The Deinstitutionalization of Persons with Psychosocial Disabilities from the Perspective of Ecological Systems Theory

Abstract

The deinstitutionalization of social care in Lithuania started in 2012 after the adoption of the strategic guidelines by the Ministry of Social Security and Labour. The goal of this reform was to improve the care conditions and introduce new community-based services for persons with disabilities. Almost ten years of the reform resulted in only five percent of persons with disabilities who moved to community settings, mainly group-living homes. The slow-motion of the reform, as well as the tensions in the communities, suggests the need for a thorough analysis of the process of deinstitutionalization and its improvement.
 Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory is applied as a conceptual and methodological tool for understanding the roles of deinstitutionalization agents at different levels, including the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, municipalities, non-governmental organizations, social care institutions, and local communities. All of these agents are involved and diversely interact among themselves during the transformation process of the social care system. The ecological theory provides the necessary integrated approach to the analysis of the process of deinstitutionalization of the social care system at the micro-, meso-, exo-, and macro levels.
 Deinstitutionalization and the trajectories of its participants reveal resilient connections with different fields of the ecological system and show that different system components not only represent different systems but become microsystems themselves that affect all elements in the ecological system.
 The complexity of environmental systems constitutes the basis of ecological systems theory. It serves as a lens to guide the analysis of the transformation of a particular person’s life in the context of deinstitutionalization. Herewith, it is an appropriate tool for understanding the impact of deinstitutionalization on specific local communities.

The Institutional Conditions of the Life of People with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) in a Residential Care Facility

“…It is particularly relevant in light of Poland having a long history of discussion between the supporters and the opponents of institutional forms of aid (Granosik 2006). However, this is not only a problem in Poland, as these issues are also considered by researchers and care practitioners in other countries (Bekkema et al 2015;Geniene and Sumskiene 2016;Kelly et al 2019;Klepikova 2019).…”

Character Education and Friendship on Students’ Self-Esteem

“…The result corroborates the ecology system theory developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner that focuses on the social context of where children live and people that affects their development (Fulantelli et al, 2021;Soule, 2021). Microsystems as sub-systems in ecological theory show that there is a direct interaction effect on child development (T. Ali et al, 2021;Jackman et al, 2022;YÜKSEL DOĞAN & AYTEKİN, 2021), consisting of individual family, peers, school and environment (den Boer et al, 2021;Genienė et al, 2021). Bronfenbrenner's ecology theory emphasizes on the environmental system synergy on individual development, whether cognitively (Fulantelli et al, 2021;Genienė et al, 2021), socioemotionally, or in terms of capacity and personality characteristics, or active participation, which are vital elements in child development.…”

“…This result is also in line with Brofenbrenner's theory stating that the quality of a child's relationship and the environment in which they interact can affect the growth and development of the child's personality (Jackman et al, 2022;Soule, 2021). Through his ecology theory, he emphasizes the importance of understanding a child's interactions in various environmental contexts, which are also known as ecological systems (T. Ali et al, 2021;Genienė et al, 2021). The component of the ecological system, mesosys-tem, can explain the dynamics of the effect of friendship on self-esteem development in adolescents.…”

“…Hanging around with peers with good relation may reduce pressure in children (Genienė et al, 2021), advance the development cognitively, and particularly improve self-esteem in adolescents (N. Ali et al, 2020;Simonsmeier et al, 2020;. Friendship will allow adolescents to interact, socialize and provide encouragement and motivation to other peers emotionally (R. Sugiarti et al, 2018;Rini Sugiarti et al, 2020;Zhu & Shek, 2020).…”

“…The microsystem includes home, school or daycare, peer groups or community environment of a child. Interactions within the microsystem generally require personal involvement with family, classmates, teachers, or caregivers who influence children, including in terms of developing their self-esteem (N. Ali et al, 2020;Bigos & Michalik, 2020;Genienė et al, 2021;Women & Abuse, 2010). How people in the environment interact with the child affects how he grows up and develops.…”