ABSTRACT

Residential institutions across the world have an important part to play in ensuring the welfare and safety of large numbers of children and young people. Much good-quality child care work occurs, but it is often the institutional failures that hit the headlines. The harrowing images of children living in orphanages in Romania in the 1990s caused an international outcry. In the UK, widespread physical and sexual abuse of children living in institutions has been detected, also leading to widespread reforms. Many countries now seek to avoid children growing up in large, separate, isolated institutions but instead prefer that they receive high-quality physical and emotional care in smaller, more family-like groups. Any abuse or malpractice is more likely to be detected in such settings and vulnerable children can receive more appropriate care.