PDF《Residential Centers in炉he?1990s》

27 Chapter

2 Institutional Neglect in?Romania'

s Long-Term Residential Centers in?the?1990s from?the?Perspective of?Children'

s Rights Ecaterina?Stativa, Adrian?V.

?Rus, Sheri?R.?Parris, Jacquelyn?S.?Pennings, and?Oana?Clocotici E. Stativa (*) Social Pediatrics and Obstetrics Research Department, National Institute for Mother and Child Health Alessandrescu-Rusescu , B-dul Lacul Tei 120, cod

0209395 Bucharest, Romania e-mail: [email protected] A.V. Rus Department of Social and Behavioral Science, Southwestern Christian University, Bethany, OK, USA e-mail: [email protected] S.R. Parris Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX, USA e-mail: [email protected] J.S. Pennings Elite Research, LLC, Irving, TX 75063, USA e-mail: [email protected] O. Clocotici National Institute for Mother and Child Health Alessandrescu-Rusescu , Bucharest, Romania e-mail: [email protected] In determining the scope of children'

s rights, ultimately, there are just two questions. First, are children persons deserving of?respect? The answer to this question is unequivocally yes … Second, what interests must be protected for a child to be (as a child) and become (as an adult) a meaningful participant in community life and, in so doing, to develop and express her or his unique personality? Melton (2008), pp.?913C914)

28 1? Introduction The World Health Organization (WHO, 1999) adopted a comprehensive definition of neglect, describing it as the failure to provide for the development of the child in all spheres: health, education, emotional development, nutrition, shelter, and safe living conditions, in the context of resources reasonably available to the family or caretakers and causes or has a high probability of causing harm to the child'

s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral, or social development. This includes the failure to properly supervise and protect children from harm as much as is fea- sible (p.?15). It is not uncommon to see the terms neglect, privation, and/or depri- vation used interchangeably without any delineation as to differences that may or may not be inferred by the use of these terms. Neglect is considered chronic if one or more needs basic to a child'

s healthy development are not met, it is perpetrated by a parent or caregiver, or it happens on a recurring or enduring basis (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2013). Institutional structural neglect has been described as a very harsh living condi- tion that includes minimum physical resources, unfavourable and unstable staffing patterns, and socially and emotionally inadequate caregiver-child interactions (van IJzendoorn et?al., 2011, p.?8). In the same vein, Gunnar (2001) proposed four categories of developmental needs and four levels of neglect that correspond with how these needs are, or are not, met in institutional settings: (1) health and nutrition;

(2) physical and mental stimulation which support sensorimotor, cognitive, and lan- guage development;

(3) adult-child and child-child social stimulation;

and (4) stable and consistent relationships in which emotional attachments could form (adequate physical and mental stimulation cannot take place without social stimulation or con- sistent relationships). Subsequently, three levels of privation were delineated within institutions. First, global privation/deprivation occurred in institutions when the entire range of needs were not met (Gunnar, 2001;

Rutter &

the ERA Study Team, 1998). Second, most of the institutions presented in published literature (psycho- logically depriving institutions) provided acceptable health, nutrition, safety, and toys, but failed to provide stimulation. Third, some institutions met all of the chil- dren'