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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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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Exploring Looked-After Adolescents’ Reports of their Dissociative Experiences

Katharine Anderson, Saul Hillman, Wenjun Zhong, Richard Cross, 18 Jun 2023

In this UK-based study, the relationship between levels of dissociation, several pre-placement factors and other background variables was explored to facilitate understanding of the high prevalence of dissociation in adolescents living in care.

Caregivers' Perspectives on the Impact of the Group Triple P-Positive Parenting Program in Pakistani Orphanages

Amina Khalid, Alina Morawska, Karen M. T. Turner, 15 Jun 2023

This study involved a qualitative design with a thematic analysis approach, consisting of focus group discussions with 14 caregivers working in Pakistani orphanages who had participated in Group Triple P Parenting program.

Disability Inclusivity in Rwanda | Beyond Closing Orphanages

Hope and Homes for Children, 12 Jun 2023

The Hope for Homes team in Rwanda helps communities become more inclusive for children with disabilities.

Prevalence and Predictors of Intimate Partner Violence Among Youth With Foster Care Histories

Colleen C. Katz, Nathanael J. Okpych, Pajarita Charles, Eden Wall, Mark E. Courtney, 09 Jun 2023

This US-based study explores factors associated with intimate partner violence using longitudinal data from a representative sample of older youth in California Foster Care who participated in the California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study (CalYOUTH). The authors' IPV outcome measures included victimization, perpetration, bidirectional IPV, and emotional abuse.

Social and Psychological Challenges Facing Orphaned Children Living in the Orphanage Centres in Tanzania

Victor Vedasto, Adam Matiko Charles, Africanus Calist Sarwatt, 06 Jun 2023

The study aimed to assess social and psychological challenges facing orphaned children living in the orphanages in Tanzania.