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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Family Environment in Institutions for Young Children in Russia: Mental Health and Development Versus Medical Care

Maria Solodunova, Oleg Palmov, Rifkat J. Muhamedrahimov - Child Maltreatment in Residential Care, 03 Aug 2017

This chapter of Child Maltreatment in Residential Care describes the history of child care institutions in the Russian Federation and the legislative changes implemented to improve the situation of children living in residential care settings.

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Institutional Neglect in Romania’s Long-Term Residential Centers in the 1990s from the Perspective of Children’s Rights

Ecaterina Stativa, Adrian V. Rus, Sheri R. Parris, Jacquelyn S. Pennings, Oana Clocotici - Child Maltreatment in Residential Care, 03 Aug 2017

This study presents the findings from a secondary analysis of data collected in 1999, which focused on child abuse and neglect within long-term residential centers in Romania, from a child rights perspective.

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An Introduction to Maltreatment of Institutionalized Children

Adrian V. Rus et al. - Child Maltreatment in Residential Care, 03 Aug 2017

This chapter serves as an introduction to the book Child Maltreatment in Residential Care and provides a brief overview of the research on child maltreatment within the context of institutional care.

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Interaction Competencies with Children (ICC): An Approach for Preventing Violence, Abuse, and Neglect in Institutional Care in Sub-Saharan Africa

Tobias Hecker, Getrude Mkinga, Joseph Ssenyonga, and Katharin Hermenau - Child Maltreatment in Residential Care, 03 Aug 2017

This chapter of Child Maltreatment in Residential Care describes Interaction Competencies with Children – for Caregivers (ICC-C), a preventative intervention approach to improve the quality of care and reduce the incidence of maltreatment within institutional care settings in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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Academic Achievement of Romanian Institutionalized Children: A Social–Ecological Approach

Adrian V. Rus et al. - Child Maltreatment in Residential Care, 03 Aug 2017

This study investigated the correlation between the self-reported academic achievement of Romanian institutionalized children living in long-term residential care and numerous variables related to their experiences in institutional care.

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Official Committee Hansard, Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Adopting a modern slavery act in Australia

Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade - Commonwealth of Australia, 02 Aug 2017

This document includes the full transcript of the public hearings of the Australian Parliamentary Inquiry in preparation for a Modern Slavery Act.

Assessing Parental Fitness and Care for Unaccompanied Children

Lauren Heidbrink - The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 12 Jul 2017

Based on a three-year, multi-sited ethnography with unaccompanied migrant children and their families, this paper investigates how U.S. institutional policies of immigration detention and family reunification impact migrant children and their families.

Ending the criminalisation of children in residential care: Briefing one

The Howard League, 10 Jul 2017

This briefing the first in a series describing a programme of the Howard League for Penal Reform, which is intended to clarify why so many children in residential care in England and Wales are being criminalised at higher rates than their peers and identify examples of best practice to prevent their unnecessary criminalisation.

Language and psychosocial skills of Greek institutionalized children

Ralli M. Asimina, Schiza Melpomen, Tsiatsiou Alexandra, 10 Jul 2017

This study examined language and psychosocial skills of Greek institutionalized children in comparison to children of the same age brought up in family-based care.

language and psychosocial skills of Greek institutionalized children in comparis

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Trafficking into alternative care

Kate van Doore - Griffith University Law School, Forget Me Not, 05 Jul 2017

In this video, Kate van Doore describes the process of 'paper orphaning,' a term coined to characterize how children are recruited and trafficked into orphanages to gain profits through international funding and orphanage tourism.