Foundation and Development of Child Neuropsychiatry in a Historiographical Study through the Work of Sante De Sanctis and LanfrancoCiampi (Part I: Sante De Sanctis)

Abstract

This paper aims to make a historiographical study about the foundation and development of the Italian child neuropsychiatry through the work of Sante De Sanctis by a systematized survey of documentary sources and its treatment with qualitative techniques of critical discourse analysis. Some aspects of his work were investigated, such as the study of dreams; and the impact of his research was measuredin the context of local production and the scope at the international level. Likewise, this study searches for traces of his hard work disciple ―Lanfranco Ciampi― in Rosario (Argentina), who devoted his life tothe social adaptation of the mentally ill child. The first hypothesis that guides this research argues that the most studied facts of the work of De Sanctis, his contributions to the Child neuropsychiatry did not reflect the prolific spirit of the author. The second hypothesis, derived from the previous one, states that the pluralistic approach of the studies of De Sanctis about the psychophysical reality of man allowed him to achieve worldwide recognition of doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists.