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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Attachment Disorder Symptoms in Foster Children: Development and Associations With Attachment Security

Josephine D. Kliewer‑Neumann, Janin Zimmermann, Ina Bovenschen, Sandra Gabler, Katrin Lang, Gottfried Spangler, Katja Nowacki, 02 Aug 2023

This longitudinal study aims at investigating the attachment disorder symptoms during the first year of placement in foster care. The participants
were recruited through German social services departments around Dortmund, the Ruhr valley, and the Metropolitan region of Nuremberg.

Quality of Life Outcomes for Adolescents in Youth Care

Chris Swerts, Laura E. Gómez, Margo Dewitte, Jessica De Maeyer, Wouter Vanderplasschen , 27 Jul 2023

This global study investigates how adolescents between 12 and 18 years old in residential and non-residential youth care services perceive their quality of life on the basis of a new specific measure: the Quality of Life in Youth Services Scale (QOLYSS).

Affective Relationships Among Siblings in a Situation of Institutional Care

Ana Cristina Ferro Roque, Jonas Carvalho e Silva3, Maria Aparecida Penso, 25 Jul 2023

The purpose of this article is to identify the relationships of affection that exist between children/adolescents institutionalized in the same shelter. Data collection was carried out with two sisters hosted in Brasília-Distrito Federal.

Residential Social Care Experiences of LGBTQ+ Young People in England

Jason Schaub, Willem J. Stander, Paul Montgomery, 20 Jul 2023

This study produced a nuanced understanding of the residential care experiences of LGBTQ+ young people in England.

Foster Care Better than Orphanage Care: Family Important

Alison Knopf, 17 Jul 2023

Abstract:

brown university child and adolescent psychopharmacology

Confronting Intergenerational Harm: Care Experience, Motherhood and Criminal Justice Involvement

Claire Fitzpatrick, Katie Hunter, Julie Shaw, Jo Staines, 10 Jul 2023

This paper explores how criminalisation, care experience and motherhood may intersect to produce multi-faceted structural disadvantage within both systems of care and punishment in England.

Examining the Family Belonging of Adults with Institutional Care Experience in Childhood

Figen Pasli, Hüsnünur Aslantürk, 03 Jul 2023

This study aimed to examine the sense of family belonging of individuals with childhood institutional care experience through personal details, institutional care, and post-institutional-care variables. This study was conducted with 313 adults with institutional care experience during childhood in Western Asia.

asia pacific social work and development journal

Interventions Targeting the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Care-Experienced Children and Young People in Higher-Income Countries: Evidence Map and Systematic Review

Rhiannon Evans, Sarah MacDonald, Rob Trubey, Jane Noyes, Michael Robling, Simone Willis, Maria Boffey, Charlotte Wooders, Soo Vinnicombe, G. J. Melendez-Torres , 01 Jul 2023

This global systematic review aimed to synthesise the international evidence base for interventions targeting subjective wellbeing, mental health and suicide amongst care-experienced young people aged ≤ 25 years.

Telomere Erosion and Depressive Symptoms Across Development Following Institutional Care

Charlotte Heleniak, Bonnie Goff, Laurel J. Gabard-Durnam, Eva H. Telzer, Kathryn L. Humphreys, Daniel S. Lumian, Jessica E. Flannery, Christina Caldera, Mor Shapiro MD, Jennifer Y. Louie, Fan Shen, 23 Jun 2023

This longitudinal U.S.-based study examined the link between caregiving-related early adversity and elevated risks for both depressive psychopathology and prematurely shortened telomeres across the lifespan of children exposed to early institutional care.

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Reflections on Care Experiences Among Early, Middle, and Late Adolescents in Residential Care

Shamra Boel-Studt, Taylor Dowdy-Hazlett , 22 Jun 2023

This U.S.-based study explored youth experiences in residential care at different stages of adolescence.

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