Research on the Psychological Effects of Orphanage Care: A Critical Review

McCall, John N.

doi:10.4135/9781452232904.n8

Cited by 18 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Some authors identified limitations of the studies: there are insufficient follow-up data comparing developmental indices of African institutionalized orphans with family fostered or adopted children (Zimmerman 2005); most of the existing data are not adjusted for the child's age at time of placement and his experiences prior to institutionalization, which may influence the child's behavioral adaptabilities (McCall 1999). Zimmerman (2005) insists on the necessity of saving many highly vulnerable children and advocates for realistic, practical and immediately feasible solutions, which include orphanages that may play an important role in alleviating most of the problems African orphans and communities are facing.…”

Section: Contextualization Of the Institutional Care In Africamentioning

confidence: 98%

Caring for orphans and vulnerable children in a context of poverty and cultural Transition: A case study of a group foster homes program in Burkina Faso

Sanou

Turgeon-O’Brien

Ouédraogo

et al. 2008

Journal of Children and Poverty

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This paper analyses the functional dynamic of a group foster homes-based program in Burkina Faso and its potential to meet the developmental needs of children. Data were collected through field observations, interviews, and questionnaires. Findings suggest that this community-based program combines institutional care and extended family networks. Orphaned, abandoned, and vulnerable children were brought together in foster homes, each headed by a non-relative woman and supported by the program operator. The program guaranteed the basic needs of children as specified by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The nutritional status that is indicative of the overall well-being in emergency seems to be better than the average children of Burkina Faso, suggesting that basic vital needs of children were met. Familial ties are also developed between each family member. Children have the opportunity to interact with community, therefore preparing them for social life. Despite some limitations, mainly due to the lack of psychological support, the program achieves its objectives of caring for children and provides a familial environment for orphans. Therefore, many organizations caring for orphans in Africa through institutional settings might learn from this experience in terms of management style, parenting, and connections with relatives and community.

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Section: Contextualization Of the Institutional Care In Africamentioning

confidence: 98%

Caring for orphans and vulnerable children in a context of poverty and cultural Transition: A case study of a group foster homes program in Burkina Faso

Sanou

Turgeon-O’Brien

Ouédraogo

et al. 2008

Journal of Children and Poverty

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“…McCall, 1999) point out a variety of potential confounds that characterize children who are given up to orphanages that may explain some or all of the delayed development observed in children in residence and perhaps the higher frequencies of persisting extreme behavior in such children after adoption. For example, children whose parents relinquish custody of their children to orphanages may come from a different gene pool and such children may have high rates of difficult perinatal circumstances, both of which may predispose them toward delayed development and persistent behavioral problems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

I. Theoretical, Empirical, and Practical Rationale

2008

Monographs Society Res Child

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A fundamental quest of the developmental social and behavioral sciences is to specify the necessary and sufficient early experiences that lead to typical human development in childhood and adulthood. Because the opportunity to experimentally manipulate early human experiences is very limited, one approach is to observe the development and long-term outcomes of children who are tragically reared in atypically deficient early environments.Unfortunately, these studies usually are limited by a variety of confounds (J. McCall, 1999), among them sample selection, selective adoption, and the multifaceted nature of the early experience. For example, children reared in substandard orphanages (i.e., those in which some aspect of care is substantially inferior to that suggested by best practices) display developmental delays in most physical and behavioral domains, and such children who are later adopted into advantaged homes have higher frequencies of extreme behaviors and problems than nonorphanage children. But are these contemporary and long-term outcomes associated with the particular children who are sent to orphanages (e.g., unusual prenatal exposure to drugs and alcohol, adverse birth circumstances) rather than the orphanage experience per se? Which aspects (e.g., deficiencies in nutrition, medical care, toys, equipment, social-emotional neglect, lack of experience with relationships, abuse) of what is usually a globally deficient orphanage environment are associated with these delays and long-term problems?This monograph reports a study that comes closer to validating that one attribute of the orphanage environment, namely very limited caregiver-child social-emotional interactions and the lack of opportunity to develop caregiver-child relationships, can be responsible for contemporary delays in most major domains of development in institutionalized children.Specifically, in a quasi-experimental design, two social-emotional interventions were introduced in orphanages for children birth to 48 months in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, that otherwise had acceptable medical care, nutrition, sanitation, toys, equipment, and the absence of abuse but were primarily deficient in the children's social-emotional experience and opportunity for adult-child relationships. The results show substantial improvement in children's physical, mental, and social-emotional development; improvements for typical children and those with a variety of disabilities; and a dose-response effect for many developmental outcomes in which the more positive social-emotional experience given to children and the longer they spent in the interventions, the greater the developmental gains. These results substantiate the potential importance of early social-emotional experience and adult-child relationships for the contemporary development of young children in institutions.WITH COMMENTARY BY Susan C. Crockenberg., Michael Rutter Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marinus H. van THEORETICAL RATIONALEMost developmental theories (e.g., psychoanalytic th...

