virginal, in this idea of ignorance of evil, a description that argues in favor of why considering the age of innocence as one reserved for the most precocious years of life, in which contact with harmful information, malefices, evil is scarce. The spirit and mind are virgin, untouched, without blemish. Which does not mean that it is equivalent to naivity, clarifies the psychologist, “Usually they are presented as synonyms, but there are differences. Naivety is understood as extreme simplicity, excessive credulity and, sometimes, as childishness. But it is not associated with the idea of the absence of a sense of responsibility for actions. And thus we connect this with the idea of culpability. An adult can be naive, but he will have an ethical, moral, legal responsibility, except in exceptional cases, such as serious pathologies. In short, in naivety, someone does not understand/know the norms and, therefore, is harmed. As for innocence, it is not possible to attribute responsibility for thought and/or action”, justifying why innocence is not something we associate with adult life, even though we can metaphorically describe an adult as 'innocent' for being too gullible at a certain point. “Innocence begins to be associated with childhood, when a social transformation begins in the 16th century. At this point, the idea of a ‘house’, with different compartments, shows a new division of social space”, continues Janeiro. “The family becomes nuclear, differentiated from the social mass. The generations within the family space are structured and it is possible to preserve the innocence, thought and action typical of the stages of their development, with a strong influence of the new morality of the reforming priests. Although innocence can accompany us throughout life and in its various spheres (relational, professional, loving), it is normally associated with childhood. We find it with greater expression and clarity in early childhood, from 0 to 3 years old. An almost angelic dimension is often attributed to babies. Devoid of intentionality or malice, of guilt or of any kind of responsibility. The Psychologist continues: “although the journey during childhood is long, troubled and full of achievements, for a large part of the time one finds a psychic, emotional and relational immaturity of its own, which dictate forms of thought, relationship and action, which, in turn, are unpunished for an attribution of malice, guilt or moral or legal accountability, as interpreted in the adult universe, or of coming of age”, justifies the psychologist about the connotation of childhood to innocence. In sociology, the discourse and references are somewhat similar: “in the contemporary context, the construction of innocence is associated with childhood”, attests Maria João Cunha, sociologist, professor at ISCSP/ULisboa and researcher at CIEG (Centro Interdisciplinar de Estudos de Género) . “It can actually function as a powerful social myth that structures children's social relations and culture, while simultaneously informing them about their rights and status in society. There is even a certain pressure to build a childhood ideal that maintains innocence, as several authors tell us (eg Julie Garlen), parents feeling pressure to manufacture 'a mythical period of wide-eyed wonders and magical moments, a notion perpetuated by corporate pedagogues such as Walt Disney’. That is, there is a need to carefully cultivate the conditions of childhood to preserve innocence. According to other authors, such as Faulkner (2013), this ‘attracts great cultural attention and energy, both positive and negative’ as a ‘privileged site not only of concern, celebration and protection, but also of anxiety’. This may mean, for some authors, that the fantasy of childhood as a happy time of carefree enchantment is a powerful social construction, which creates an expectation about how children's experiences 'should' be and which can even lead to some anxiety for parents, one that’s fed, for some, by nostalgia for their own childhood, and for others by the desire to protect their children from the traumas they endured. This anxiety leads many parents to great efforts to protect their children from sadness, stress, and even slight discomfort, which at home and at school can manifest itself as a desire to prolong the children's ignorance of social realities. The maintenance of innocence is therefore related to the censorship of themes such as sexuality, death, violence and poverty”. One need - that of safeguarding innocence as much as possible, particularly at a young age, protecting the child from these issues - has to do with the social context in which we live. The archetypes that were created to shield the youngest from adversity or content considered impressive are the result of our own scale of values - moral, religious, social, physical integrity. “Yes, [our social, religious and psychological constraints also condition our innocence], due to the way we experience, interpret and integrate these constraints", explains clinical psychologist Joana Janeiro. “If we think about religion, Adam is no longer innocent for being informed of the consequences of picking the fruit of the tree of knowledge, good and evil. At a deeper level, he faced the clear order given by his Creator. Sin and its release, can be a way of losing and taking back the idea of innocence, in a release from evil and guilt. The theft of innocence also happens due to the disconnection of religious beliefs and certain life events. As well as at a social and relational level, on occasions mentioned above and by the slow or accelerated access to factual, cultural information, as well as the nature of life experiences, appropriate or not, to certain stages of growth. When associated with psychopathology, a disturbed relation with innocence, in delusional states - in psychoses and schizophrenia. In pathological depressions, we also witness the introjection of guilt at one extreme, and the lack of responsibility and victimization, at the other”. We cannot, therefore, dissociate the idea of innocence from the social and moral conditions that regulate it, because the matters that can cause its loss are, in part, also regulated by the community: “In this sense, the 'loss of innocence' is related to with exposure to these themes of sexuality, death, violence and poverty, which constitute forms of "difficult knowledge" (Britzman, 1998)”, confirms sociologist Maria João Cunha. “The lack of knowledge about these themes is significantly linked to Western ideals of childhood innocence and their intersection with the discourse of child development, seeing children as too young to deal emotionally and cognitively with these concepts, which will no longer happen with an adult person. Childhood innocence has thus been strengthened by developmental psychology, but also by religious doctrine and