STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE NUMBER OF BABIES ADMITTED IN THE MOTHERLESS BABY HOME (1995 – 2004)

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

An orphan can be defined or described as any child that has lost one or both of his/her parents or have been abandoned permanently by his/her parents. In this case they can be labeled as paternal or maternal orphans as the case may be(Provence and Lipton,1965).

About 10.6% of the world children population are orphans between the ages of 0-14, which makes up about 134 million orphans around the world as at June 2014(UNICEF).

Children without parents are not only among the most vulnerable members of the society. Their care and protection also presents a major child-care policy challenge. Till date finding the necessary resource to protect orphans has become a priority for the international community (Ennew 2005). Throughout history, different actors of development (the state, family, charitable organizations, NGO’s) have been promoting different strategies of care for orphans and vulnerable children. Their research explores the problematic construction of “global orphan” and the challenges of their care in the context of the deepening poverty and social inequality. The research discusses the social history of orphan hood and the way in which orphans are viewed variably in different societies.

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW ON THE CAUSES OF CHILD ABANDONMENT

Some of the causes of child abandonment in the area council are summarized below:

• Conflicts- in situations of conflict both inter and intra community , orphans are a direct end result of such violence. This is because most times in this conflicts adults are targeted more and thereby leaving the children homeless, without one or both of their parents. This can also cause displacement of individuals with many of the children running into unknown places to seek refuge, some get lost on d process.
• Poverty- poverty is often a root cause of child abandonment. People in poor social welfare systems who are not financially capable of taking care of a child are more likely to abandon them. political conditions such as difficulty in adoption proceedings may also contribute to child abandonment , as can the institution , such as orphanages around the area to take in children whom their parents cannot support.
• Teenage pregnancy- this is considered as another very common cause of baby dumping in the area. Pregnant teenagers experience problems during and after child birth due to social and psychological distress. Abandonment becomes and alternative option to abortion. There are cases where it might be an extreme form of maternal instinct. Some young mothers feel that the babies would be better off without them and so place their babies in a spot where they intend them to be found such as gates of orphanages, hospitals, and even on the street.
• Cultural values and believes- this over time has been a cause or reason for child abandonment in the area there have been cases where twins incertain villages round the area council are seen as witches and wizards and are therefore killed at birth. These leads some of these parents to sneak their children at birth to other areas or to orphanage homes rather than allowing them to be killed.
• Mental and physical illness of either of the child or parent occasionally leads to abandonment.

Each type of child abandonment has a specific reason but most cases of abandoned children involves the interaction between a number of cases. The common element in abandonment cases is the parenting development.

2.2 Child Development

John Bowlby (1951) define child development as a continuous process that begin at conception once infant are born they begin to experience complex changes physically intelligence and emotionally change are gradual and occur throughout the life span for convenience psychologist have speared the life span into stages and identified change and adjustment at each stage we should remember that the transition from each stageto the next is gradual rather than sudden.

A child does not awaken on a second birthday day with an abrupt change from baby hood to adulthood similarly the groups assigned to each are general because there are vast individual differences one person may progress to young adulthood at sixteen while another will still be battling adolescent problemsbut twenty six.

John Bowlby (1951) explain further in his theory of material deprivation that child deprive of material care will eventually be retarded. Physically socially or intellectually and in some cases in all spheres of development the distinguished between compete deprivation and partial deprivation in a situation of partial deprivation the child experience. Less satisfaction, leading to anxiety excessive need for love powerful feeling for revenge guilt and depression which may lead to nervous in such an impersonal environment.

Ruther (1971) says “love is difficult to define where warmth in the family is lackingthe child is more likely to develop deviant behavior particularly of an antisocial type”

A child that suffers complete deprivation does not experience the warmth affection and care of his mother. The absence of emotional contact with a mother implies the absence of the specific for mature influence inherent in the Mother/child tie. This situation lead to retardation and may give rise to symptoms of physical and mental illness in fact it is believed that early experience of material deprivation account for neurotic and allied disorders child rearing in the home cannot compromise. The father play a very significance role which should be seen as necessary complement to the role which should be seen to a necessary compliment to the role of the mother in brings up a child.

