Children without parents or any reliable familial support are among the most vulnerable members of our society. Their protection within society poses a major challenge to child care policy makers. The international aid community has placed primacy on the protection of orphans across the world. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is guiding these efforts through a rights based approach to children and child welfare. The UNCRC has set standards for the protection of children without parental care, orphans and other vulnerable children. This paper will analyze the historical treatment of orphans based on the prevailing socio-economic policies. Secondly, It will examine the effectiveness of orphanages in bringing up responsible global citizens. Finally it will give recommendations on the most effective modern approaches to the care and protection of vulnerable children in society.
The centralized rights based approach to the protection of vulnerable children is only a recent development. Historically, the care and protection of orphans and at risk children was done by the family, the state, non-governmental institutions and religious charitable organizations (Jacobi, 2009). These organizations employed different strategies in the care of the children entrusted to them. The construction of orphanhood varied from one society to the next. Their approaches were largely a reflection of the underlying development issues affecting the society at the time. The care and protection of children in any society depends on the stability of government and other social institutions. It also depends on the availability and adequacy of resources channeled towards the care of vulnerable children. Another important variable is the attitudes of the key social stakeholders in relation to their construction and perception of orphanhood. These attitudes and perceptions change across time and space. In the construction of society in modern and postmodern times, orphans have played an important role in understanding the family. Many nations are built on the basic block of the nuclear family unit. Orphans present a challenge to this notion of what society should be. This is why orphans are institutionalized and placed in controlled environments to prevent them from challenging the necessity of the family (Jacobi, 2009).
There are three important periods in the history of Europe’s poverty and poor relief which occurred between the fifteenth and the eighteenth century (Jacobi, 2009). In the first phase, the poor were seen as Christ’s image. The Christian majority used the biblical teachings as a moral obligation to help the poor and the vulnerable in society. In the course of the fourteenth century, society’s perception of the poor changed from the Christian view. The poor were now regarded as frightening people who posed a threat to the community (Jacobi, 2009) . From then onwards, poverty was morally and legally criminalized as a consequence of laziness and the unwillingness to work.
The second phase of change came in the course of the 16th century during the early stages of industrialism. During this period, there was an influx of beggars and vagrants into the cities and towns. Churches and clergy men could not handle the demand for poor relief service. Between 1522 and 1545, many city administrators shifted the responsibility and resources to the local governments (Jacobi, 2009). Relief efforts were centralized and the general population was taxed to finance the projects and institutions assisting the urban poor. During the same period, social policies on the poor were shaped by an underlying distinction between the deserving and the undeserving poor. There was a clear separation between the “evil poor” and the “good poor” (Jacobi, 2009). The deserving poor were foundlings, the disabled, orphans widows, the sick, the old, slaves and war veterans. The undeserving poor were beggars and young men who could not work for reasons such substance dependency. For children and foundlings, their dependency on society was through compassion which only lasted as long as it took the children to begin working. If for some reason the children failed to work, they were considered as the undeserving poor.
The third era of poor relief efforts emerged during the course of capitalism and colonization. The idea of the laboring poor became central to the French and British political theorists who were looking for ways to amass cheap labor for their industries. During this period that began around 1860, the poor were treated as objects of state concern whose value lay in their potential to provide cheap labor(Jacobi, 2009) . Children were therefore rescued and placed in orphanages and other institutions where they were trained in an economic craft (Jacobi, 2009; Pantiukhina, 2009).
In the last century, there has been a paradigm shift in the treatment of orphans and other vulnerable children within their institutions of care. The first change began in the social definition of orphans. In the period of global capitalism that began in the 1900, society recognized orphanhood as a state of deprivation, unhappiness and deprivation (Pantiukhina, 2009). To correct this, the state in collaboration with social policy makers, developed and sanctioned institutions that would provide familial love to vulnerable children. This is how adoption and foster care programs were developed. For children who could not find placement in homes, the orphanages provided an equally conducive environment for learning and growth until they were of legal age (Shakhmanova, 2010). Many orphanages have been phased out in Europe and North America due to the development of adoption and foster care services. There are a number of orphanages in Russia and other Soviet Union states. However, these are slowly being abandoned to allow for direct financial support to families with vulnerable children. Globally, there are a number of residential institutions that provide accommodation, education and psychological support to children. These are children’s homes, group homes, night shelters, refugee camps, rehabilitation centers and youth treatment centers.