popular culture. It reveals concern for one of the most vulnerable groups in our society, whose human rights are particularly at risk in today's conditions of widespread social injustice.” Joana Janeiro corroborates that innocence is in fact linked to a series of lack of knowledge about the hardships of life and, therefore, losing it is inherently linked to the passage of years versus the acquisition of that information that destroys the normal puerile notion that life is pink and full of rainbows, devoid of any gray cloud. “Yes, the loss of innocence is associated with psychic growth and development, with the acquisition of information and experiences. Developmental Psychology and Psychoanalysis help to think about the notion of innocence and its natural and progressive loss. As the baby grows individually and in the relationship with the mother and caregivers, he progressively separates from the symbiotic experience and begins to be aware of the notion of the Self, as Bernard Golse conceptualizes it or as defined by Donald Winnicott. The 'distress of separation' and the 'anguish of the 8th month' mark the beginning of a self-awareness, still in outline, reaching greater maturity close to the 15th month of life. Around this time, the 'No' appears, and later, the ability and need to reinforce your individuality and to differentiate yourself from the other, with the protection and defense of what is yours: 'it's mine!'. Behaviors that are often misunderstood and/or misinterpreted by adults: 'he already has a desire!', 'he already has a personality!'. But they are fundamental milestones of the child's psychic and affective development. Increasingly evolved levels in the differentiation I/other, internal world/external world and in the handling of fantasy and reality. The phase of fears is also another milestone of loss of innocence: when the dark hides monsters under the bed, the bogeyman, evil, danger, death and finitude. When you discover that Santa Claus doesn't exist, and the parents were accomplices in this fantasy. The disappointment when reality imposes itself and one gets to know one another, realizing also the failures and imperfections of the parents. Little by little, sublimation, experience and cultural life, allow the child to live and constitute a Self subjected to reality, and at the same time, with capacity for creation and spontaneity", explains the psychologist, adding that "the shock of knowledge or experience may also be thought of as the early theft of innocence. When, in pathological cases, the absence of boundaries between generations is perceived, or a projective interpretation on the part of parents and/or adult caregivers, which confuses knowledge of the adult world with the underlying intention of children's behavior. In this way, guilt can be imposed, in an innocent action by the child, who introjects a malicious or sexual intention, for example, that does not belong to him. The 'Confusion of Languages between Adults and Children', is a remarkable work by Sándor Ferenczi, which gives a new interpretation of the 'Theory of Infantile Sexuality' developed by Sigmund Freud. Let us take the example of the child who plays with the idea of conquering the place of the parent of the same sex, to become the spouse of the opposite sex, only in imagination and in make-believe. There are already traces of childhood love, which seek in and through play to use the language of tenderness, not of mature passion. If, at the time of this stage of tenderness, a love different from that expressed and sought is interpreted and imposed on the child, laden with an adult intentionality, it could cause a pre-maturation, with pathological consequences, in a place that still is, and should remain, innocent and immature”.

In the famous phrase “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, which entitles a film but which originally belongs to a stanza by the Englishman Alexander Pope (1688-1744), the poet inscribes this expression of “immaculate mind in perpetual light” in a context in which equals virginity of knowledge with happiness. In the poem Eloise to Abelard, the stanza “How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!/The world forgetting, by the world forgot./ Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!/Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd”, the author refers to the happiness of a blameless vestal, a chaste virgin without sins who forgot the world and whom the world forgot and, therefore, maintains an innocent mind, without knowledge of the hardships of a life (loving, in the case ). The envy that the author expresses of this chastity that comes from ignorance arises because “far from (in)sight, far from heart”. Fernando Pessoa, namely through the poetry of the heteronym Alberto Caeiro, exposes the same analogy. Pessoa says that “only innocence and ignorance are happy, but they don't know it” and Caeiro says that “to love is eternal innocence. And the only innocence is not to think”, but as with everything that is ignored - in this case, information -, the bitterness is lost as much as the positive experiences. No wonder the English poet Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) coined the famous phrase “it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved”. It's just that maintaining innocence by denying experiences is also not evolving. It's valid to want to protect a child from the fractured themes of life in order to preserve as much as possible that capacity so inherent to innocence - and to childhood - which is the belief in the irrational, the potentiation of the imaginary, the conceiving of fantastic worlds and creatures, such as unicorns and fairies and Santa Claus - even the belief in the perfection of parents, without defects, superheroes, capable of anything (it is not by chance that Janeiro refers the loss of innocence to the disillusioned discovery that parents are not all of this) - and make this gift last as long as possible. Because innocence is something deeper than ignorance, it is a kind of inexplicable operation of the imagination, that side that manages to create universes from which you are excluded forever, with no chance of returning. But asserting this (un)reality is also losing key learning for development. Is it so negative to lose innocence? Is it really a virtue? Or rather, is it also important to lose it at a certain point? Yes, says the psychologist, “as an expression of psychic and emotional development, awareness of oneself and the other, the ability to take responsibility. It reflects the possibility of growth and integration of experience. Of knowledge and progressive understanding of oneself and the world. As Tim Bernardes says in his song ‘Fases’: ‘I bring marks from the path / I lost the purity of childhood / I treat marks with affection / They are already part of me’”, says Joana Janeiro. 

Which doesn’t mean that these lessons cannot be postponed so that one can enjoy the age of innocence for a long time, a task made more difficult by the emergence and viralization of the internet, in particular, the dissemination of social media, which expose, without filters, the sensitive themes mentioned above - sexuality, violence, etc - to increasingly younger audiences. “Of course, in recent decades, the massive expansion of digital media has drastically increased access to information, further fueling the anxieties of parents who wish to prolong the state of unconsciousness or ignorance of issues related to sexuality, death, violence and poverty, which is characterized as innocence”, stresses sociologist Maria João Cunha. “Ultimately, the perceived collapse of the child/adult binary caused by the 'corruption' of children with adult knowledge continues to lead to moral panic about the safety and well-being of children in contemporary society. As Faulkner (2010) observes, ‘the dominant sentiment – often represented in the news and today – has been that childhood innocence is imperative’. Other authors have highlighted the ways in which popular culture capitalizes on the sexualization of children. For example, many advertisers capitalize on the rhetoric of protection, either by working against it by taking advantage of children's agency as consumers and parental influencers, or by reinforcing it through products and experiences that respond to the anxieties of parents seeking to prolong childhood innocence, such as a Disney holiday. The company has even been criticized for the aggressiveness used in marketing to both children and parents by asserting itself as a refuge from adulthood. In this context of contemporary consumption, children have become a lucrative target, which has also increased concerns about exposure and access to 'adult' knowledge, with the consequent loss of so-called 'innocence'." In turn, psychologist Joana Janeiro also warns that the Internet “can accelerate the loss of innocence due to an excess of information. This access may disrespect the pace of natural, cultural and relational experiences, as well as their understanding and proper integration. Especially if this excess brings with it an extra load of content/knowledge that is inappropriate for psychic maturity, causing such a shock, trauma, and demanding an early maturation, most of the time, pathological”. But even if you don't go to extremes, it's important to have the notion that, once lost, it can hardly be recovered. Or can it? “I don't know if we manage to recover innocence, or if it’s at all something we’re interested in, but we can maintain characteristics typical of the age of innocence”, continues Janeiro. “Innocence is fundamental in childhood. It is necessary to constitute a safe ground for the engine of psychic vitality. To support the essential characteristics that make up this era of curiosity, exploration, astonishment, desire, deep down, for growth. Without foreseeing or knowing evil and its consequences. As we grow, we lose innocence, but we can create internal spaces, which find their own places so that the weight of reality does not interfere. As in artistic creation, reading, music. In these places, a space for innocence, safe and protected, should be cultivated, to feed a desire, an impetus, in a way inconsequential, where error is allowed as part of the process of creation and discovery, and the search for beauty, of surprise and astonishment. An excerpt from the poem ‘Avarandado’, by Matilde Campilho illustrates these ideas: ‘And despite the slaps/Inverted time/Despite the brief visits of dread/Beauty is all that remains’.” 

Innocence may have an age, therefore, but it doesn’t (completely) extinguish with it. It fades with the years, with age, with the coming of age, so to speak, but it can be nourished, with greater or lesser difficulty, so that it does not perish completely. It is important not to live in a state of innocence - that is to say, of naivety and ignorance - ad eternum, because its practicality in modern societies does not safeguard the protection from adversity that seems to be the benefit of ignorance. Knowledge can be a curse as well as a blessing, what matters is knowing how to balance both aspects to maximize the advantages of the dichotomy. A little following the psychologist's sharing above and quoting Pablo Picasso, “All children are artists. The problem is to remain an artist when they grow up”, it is worth adding that the task can be difficult, but it is not impossible. One just has to presume oneself innocent as far as the capacity for wonder is concerned - without prejudice to the knowledge acquired through exposure to less innocent situations and characteristics of life.

Translated from the original on Vogue Portugal's The Innocence Issue, published February 2023.Full story and credits on the print issue.