Neglecting the Neglected: Encumbrances to Children’s Successful Transitioning From Orphanages to Adoptive Homes in Nigeria

Abstract

The majority of children living within institutional care have a history of neglect. Past studies have identified developmental challenges with children in institutional care, for which reasons, orphanages must be transitional. However, placement of some children living in the orphan homes remains difficult. Through an in-depth interview with orphanage managers, social workers, prospective and successful adopters, and foster mothers, the study situates the diverse encumbrances to child placement in observed irregularities within three stages (entry, within the home, and at the exit point) of children’s contact with the orphan homes. The study found that unresolved regulation on the duration for custody of children in orphan homes impedes the placement of children who are merely kept for care and protection. Lack of response to the basic care needs of children within orphan homes poorly influence their chances for adoption, and sometimes disrupt placement processes. Also the legal preference for domestic adoption discourages and sabotages efforts toward inter-country placement of children who are not locally desired. These result into prolonged stay of children in orphan homes, and as such, children outgrow either adoption or fosterage. Child protection policy direction must, therefore, be value-laden, and informed by the unique system/society realities. This study, specifically, makes a case for more political interest in children living in orphan homes.

Socio-ecological drivers of vulnerabilities of children living within orphan homes and the implications for their nurturance care

“…African cultural values for women’s fertility and childbearing create a market for children where infertile individuals may clandestinely manage their infertility pressures, sometimes illegally, in a matter that poses a threat to children’s safety and security through different shady practices that disrupt the opportunity to observe due process ( 46–48 ). This threat within the system of adoption has been connected to the observed gap between the high demand for children and the low number of adoptable children within the system, creating an opportunity for shady practices that threaten adoptable children’s security and safety ( 13 ). Specifically, the spirited competition that results from this shortage potentially threatens the philosophy of altruism and humanitarianism that define orphanages by replacing it with infertility management ( 49 ).…”

“…Across the globe, children living in orphan homes are at high risk of poor developmental growth (12,13). They are known to suffer diversely owing to issues relating to unfavorable/unstable staffing conditions and poor physical resources and are vulnerable to the instability of caregiving and the paucity of human interactions and attachment that is required for the development of their human capacities (14,15).…”

‘There is not much we can do’: The roles and challenges of Nigeria's child protection social workers

“…However, these challenges are even more prevalent among CPSWs (Bertotti, 2016;Molakeng et al, 2021;Truter & Fouché, 2019;Wilkins et al, 2022). In Nigeria, where the rate of vulnerable children is high and an effective CPSW is sorely needed, research has mostly focused on vulnerable children (e.g., Child Soldier International, 2012;Esponda, 2016;Faloore & Asamu, 2010;Nnama-Okechukwu & Erhumwunse, 2021;Onayemi et al, 2022;UNPF, 2021). Recently, the government passed a bill that established the National Council for Social Workers (NCSWs) as part of measures to regulate practice in Nigeria (Isangha et al, 2023).…”