Medicina y sexualidad infantil en la España de los años treinta. La aportación del psicoanálisis a la pedagogía sexual

Abstract

The present paper aims to discuss the role that some doctors played in the development of children's «sexual education» in 1930s Spain. Special attention is paid to approaches of a psychoanalytical inspiration that have been overlooked by medical and general historiography, in the authors opinion. In order to carry out this aim, the authors study the contributions of Spanish doctors interested in psychoanalysis at the time (Juarros, Sanchís Banús, Lafora and, particularly, Angel Garma). Throughout the article, the authors analyze the influence that medical and medical- pedagogical discourses of those doctors had on the Sexual Reform Movement. Furthermore, they point out how these discourses encouraged a change of attitude towards children s sexuality, and how they suggested new ways of «clarifying» or telling children about the «mysteries» of sexuality.