Innocence is a lack ofguilt, with respect to any kind ofcrime, or wrongdoing. In alegal context, innocence is prior to the sense oflegal guilt and is a primal emotion connected with the sense of self. It is often confused as being the opposite of the guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. In other contexts, it is a lack ofexperience.
Innocence can imply lesserexperience in either a relative view to social peers, or by an absolute comparison to a more common normative scale. In contrast toignorance, it is generally viewed as a positive term, connoting anoptimistic view of the world, in particular one where the lack of wrongdoing stems from a lack of knowledge, whereas wrongdoing comes from a lack of knowledge in children. Subjects such ascrime andsexuality may be especially considered. This connotation may be connected with a popularfalse etymology explaining "innocent" as meaning "not knowing" (Latinnoscere — to know, learn). The actual etymology is from general negation prefixin- and the Latinnocere, "to harm".
People who lack the mental capacity to understand the nature of their acts may be regarded as innocent regardless of their behavior. From this meaning comes the usage ofinnocent as a noun to refer to a child under theage of reason, or a person, of any age, who is severelymentally disabled.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau described "childhood as a time of innocence" where children are "not-knowing" and must reach the age of reason to become competent people in society. However, as technology advances, children in the contemporary world have a platform where they are referred to as "digital natives", where they appear to be more knowledgeable in some areas than adults.[1]
"Innocence" can have apejorative meaning, in cases where an assumed level of experience dictates common discourse or baseline qualifications for entry into another, different, social experience. Since experience is a prime factor in evaluating a person, innocence is often also used to implynaivety or lack of experience.
Thelamb is a commonly used symbol of innocence. InChristianity, for example,Jesus is referred to as the "Lamb of God", thus emphasizing his sinless nature.[2] Other symbols of innocence includechildren,[3]virgins,[3]acacia branches (especially in Freemasonry),[4][5] non-sexual nudity, songbirds, and the colorwhite (biblical paintings and Hollywood films depict Jesus wearing a white tunic).[6][7]
A "loss of innocence" is a common theme infiction,pop culture, andrealism. It is often seen as an integral part ofcoming of age. It is usually thought of as an experience or period in a person's life that leads to a greater awareness of evil, pain, and/or suffering in the world around them. Examples of this theme include songs like "American Pie",[8] poetry likeWilliam Blake's collectionSongs of Innocence and of Experience, novels likeTo Kill a Mockingbird,The Catcher in the Rye,A Farewell to Arms,Lolita andLord of the Flies, and films likeViridiana,The 400 Blows, andStand By Me.
By contrast, theI Ching urges a recovery of innocence – the name given toHexagram 25 – and "encourages you toactively practice innocence".[9]
Innocence could also be viewed as a Westernized view of childhood, and the "loss" of innocence is simply a social construction or viewed as the dominant ideology. Thinkers such asJean-Jaques Rousseau used the romanticism discourse as a way to separate children from adults. Ideas surrounding childhood and childhood innocence stem from this discourse.[10]
Thepsychoanalytic tradition is broadly divided between those (likeFairbairn andWinnicott) who saw the child as initially innocent, but liable to lose its innocence under the impact of stress orpsychological trauma; and those (likeFreud andKlein) who saw the child asdeveloping innocence — maturing into it — as a result of surmounting theOedipus complex and/or the depressive position.[11]
More eclectically,Eric Berne saw the Child ego state, and its vocabulary, as reflecting three different possibilities: the clichés of conformity; the obscenities of revolt; and "the sweet phrases of charming innocence".[12]Christopher Bollas used the term "Violent Innocence" to describe a fixed and obdurate refusal to acknowledge the existence of an alternative viewpoint[13] — something akin to what he calls "the fascist construction, the outcome is to empty the mind of all opposition".[14]
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