In a recent blog post, Megan Parker, co-founder of the Abide Family Center in Uganda, writes her response to Dr. Katherine Whetten’s study which found that children reared in institutional care did not fare worse than those living in family settings. While Parker agrees with the argument Whetten makes in her study about the potential dangers of deinstitutionalizing children, admitting that “deinstitutionalization done poorly can be just as disastrous as over use of institutional care,” Parker nevertheless finds fault with Whetten’s research. “In my opinion there are many flaws in Whetten’s research and concluding that children are thriving in institutions is inaccurate and irresponsible,” says Parker.
Parker notes some of the gaps in Whetten’s research, including its focus solely on physical health without consideration of children’s emotional health, as well as its examination of children ages 6-12, overlooking the early years of a child’s life which are critical to development. Furthermore, Parker points out, Whetten’s research compared a group of children who were living in families without any kind of intervention with a group of children living in institutions with thousands of dollars’ worth of interventions. This comparison found that the children in institutions and the children in families fared about the same, with those in institutions possibly faring a bit better. “Shouldn’t that say to you that families are clearly better for children if they can provide almost as good care with no interventions?” says Parker. “What kind of care could they provide with interventions then? Why isn’t Whetten’s conclusion from her research just that- that we need to be pouring more interventions into families caring for orphans and vulnerable children?” To Parker, “Whetten’s research doesn’t change the fact that children belong in families.”