Effects of Institutionalization
Children adopted from orphanages, children's homes, and institutions abroad may present parents with unique challenges. Research, parenting advice, and resources for help.
Sources of information, guidance, and treatment professionals for attachment and bonding problems, including Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD).... [more]
Leslie's story of her year working in a Romanian orphanage provides insight into the plight of institutionalized children.... [more]
Adoptive parents from Norway went public with their concerns about conditions and care for children in institutions, starting with the Philippine orphanage from which they adopted their son, Samuel.... [more]
You have been preparing for this moment for months - perhaps years, but for your child, the move from an institutional setting to family life is confusing, and will be very different from life in an orphanage.... [more]
Adopting an Institutionalized Child: What Are the Risks? Based on the study of almost 1,000 children, this article from Dr. Dana Johnson of the International Medical Clinic at the University of Minnesota, answers parents' most common questions about behaviors, and outcomes.
Caring for Internationally Adopted Children Editorial from the New England Journal of Medicine calling for a greater focus on this area of medicine.
Effects of Institutionalization For those considering adoption from Eastern Europe, a look at issues that may arise as a result of the child's confinement to an orphanage or other institution.
Orphanage Experience Alters Brain Development Preliminary results of a study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, part of the Wisconsin International Adoption Research Program, explores physical and behavioral problems in children adopted from Russian and Romanian orphanages.
Raising the Post-Institutionalized Child Authored by Dr. Ron Federici, Developmental Neuropsychologist, an internationally known expert, the article explores traits and characteristics and offers suggestions for pre- and post-adoptive parents.
Report: Cruelty and Neglect in Russian Orphanages Prepared by Human Rights Watch, the report is a condemnation of conditions care. Emotionally difficult to read.
Risk and Protective Factors in Children Adopted from the Former Soviet Union Summary of Dr. Teena M. McGuinness' study examining specific risk factors (institutional living and low birthweight) and their impact on competence (children's patterns of effective behavior).