CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of study

Children are a nation's most valuable asset and its future. They should be provided with adequate opportunity for proper physical, mental, social, and moral development, as well as personality development and education, by society (Abro, 2012). Families are the ideal places for children to socialize, and it is the state's responsibility to offer social services and safety, as well as to ensure the family's integrity. Parents are responsible for caring for and supporting their children, and in the event that they are unable to do so, grandparents or other close relatives often step in to care for their grandkids. An orphan is a child whose parents are no longer alive (death), desertion, or unable to care for them (UNICEF, 2008). Orphans are vulnerable children under the age of eighteen who have experienced major issues and are at risk of abandoning their education due to risks to food, shelter, and health care. A large number of orphans exist around the world with no natural relatives due to a variety of factors such as parental death, parental separation, domestic damaging treatment, and disrespect. Poverty, lack of access to basic services, abuse, neglect, disease, impairments, and emergencies are the most common reasons for children being separated from their parents (Bilson & Cox; 2007). It is an embarrassment to all society members who do not pay attention to orphans or provide financial aid (Meintjes and Bray, 2006).If a child does not have any relatives who can help him, orphanages are one of the options for providing him with shelter, health care, food, education, and housing. An orphanage is a non-profit organization dedicated to caring for children whose parents have died or are otherwise unable to sustain them (The Faith to Action Initiative, 2014). In other terms, an orphanage is a facility that cares for children whose biological parents are deceased, incapable, or unwilling to care for their children (wisegeek, 2003-2015). It is a children's housing care service that is designed to care for children from the moment of their admission until they reach adulthood or freedom, and which positions itself as a satisfactory or better alternative for the children's families. The orphanages' functions have been to provide a home for infants to be raised as alternative players in welfare, development, and to salvage the state's failed role in child protection. 

Orphaned children, according to UNESCO (2009), lose their childhood when they become breadwinners. It becomes impossible to obtain enough sustenance, basic health care, shelter, clothing, and education. Some households, on the other hand, are disbanded because the parents have died, and the children are handed to relatives for care and upbringing. According to the WORLD BANK (2011), poverty and the HIV/AIDS epidemic have taken a terrible toll on children and their families. According to a UNICEF research from 2014, over the thirty years of the global HIV and AIDS epidemic, an estimated 153 million children have lost one or both parents for various reasons. It was also stated that around 30 million youngsters under the age of fifteen are HIV positive. Consequently, despite a decrease in global frequency and better access to treatment, the number of children affected or vulnerable has increased, as they are more likely to be victims of abuse in institutions, on the streets, or in child-headed families. The economic crisis in African countries has had a significant impact on orphaned children's lives. Economic pressures, according to Freidman (2000), can lead to parental depression or severe inconsistent parenting, both of which are linked to children's socio-emotional issues. According to Buckner (2004), children may be placed with family members or strangers in a group or home with up to a dozen foster children living under the constant supervision of a parent or an institution. Maslow (1987) asserts in Biehler and Snowman (2000) that if a kid's physiological needs are not met, the child will suffer socially, cognitively, and emotionally. Orphanage is a key risk factor for adult poverty, because of, among other things, a lack of human capital investments in children. Ainsworth and Filmer (2006) show significant variation in the orphan/non-orphan disparity between nations, concluding that generalizations about the extent to which orphans are disadvantaged are difficult to make. The orphanage home is only one of the many social institutions that have sprung up in recent years to meet the social requirements of orphans all over the world. Motherless kids have become more widespread in recent years as a result of society's moral degradation. Young individuals who are unable to care for themselves are forced into the family system, where they end up leaving those vulnerable newborns. As a result of the current economic downturn, the incidence of stress in family relationships has increased, as has the subsequent loss of solid control of family members. As seen by the growing number of abandoned babies, these babies have tended to become the center of the orphanage home's attention. The importance of an orphanage home on a child's personality development, namely on the social behavior pattern of that child, can not be overstated.

1.2 Statement of problem

Children are at an increased risk of losing opportunities for school, healthcare, growth, development, nutrition, and shelter. Moreover, when a parent dies, children experience deep sadness, worry, fear, and hopelessness, which can lead to psychosomatic diseases, persistent depression, low self-esteem, learning difficulties, and disrupted social behavior in the long run. This is sometimes exacerbated by children who blame themselves for their parents' illness and death, as well as the family's suffering. International social, cultural, political, and economic factors have recently overstretched the coping capacities of familiar communities and governments, fueling this alarming trend. Orphans are not simply the duty of the government or private organizations; they are also the obligation of their family, their communities, and society as a whole.

1.3 Objective of study

The following are primary objectives of this:

1. To investigate the influence of orphanage homes on a child's personality development .

2. To assess the morale and attitudes of a child raised in an orphanage homes.

3. To provide remedies to shortcomings that occur as a result of a child's development in an orphanage home.

1.4 Research question

1. What is the influence of orphanage homes on a child's personality development?

2. What are the morale and attitudes of a child raised in an orphanage home?

3. How can shortcomings that occur as a result of a child's development in an orphanage home be remedied?

1.5 Significance of study

This study will be of significance to the Director or Administrators of orphanage homes as the guide children on having good morales and attitude that will imbibe in them good personalities and aid development in them.

1.6 Scope of study

This study focuses on investigating the influence of orphanage homes on a child's personality. To also assess the morale and attitudes of a child raised in an orphanage home. Lastly, to provide remedies to shortcomings that occur as a result of a child's development in an orphanage home. This study is limited to Mother Theresa children's home in Abuja.

1.7 Limitation of study

Finance,inadequate materials and time constraint were the challenges the researchers encountered during the course of the study.

1.8 Definition of terms

Personality Development: Personality development encompasses the dynamic construction and deconstruction of integrative characteristics that distinguish an individual in terms of interpersonal behavioral traits.

Orphanage home: An orphanage is a residential institution, or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and other children who were separated from their biological families.

Get this material NGN 5,000

Message Us on WhatsApp  »