Barnhem in Sweden

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By the second half of the 1800’s, the number of institutions for children increased. Many of these children had parents that were sick, dead, or single (widow, widowers, divorced or single.) It was during this time period that Barnhems began to be created. The purpose of a barnhem was to provide a place for the child to grow up. The barnhem would be held up as a model even for the orphanages. Good natured children in difficult circumstances could be placed at a barnhem. Troubled or bad children were placed in a protective institution (Skyddshem), while juvenile delinquents’ were sent to youth institutions (Uppfostringsanstalter), but it was not always clear to which institution a child should be sent. Even the name of an institution did not always reflect the type of institution it was. At Barnhems, girls would be trained for female labor. Many became domestic servants to find work as a Piga for a household. During the late 1800’s it was not as common to find young women who wanted domestic work, as more were finding work in the manufacture industry. Some barnhems for girls focused on educational training to become school teachers.