Displaying 1 - 7 of 7
Abstract
Debates around the psycho-social deficits experienced by children in child headed households are necessary for the transformation of child welfare policies, philosophies and practices in Zimbabwe and beyond. This qualitative study used a case study design to explore the manifestations of the core psycho-social deficits associated with children domiciled in child headed households. The study was conceptualised around the following research question: What are the manifestations of psychosocial deficits among children living in child headed households of Mabvuku and Tafara suburbs of…
A study conducted by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW) (2011) on assessment of the situation of children in institutional care in Tanzania indicated that there are more than 500 residential care centres. It is estimated that there are 40 residential care centres providing support to almost 2000 orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Dar es Salaam (MoHSW 2011). Unfortunately, in Tanzania apparently no recent nationwide comprehensive situational analysis has been conducted of OVC in various alternative care systems, other than a baseline survey on a situational…
Abstract
Background
This article is based on information collected about the situation of double orphans who are heading households in Rakai District, Uganda. The information will be used as justification and guidance for planning actions to improve the situation of these and similar children. This research is thus the first step in an Action Research approach leading to specific interventions. The aim of this article is to describe the situation of these orphaned children, with an emphasis on the psychosocial challenges they face.
Methods
The study involved interviews, focus…
ABSTRACT
In Uganda, incidences of disease and social unrest resulting in parental deaths have created a large orphan population throughout the country. This study explored the experiences of orphaned children who specifically take on the role of being both mother and father to their siblings. The researcher had discussions with 34 child-headed households throughout Uganda over the course of three months. The young people discussed their experiences of loss, reactions of self along with the reactions of the community, the vulnerabilities they face, coping with loss and daily stressors,…
Abstract
This qualitative ethnographic case study explored the phenomenon of Child- Headed Households (CHHs) in rural Zimbabwe from the perspectives of a Shona community. My intention was to gain an understanding on how these children access necessities like food, clothing, shelter, education, health care, and cope on a daily basis without parental care, or adult supervision. The perceptions of both the orphaned children and the adults in their community were investigated through the integrative lens of the Shona philosophy of unhu, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and Bronfenbrenner’s ideas…
Abstract
The most distressing consequences of the HIV/AIDS pandemic's impact on children has been the development of child-headed households (CHHs). Child ‘only’ households challenge notions of the ideal home, family, and ‘normal’ childhood, as well as undermining international attempts to institute children's rights. The development of these households raises practical questions about how the children will cope without parental guidance during their childhood and how this experience will affect their adulthood. Drawing on ethnographic research with five child heads and their siblings,…
ABSTRACT
This paper explores the ways that young people express their agency and negotiate complex lifecourse transitions according to gender, age and inter- and intra-generational norms in sibling-headed households affected by AIDS in East Africa. Based on findings from a qualitative and participatory pilot study in Tanzania and Uganda, I examine young people's socio-spatial and temporal experiences of heading the household and caring for their siblings following their parent's/relative's death. Key dimensions of young people's caring pathways and life transitions are…