Displaying 1 - 6 of 6
Abstract
Worldwide, up to 8 million children reside in institutional care. While some characteristics are common to most institutional settings (e.g., group rearing, non-related caregivers), the social environments of institutions are highly variable. Institutions in Russia, China, Ghana, and Chile are described with reference to the circumstances that lead to children’s institutionalization, resident children’s social-emotional relationships, and unique characteristics of each country’s institutional care (e.g., volunteer tourism in Ghana, and shifting demographics of institutionalized…
Abstract
This paper applies the concept of total institutions, introduced by Erving Goffman, to the case of special care institutions for people [including children] with intellectual disabilities in present-day Russia. These institutions represent a classic type of organization that could be studied through the lenses of the total institutions theory and demonstrate the typical features of such institutions, among them the crowded conditions in which the inmates live, a lack of privacy, universal scheduling of daily routines, strict hierarchy, a system of punishments and privileges as an…
Abstract
This article reports the findings of a multi-country study of medical professionals' perceptions and evaluations of children. The primary aim of the study was to establish the perceptions medical professionals working in three Eastern European countries (Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova) hold toward children identified as “typical”, “at-risk” and “with disability”. A second aim was to explore the existence of country-level differences in medical professionals' perceptions of children. The third aim was to examine the pattern of associations between attitudes toward children and a change…
Three semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted with twelve schoolchildren, aged 13–15 years for the purpose of exploring the knowledge and attitudes towards disability of young people within Moldova. These interviews focussed on different aspects of disability and community integration.
The study identified three themes:
- Knowledge and understanding of disability. The young people's knowledge was limited and framed by the medical model of disability;
- Attitudes towards community integration. A bias against long-term care institutions, but…
Despite the development of alternative forms of care, international and domestic pressures for change, and over 20 years of efforts at deinstitutionalization, the Czech Republic has one of the highest rates of institutionalization of children in Europe. The continuing reliance upon residential care for children by the child protection system, particularly for children who are disabled or of Roma descent, demonstrates a case of "path dependency" in which a solidification of the system’s response is rooted in its past. This article aims to provide an understanding of the historical…
Despite efforts of the government to reform child protection, Russia continues to rely on institutional care due to the lack of support services for families in crisis, children with disabilities, and foster and adoptive parents. The project goal was to establish a replicable professional model that would direct the child welfare system in the Nizhny Novgorod Region away from institutional care and toward services for young children and their families that reduce the risk of institutionalization. The program was carried out over a 3-year…