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Child violence experiences in institutionalised/orphanage care

Sherr, L; Roberts, KJ; Gandhi, N; (2017) Child violence experiences in institutionalised/orphanage care. Psychology, Health & Medicine , 22 (Suppl. 1) pp. 31-57. 10.1080/13548506.2016.1271951. Green open access

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Abstract

Institutions are not necessarily good environments for children. In the face of challenges such as HIV, Ebola, poverty, conflict and disaster the numbers have grown rather than reduced. Some countries have closed institutions down –driven by findings that cognitive developmental delay is associated with institutional care. Yet insight into abuse and violence within institutionalised settings is neglected. Maltreatment -violence and abuse -may be an issue. This systematic review series addresses violence and abuse experiences in institutionalised care, exploring firstly the frequency of abuse/violence in institutions, secondly any interventions to reduce such violence or abuse and thirdly the perpetrators of such violence or abuse. The final systematic review updates the findings on cognitive delay associated with institutionalised care. With a violence lens, cognitive delay may well be considered under the umbrella of neglect. Maltreatment and abuse may be a driver of cognitive delay. The keyword search covered several electronic databases and studies were included for data abstraction if they met adequacy criteria. Eight studies were identified on the prevalence of abuse in institutions and a further three studies reported on interventions. Only one study was identified documenting peer on peer violence in institutions. Sixty-six studies were identified examining cognitive development for institutionalised children. All but two of these record cognitive deficits associated with institutionalisation. Only two asked about violence or abuse which was found to be higher in institutionalised children. Overall the abuse experiences of children in institutions are poorly recorded, and in one study violence was associated with high suicidal attempts. The major intervention pathway for ameliorating cognitive challenge seems to be placement out of the institutions which shows benefits and redresses some cognitive outcomes – yet not a total panacea. The single study providing training and monitoring of harsh punishment and maltreatment showed immediate and decided reductions. This data suggest, despite the paucity of studies, violence and abuse, by commission or omission is prevalent in institutions, has an effect on child well-being and is amenable to intervention. Simple training or more complex structures to place children within conducive alternative environments (or to avoid institutionalised placements in the first place) seem to be the main pathway of intervention.

Type: Article
Title: Child violence experiences in institutionalised/orphanage care
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1080/13548506.2016.1271951
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2016.1271951
Language: English
Additional information: © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way
Keywords: Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Public, Environmental & Occupational Health, Children And, Or Youth, Institutional Care, Violence, Early Institutional Deprivation, Middle-Income Countries, Longitudinal Follow-Up, Foster-Care, Residential Care, Behavioral-Problems, Early Adolescence, Adopted-Children, Young-Children, Mental-Health
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health > Infection and Population Health
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1536056
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