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. 

Displaying 171 - 180 of 774

Patricia Lannen, Hannah Sand, Fabio Sticca, Ivan Ruiz Gallego, Clara Bombach, Heidi Simoni, Flavia M. Wehrle, Oskar G. Jenni,

This study uses data from a survey on the health and development of 420 children mostly under the age of three, placed in 12 infant care institutions between 1958 and 1961 in Zurich, Switzerland. The children exhibited significant delays in cognitive, social, and motor development in the first years of life. Moreover, a follow-up of a subsample of 143 children about 10 years later revealed persistent difficulties, including depression, school related-problems, and stereotypes.

Mark Wade, Margaret A. Sheridan, Charles H. Zeanah, Nathan A. Fox, Charles A. Nelson and Katie A. McLaughlin - Development and Psychopathology,

The authors of this study used data from a longitudinal randomized controlled trial of foster care for institutionally reared children to examine whether caregiving quality and stressful life events (SLEs) in early adolescence (age 12) influence patterns of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) reactivity.

Catholic Care for Children - A Family for Every Child,

Catholic Care for Children (CCC) is a visionary initiative, led by Catholic sisters, to see children growing up in safe, nurturing families. Guided by the biblical mandate to care for the most vulnerable and animated by the principles of Catholic Social Teaching—especially the dignity of each person—CCC teams are reducing the need for institutional care by encouraging and facilitating family- and community-based care for children.

E. V. Bakhvalova, A. V. Miklyaeva - Integration of Education,

The study sought to reveal socio-psychological factors of successful integration of institutionalized adolescents into mainstream schools.

Hope and Homes for Children, Republic of Rwanda, University of Rwanda,

This study is part of the response to the global call for the provision of quality alternative family-based care and prevention of family separation for children with disabilities. The study is premised on the view that the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding the attributes assigned to, and the conceptualization of, children with disabilities in their families and communities, vis-à-vis institutional care for children with disabilities, are also crucial determinants of barriers/ enablers of full and meaningful integration of children with disabilities into community life in Rwanda.

Hope and Homes for Children,

This document outlines 5 key steps that serve as an effective blueprint for a successful reintegration process of children and disabilities. These include ‘engagement’, ‘Assessment’, ‘Design & Development’, ‘Transition’, and ‘Monitoring & Evaluation’.

Darshani Hettiarachchi - Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health,

This article explores mental health related issues in children and adolescents in childcare institutions in Sri Lanka.

Natalie L. Colich, Margaret A. Sheridan, Kathryn L. Humphreys, Mark Wade, Florin Tibu, Charles A. Nelson, Charles H. Zeanah, Nathan A. Fox, Katie A. McLaughlin - The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry,

This study used data from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project – a randomized controlled trial of foster care for children raised in psychosocially depriving institutions – to examine the associations of the caregiving environment with reward processing, executive functioning, and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology at ages 8, 12, and 16 years, and evaluated whether these associations change across development.

Marinus van IJzendoorn,

This presentation - delivered by Marinus van IJzendoorn at a 18 November 2020 meeting of the Evidence for Impact Working Group, a working group of the recently launched Transforming Children's Care Global Collaborative Platform - presents evidence of the harmful impacts of institutionalization on children, demonstrates some of the benefits of deinstitutionalization for getting children back on track, and raises questions about gap-year volunteers working in orphanages.

Patricia Lannen, Clara Bombach, Oskar G. Jenni,

This study shows that, when researching historical compulsory social measures, the inclusion of formerly institutionalised individuals in development and implementation is not only feasible, but is of significant benefit to the quality of the research.