Understanding the Trauma of Institutions

This book by Florence Koenderink is a must read for all involved with children living in institutions. But even if you are not, but still want to learn more about and to understand the trauma of children in institutions, than this book is for you.

Institutionalisation affects a child's brain development, physical development, cognitive development, emotional development and stress response. This book gives you an understanding how care in an institution is different from care in a family and the effects this has on a child.

Areas discussed are a general understanding of the development of the brain and the stress response system in a child, the roles of attachment, physical contact, stimulation, attention, and living in the community in child development, and the effects of institutionalisation such as attachment disorders, challenging behaviour, self-harm, and health problems. And how to help the child build trust and relationships, how to help reduce stress and establish felt safety, and deal with challenging behaviour - including positive disciplining in a way that does not cause further harm.

This training manual for caseworkers is a twin to the book 'Understanding the Trauma of Institutionalised Children, to support the child you adopt'. It gives the same basic information, but structured as a training manual for those involved in moving children from institutions to families (whether their birth family, extended family, a foster family, adoptive family, guardian or kafeel).

Research 1944

This study, done by Anna Freud and Dorothy T. Burlingham, is a study of children at the Hampstead Nursery, a residential nursery for young children who have lost their homes and often their parents due to war. Already then they had established the negative effects of institutional care on the development of children.

The study compares the development of these children with those who live in a normal family setting. Although infants in the residential nursery may develop relatively well up to five months old because their physical needs are better met than in ordinary working-class homes, they usually face challenges after that age. The lack of close and continuous emotional relationships with a mother and the absence of other normal family interactions slow down their emotional, intellectual, speech, and habit development.

These children tend to be insecure, more dependent on adults, more aggressive towards each other, and engage more in fantasy and self-comforting behaviors. Additionally, the development of their character and sense of right and wrong may be hindered by the lack of normal family figures who provide love and represent society’s rules and expectations.

"Superficial observation of children of this kind leaves a conflicting picture. They resemble, so far as outward appearances are concerned, children of middle-class families: they are well developed physically, properly nourished, de- cently dressed, have acquired clean habits and decent table manners, and can adapt themselves to rules and regula- tions. So far as character development is concerned, they often prove to everybody's despair and despite many ef- forts-not far above the standard of destitute or neglected children. This shows up especially after they have left the institutions."

"It is because of these failures of development that in recent years thoughtful educators have more and more turned against the whole idea of residential nurseries as such, and have devised methods of boarding out orphaned or destitute children with foster families. But since all efforts of this kind will probably not succeed in altogether doing away with the need for residential homes for infants, it remains a question of interest how far failures of the kind described are inherent in the nature of such institutions as distinct from family life, and how far they could be obviated if the former were ready and able to change their methods."