Effects of Institutional Care

Institutionalising children has been shown to cause a wide range of problems for their development, well-being and longer-term outcomes. Institutional care does not adequately provide the level of positive individual attention from consistent caregivers which is essential for the successful emotional, physical, mental, and social development of children. This is profoundly relevant for children under 3 years of age for whom institutional care has been shown to be especially damaging.

Common issues for children in institutional care are a significantly increased risk of sexual and physical abuse, a lack of stimulation, and harsh discipline. Children in institutions are less likely to attend school, and are frequently isolated from their traditional communities. Long periods in an institution make it harder for a child to assimilate back into a family and community, and deny them access to the life-long attachments and community support systems that family relationships and communities can provide. For funders and implementing bodies, care in the community is a significantly more effective and sustainable use of resources since it avoids the high maintenance costs of institutions, and prevents many of the problems posed by institutional care.

It is widely accepted that institutions should be used as a last resort only. Countries which have traditionally relied on institutional care are now transforming their institutions into small family style group homes and actively pursuing preferences for community-based care options based around small family style units. This policy shift is urgently required in HIV/AIDS affected countries which are taking a backward step in resorting to the use of institutions to care for children orphaned or affected by the disease.

The body of literature contained in this section provides in-depth explanations of the damaging effects of institutionalisation on children and provides recommendations for alterative community care options.

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Survey on Child Abuse in Residential Care Institutions in Romania

Ecaterina Stativa, 2000

Report assessing the overall features of children in residential care institutions with consideration for families of origin, gender, socioeconomic status and type of institution.

Children in Need - A Study of Children in Institutional Homes in Ghana (Background to the Study)

Nana Araba Apt, Ebenezer Blavo, Stephen Wilson - Center for Social Policy Studies, University of Ghana, 01 Apr 1998

This document provides background information to a study conducted on the situation of children in institutional homes in Ghana.

Children in Need - A Study of Children in Institutional Homes in Ghana

Nana Araba Apt, Ebenezer Blavo, Stephen Wilson - Center for Social Policy Studies, University of Ghana, 01 Apr 1998

This study was intended to identify existing arrangements surrounding children’s presence in institutional settings, identify legislation that contributes to the institutionalization of children, and make policy recommendations in respect of the opportunities to improve existing arrangements.

Children in Need - A Study of Children in Institutional Homes in Ghana (Additional Information)

Nana Araba Apt, Ebenezer Blavo, Stephen Wilson - Center for Social Policy Studies, University of Ghana, 01 Apr 1998

This document provides supplemental information to a study conducted on the situation of children in institutional homes in Ghana.

Ethiopia: Guidelines for Institutional Care and Community-Based Childcare Programs

1998

This document is a guideline to facilitate good policy and practice within both institutional care and community-based care settings for children in Ethiopia. It addresses the physical environment, staffing, gatekeeping, child services, reunification, adoption and general administration.

Street Children in Egypt: From the Home to the Street to Inappropriate Corrective Institutions

Iman Bibars, 1998

This paper explores the factors surrounding the lives of children that live on the streets or in institutions in Egypt.

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The socioemotional development of orphans in orphanages and traditional foster care in Iraqi Kurdistan

Abdulbaghi Ahmad and Kirmanj Mohamad, 06 Mar 1996

In order to investigate orphans' situation and development in Iraqi Kurdistan, samples from the two available orphan care systems, the traditional foster care and the modem orphanages, are examined at an index test and at 1-year follow-up regardin

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Roofs and Roots. The Care of Separated Children in the Developing World

David Tolfree , 17 Feb 1995

Save the Children’s research and analysis of residential care services and the need for alternative non-institutional approaches for children separated from their families. This book examines policy and practices from work in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern and Central Europe.

Romania's Orphans: A Legacy of Repression

Human Rights Watch, 01 Dec 1990

Shortly after Nicolar Ceauscu was overthrown on December 22, 1989, the world was exposed for the first time to the shocking images of Romania's orphans, especially its children with disabilities and babies with AIDS.

Applying Stress & Coping Model of Birth Parent Loss to Orphans: Exploratory Findings of Adolescents in South Korean Orphanages

Hollee McGinnis, PhD, Virginia Commonwealth University,

The present quantitative study of adolescents in orphanages in South Korea explored the following questions: (1) Do adolescents in institutions experience cognitions and feelings about birth parent loss? (2) What is the association between birth parent loss and mental health (depression, trauma), behavior problems (YSR total internalizing, externalizing), and school problems (school engagement, grades)?