Emotional Distress in the Relationship of Caregivers and Institutionalized Babies

Bibliographic Data

ID15528449
AuthorsRosemeire Aparecida do Nascimento (0000-0002-2304-5098, Centro Universitário São Camilo, corresponding author), Mirian Akiko Furutani de Oliveira (0000-0002-9171-787X, Centro Universitário São Camilo, corresponding author), Gláucia Rosana Guerra Benute (0000-0003-0781-1976, Centro Universitário São Camilo), Andrea Nogueira Landmann (Centro Universitário São Camilo), Fernanda Galo (Centro Universitário São Camilo), Thames Waléria Borges (0000-0002-9212-8663, Centre de recherche en Epidémiologie et Santé des Populations, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume11
Pages266-266
Publication date2020-04-27
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Psychiatry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1664-0640 • E-ISSN: 1664-0640
PublisherFrontiers Media (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00266
PMID32395108
OpenAlexW3018150573
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited21

Institutionalization is an exceptional and temporary measure that occurs when there is a violation of rights; lasting until the family reintegration or, in the impossibility of this, the placement in a substitute family through adoption. Among the main reasons for institutionalization in Brazil are the financial difficulties, abandonment, domestic violence, drug addiction, homelessness of the responsible for the child, sexual abuse, and the loss of parents by death or imprisonment. Although children and adolescents have their rights assured when they are institutionalized, the care provided in these spaces does not include all their needs and demands, which may damage their affective-relational development. Maternal deprivation in the first years of life can be detrimental to the development of these children, if not provided by adequate substitute care. Therefore, to understand which place the institutionalized baby occupies in the imaginary of the social caregivers and, from this, how is established the relationship regarding the care, is of fundamental importance to assess and address the risk factors in child development at this stage of life and in situation of institutionalization. This is an exploratory and descriptive study, developed in a childcare institution, located in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, capable of accommodating up to 20 babies between 0 and 2 years old. Data collection was performed with nine employees, eight social caregivers and one general service assistant who work directly in the care of the institutionalized babies. Drawing-Story with Theme (DS-T) procedures were used. Qualitative analysis was based on Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The appreciation of the nine applied Drawing-Story procedures allowed the establishment of three discussion axes representations of baby, baby care, and early separation process. This study concluded that the difficulties that permeate the context of caregivers' work are the high turnover of institutionalized children, as well as employees, the difficulty of dealing with processes of bonding and breaking bonds and no recognition of the profession. We highlight that the place that these babies occupy in the imaginary of these caregivers influences the bond they establish with the children hence the care offered to the babies. It is also noteworthy that these caregivers exhibited anguish and suffering from the reasons they believed led the children to be institutionalized

Abandonment (legal · Child protection · Developmental psychology · Distress · Institutionalisation · Political science · Psychiatry · Vulnerability (computing · Child Abuse and Trauma · Child Welfare and Adoption · Clinical Psychology · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Psychology and Mental Health · Social Work

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