Research has clearly established that institutional forms of care for children can often have a serious and negative impact on children’s development and on children’s rights. Partly in response to this, recent years have seen an increasing emphasis on the development of community-based approaches, both to prevent separation, and to ensure that children who lose, or become separated from their own families, can have the benefits of normal family life within the community.
This paper offers a ten-point analysis of the typical negative features of institutional care, indicating how these impact both on child development and on children’s rights. These are illustrated from the research, mainly in the words used by children themselves. These include the segregation, discrimination and isolation that institutionalized children often experience; the fact that admission is often based on the needs of parents, not the interests of children; the lack of personal care and stimulation; the lack of opportunities to learn about the roles of adults; the high risk of institutional abuse; the lack of attention to specific psychological needs; and finally, reflecting all of these features, the fact that institutionalized children often experience problems in adjusting to life outside of the institution.
©Save the Children Sweden