Where parental (as opposed to materials) care is inadequate in the early stages of a child’s life, it will manifest it effects in the child’s later in life” M.N. Kissekka (1981).

According to Sada (1984) the preservation of the child life is unequivocal up held also the responsibility for the child’s welfare is not only moral ethical, social with adequate sanction to back it. According to Spock (1963) “ifthere is no one to love a baby he grows up with a shallow irresponsible pertinacity and with little or not capacity to love body including separation of the child will not only result in an injury to the ego but also it could be traumatic”.

2.3 Personality Development

Accordingto Robinson (2003) he define personality as a unique organization of relatively enduring psychological characteristics possessed by an individual as reveled by his interaction to the environment in other words to denotes the individuals pattern of behavior.

It is through education and healthy physical and upbringing that these children in the orphanage can have bright future opportunities which is exactly what the orphanage aims of providing it contended that the security of a foster mother child relationship is in certain respects greater than that between the biological mother and her child it must be emphasized however that the orphanage in spite of these arguments about it disadvantages is still a very important instrument is socializing helpless innocent children ward maids or even nurses do not have enough time to love and play with all these children. They need attention all the time by loved ones the practice, of fostering far from being damage or detrimental to the child is in many respect beneficial. Fostering itself is not a solution to other problems existing in a society with high mentality. It provides greater measure of security both to the foster parent and festered child. The benefits gained by children through fostering are emotional as well as social most foster mothers have no children living with them either because they are grandmother or even not yet given birth foster gives children, some direction” Sada (1984) and the opportunity to create deep parent child relationships if a foster child is the only child in the family then he/she enjoys individuals attention from the foster parents a disposition is a tendency to behave in a certain way a person who is by disposition an introvert is one who tends tobe more interested in his own ideas and feeling then he is in the affairs of the outside world. A person who is by disposition an extrovert is one who tends to be more interested in what is going on around him than his in his own ideas and feeling.

Family factor also influence personalities there are about three factor are important in the family they are socialization process identification process and birth other.

1. Socialization process through the various agent of socialization an individual acquires certain behaviour form the wide range of behaviour at tendencies open to him the family for instance compels a child to confirm to certain acceptable behavior a long time of confirming to such behaviour result into a characteristic pattern of behavior.

2. Identification: Is the process by which a normal child become emotionally attached to significant adults by initiating them and acquiring appropriate social roles a child therefore tries to behave like the father or mother and in the process adopts the personality of the person he feels ideal.

3. Birth order his is another factor that influences personality of an individual some psychologist have found outthat there is a difference in the personality of a first born who is likely to be more dependent morerational ambitious

Importance Of Orphanage Home

A study of Kaduna orphanage home writing on the level of infant mortality and it’s causes MTN Kisekka (1981)” say a relationship exists between infant morality and changes in social conditions of the child sudden and completely change and social conditions can lead to infant mortality such changes occur each time a mother dies leaving the infant child alive weather the child eventually survives depends on the arrangement made to caterfor the needs of the child” given situations like this the Kuduna orphanage comes into ensure that the child survives in a situation of partial deprivation the child experience less satisfaction leading to anxiety excessive need for powerful feeling for revenge guilt and depression which may lead to nervous in such an impersonality environment as Ruther(1971) says” love is difficult to define where warn in the family is lacking the child is more likely to develop deviant behavioral particularly of an anti social types”.

The process of socialization within the orphanage home is very slow because as implied from the preceeding paragraphs are the orphanage.

It is difficult for spinal individual attention to be rendered to each child the chidden are under the care of strangers.

As long as the children remain in the orphanage home then their rate of development is retarded.

According to Ruther (1971) this is because of rearing under institutional condition majority of the brought in such institution are backward when they reach school age living under supervision all the time affects them adversely the ability of the child to take initiative since he/she is not green opportunity to be free and think out facts and act for himself. Skeels (1862) found a marked rise in intelligent question in children transferred from and poor over crowd orphanage to an institution for the mentally sub motional where more personal care was possible.

If it is because of such unintended development that it is advised for children brought to the orphanage to be fostered out immediately to couple desperately in need of children.