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“…21,22 The reasons for these deficits are unknown, although delayed growth and developmental milestones have been reported among children who were adopted from orphanages, [3][4][5][6][7]9,23,24 and the adverse effects of orphanage life on child development have been described comprehensively. [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] Among orphans in Iraqi Kurdistan, behavioral problems increased in children who resided in orphanages compared with those who were placed in foster care. 33 In the present study, it was surprising to identify delayed growth and development among children who resided in foster care.…”

Section: E714mentioning

confidence: 99%

Health of Children Adopted From Guatemala: Comparison of Orphanage and Foster Care

et al. 2005

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ABSTRACT. Objective. Since 1986, American parents have adopted >17 300 children from Guatemala. This study assessed the health, growth, and developmental status of 103 Guatemalan adopted children (48 girls; 55 boys) after arrival in the United States. Physical evidence suggestive of prenatal alcohol exposure and adequacy of vaccinations administered were also reviewed.Methods. Retrospective chart review was conducted of 103 children who were evaluated after arrival in the United States in an international adoption specialty clinic, and a case-matched study was conducted of a subgroup of 50 children who resided in either an orphanage or foster care before adoption. Mean age at arrival was 16 ؎ 19 months. Before adoption, 25 children resided in orphanages, 56 resided in foster care, and 22 resided in mixed-care settings. The 25 children who had resided in orphanages before adoption were matched for age at arrival, interval from arrival to clinic visit, and gender with a child adopted from foster care. Health and developmental status of these matched pairs were compared, allowing the first direct comparison of children raised in orphanages or foster care before adoption.Results. Mild growth delays were frequent among the children. Mean z scores for weight, height, and head circumference were, respectively, ؊1.00, ؊1.04, and ؊1.08. Children from foster care had significantly better z scores for height, weight, and head circumference than those from orphanage or mixed care. Among children who were younger than 2 years at arrival, growth measurements correlated inversely with age at arrival. Infectious diseases included intestinal parasites (8%) and latent tuberculosis infection (7%). Other medical conditions included anemia (30%), elevated lead levels (3%), and (using strict criteria) phenotypic facial features suggestive of prenatal alcohol exposure (28%). Adequacy of vaccine records from Guatemala was assessed: 28% met American Academy of Pediatrics standards for vaccine administration. Unsuspected significant medical diagnoses, including congenital anomalies and ocular, neurologic, and orthopedic problems, were found in 14%. Most children were doing well developmentally (80 -92% of expected performance), but 14% had global developmental delays. Cognition, expressive and receptive language, and activities of daily living skills correlated inversely with age at arrival for children who were younger than 2 years at adoption. Among the 50 matched children, those who resided in foster care before adoption had better measurements for height, weight, and head circumference at arrival to the United States. Moreover, those who resided in foster care scored significantly better for cognitive skills than those who had previously resided in orphanages (96.3% of age-expected compared with 88.3% of age-expected); other skills did not differ between the 2 groups. No differences were found between the 2 groups of children related to prevalence of medical diagnoses or phenotypic evidence suggesting prenatal alcohol exposure.Conclu...

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Research on the Psychological Effects of Orphanage Care: A Critical Review

Cited by 18 publications

References 31 publications

Caring for orphans and vulnerable children in a context of poverty and cultural Transition: A case study of a group foster homes program in Burkina Faso

Caring for orphans and vulnerable children in a context of poverty and cultural Transition: A case study of a group foster homes program in Burkina Faso

I. Theoretical, Empirical, and Practical Rationale

Health of Children Adopted From Guatemala: Comparison of Orphanage and Foster Care

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