My new book “Understanding the Trauma of Institutionalised Children. To support the child you adopt.” is about to come out/has just come out. Here, I want to give you a little taste of what it is about, with an excerpt:
Families that adopt a child who has spent a significant amount of time in an institution often think or hope that now that she is surrounded by love, attention, and care, everything will be alright. Even though she has been through a very difficult period before. Unfortunately, it is not as simple as that. Becoming part of a family will definitely improve your child’s outlook. Significant progress is often seen once a child settles into the family. The move prevents further harm and can help build resilience and to overcome earlier disadvantages. With a lot of love, patience, therapy of various kinds, and support, some of the damage done by institutionalisation can be reversed in a stable family environment, over time. The shorter the time spent in an institution, the better the chances of overcoming the effects. However, some of the damage done is part of the way her brain has developed to improve her chances of survival and to enable brain development that is as close to normal as possible in the institution. These are things that have essentially become hard-wired into the brain. Or, as Hertzman put it, ‘biological embedding of environmental events’ has taken place.
The circumstances children have faced in institutions and the effects those have had on an individual child will vary.[1] Additionally, coming from an extremely deprived background does not guarantee a worst-case scenario outcome. It is important to be aware of that. Amazingly, some children have gone through extremely harrowing experiences, even for very long periods, and still, when they grow up, are able to function well, to have healthy relationships, and to be empathetic.[2] However, it is also important to be aware that children who have lived in an institution, particularly if it was at a very young age, have a very high risk of developing any of the problems described in this book, as well as a high risk of having a combination of different problems. While a risk is not a guarantee of something applying to an individual child, it does greatly increase the chance.
To successfully place a child who has lived in an institution in a family, it is useful for the family to be aware of what the child has been through and what they can expect. Because taking a child who has been institutionalised into your home is not the same as having your nephew staying with you for some time, or as having one of your children’s school friends stay over.[1]
Every child’s experiences are unique and there are differences in how things are done across various countries and cultures. It is not possible to blindly describe what an individual child has gone through. However, there are universal aspects to the experiences of living in institutions.
You can order the book here: The launch of the book will be announced soon, watch this space.
Please share this blog to help spread awareness.
[1] Ronald S. Federici (1998), p. 9.
[1] Marinus H. van Ijzendoorn et al. (2011).
[2] Maia Szalavitz & Bruce D. Perry (2010), pp. 168–169