Despite the systematic improvements in orphanages, research shows that institutionalization of vulnerable children could be causing more harm than good. According to Shakhmanova (2010), orphanages provide shelter to children who have gone through some form of abuse. These are children who have either been abandoned, subjected to violence of been physically abused. These experiences cause them to suffer from serious psychological trauma. Some abandoned children suffer from physical and mental disabilities. For the children who are accepted as babies, the abuse comes through lack of physical attention and intellectual stimulation while growing up. Many of the children end up with long lasting development issues. Secondly, the employees of orphanages have been known to abuse the children under their care. Lack of proper monitoring and accountability has turned orphanages into dangerous places in which innocent children are abused and neglected.
Nowhere is the special nature of vulnerable children clearer than in their education. The teachers in established government institutions have to cope with a number of unique challenges. Children in institutions often suffer from “emotional deafness” (Shakhmanova, 2010, p. 72). This means that they are not capable of perceiving and reacting to emotional situations around them. Emotional deafness arises from the absence of parental love and attention. It manifests as aggressiveness, anxiety, and fear. Emotional deafness affects the ability of children to interact with their peers and their teachers in class. Consequently, such children lag behind in class since they are not able to participate fully in the learning process. At the same time, a teacher has to know how to handle each of the children since they have diverse needs. Some were abandoned at birth while others were separated from their families when they were older. Each of these categories the teacher has to be an instructor, counselor and parent in various proportions (Shakhmanova 2010)
Education within orphanages deals with three broad tasks which are addressed in interconnected blocks. These are the compensating block, the correctional block and the developmental block (Shakhmanova 2010). The compensating block refers to the task that orphanages have of providing the material and emotional resources that the children lacked in their past. The correctional block focuses on correcting the errors in behavior that the children may have picked from previous negative experiences. Lastly, the developmental block attempts to promote comprehensive development of the children just like those who live with their families. This is doe to ensure that the children who grow up in orphanages have an opportunity to lead a productive and fulfilling life. This qualitative approach to teaching is present in Russian orphanage boarding schools. The children are taught organization in their daily routine based on their personalities. All activities are designed to develop a broad range of cognitive abilities and interests. Lastly, the children are taught worldly views in order to shape the students’ moral attitudes and norms.
Despite these detailed approaches to care, education and rehabilitation, Shakhamanova (2010) claims that only 10% of children who grew up in orphanages become responsible members of society. Majority of them, 90% become social misfits and display deviant behavior such as crime and drug abuse. A good number end up committing suicide. The question begs then, why are orphanages failing to produce reliable adults yet governments are spending a lot in terms or money and manpower to keep the running? Could it be that administrators, teachers, psychologists and allied medial workers are failing in their responsibilities?
Jacobi (2009) believes that the main problem is in the structure of the institutions themselves. She argues that modern day orphanages follow the same routines that were used in the 18th century. The children in the institutions follow a strict daily program from the time they wake up to the time they sleep. A typical day consists of a religious prayer, times mealtimes, school work and controlled socialization. This controlled environment inhibits the child’s capability of self discovery. Additionally, the relationship among children and their caregivers is regulated by rules. This reduces the legitimacy of the relationships that result from such interactions. The children also have to grow up among their colleagues who varying degrees of psychological and physical trauma. Since the children are treated equally, those who are severely traumatized may affect the development of the other children. Furthermore, the limited access to the larger society affects their ability to interact with people once they leave the institutions.
The last important recommendation is that there is need to develop alternative approaches to taking care of orphans other than orphanages. This is because the cost of maintaining orphanages is high compared to other alternatives such as direct support to vulnerable families. Currently some of the most widely adopted alternatives are adoption, foster families, patronage, and independently funded faith-based orphan shelters.
The first option for any child should be to be reunited with their biological parents or the extended family whenever this is possible. Where this is not tenable, adoption and long term fostering should be considered. For older children, the state should provide the material means for independence but with adequate financial training and supervision. The state should take full responsibility for the care and protection of children with various types of physical and mental disability. Such children may be placed in residential treatment centers where they can receive specialized treatment for their conditions. Sociological focus is on deinstitutionalizing the child welfare system and the maximization of the benefits of the alternative approaches. To do this, further strategies will be required to support vulnerable families and single parents before the situation escalates to abandonment or orphanhood.
References
Juliane Jacobi. Between charity and education: orphans and orphanages in early modern times. Paedagogica Historica. 45 (1-2), 51-66.
Shakhmanova. A. SH (2010) Social and Pedagogical Problems of the Upbringing of Orphans in Russia. Russian Education and Society,52(5),71-78.
Pantiukhina. E. N. (2009) The Social and Pedagogical Protection of Orphans in Russia. Russian Education and Society. 51(51),40-50
