The Nationwide Issue

Pakistan: This study compares the behavioral problems of children living in a place that attempts to provide a family setup for its children, with those living in conventional orphanages. After a cross-sectional survey and a behavioral questionnaire, results show that foster mother depression, child’s malnourishment, and fewer years of stay for the child at the facility were associated with conduct problems. The child’s sex, facility type and child’s parental living status are part of the interactions. The study proves a high burden of behavioral problems among children living in orphanages of Karachi, Pakistan.

Russia: This ethnographic research takes a look into care versus control within Russian disability orphanage systems. The research dives into three main typologies that children experience in this context: Spatial segregation, containment as a form of punishment, and enforced stillness & restraint as a form of care. This work is hard to swallow as it proves children forced to live in restricted environments become largely absent from the outside world.

South Africa: This study, conducted over the course of 3 years, determines the impact of recent parental death on health & food insecurity of school-going orphans in South Africa compared to non-orphans over time. Results show, in the health domain, orphans are more likely to report worse health status and severe illness in the previous 12 months compared to non-orphans. For those who reported being very ill, orphans were more than two times as likely NOT to seek care than non-orphans. For nutrition and food insecurity, orphans are more likely not to have eaten dinner and to have gone to bed hungry the previous night compared to non-orphans. Overall, school-aged orphans are disadvantaged in health and food insecurity within 2 years after the death of a parent, compared to their non-orphaned counterparts. To determine longer term effects into adulthood, more longitudinal research needs to be done.

Eastern Zimbabwe: In this study, quantitative and qualitative data is used to measure the effects of orphanhood on psychological distress. Results show that orphans suffer greater psychological distress than non-orphans. Impacts of experiencing orphanage contributes to increased levels of distress including trauma, being out-of-school, being cared for by a non-parent, inadequate care, child labor, physical abuse, stigma, and discrimination.

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): This research reviews qualitative studies that address experiences of maltreatment among orphaned children and youth living in extended families in SSA. Twenty articles, representing 15 studies, were selected to do this research on. These studies, from diverse SSAn countries, report similar forms of maltreatment among orphaned children and youth. These include experiences of intra-household discrimination, material and educational neglect, excessive child labor, exploitation by family members, and psychological, sexual, and physical abuse. The predisposing factors are poverty, living with a non-biological caregiver, stigma, and alcohol abuse.

Turkey: In this study, sense of exclusion of secondary school students living in orphanages is investigated. Children experiencing orphanage are in need of socialization and taking an active role in society. That being said, it is possible to see social exclusion and antisocial behaviours when socialization does not occur. Social exclusion occurs when psycho-social and physical needs of individuals are not met. The results imply that the concept of social exclusion is often interchangeably used with poverty, inequality, discrimination, and underclass.

Constant Mobility and Orphanage