INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD CARE IN URBAN SOUTH AFRICA

this time period, the communist nations of the Eastern/Soviet bloc remained closed
towards Westerners, the media in particular. One of the key events that signaled the end
of this era was the execution of Romania’s dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu. Upon his death it
was discovered that Romania had hundreds of orphanages throughout the country. The
conditions of these orphanages were widely seen as horrific, with many children
suffering from severe neglect and malnourishment. The Western media was quick to
sensationalize the deplorable conditions of these orphanages, which were often
overcrowded and understaffed. Many of the memorable images that surfaced were of
rooms crowded with children sleeping on floor mats, almost all of them displaying
cognitive and developmental disabilities. (Morrison, 2004)
During the Soviet Era, many Eastern European governments restructured their
approaches to child care by abolishing private or religious OVC institutions and
establishing state-sponsored institutions, centered around state ideology. As economic
conditions worsened and populations grew, these institutions gave rise to “baby houses.”
These houses, originally intended to care for children without parental care ended up
becoming recipients for babies with behavioral and cognitive disorders. Many of the
children being raised in these houses were eventually recruited by organized crime
leaders, furthering the social segregation of the children in these houses. This ultimately
resulted in further neglect. (Callaghan, et. al., 2008)
More of these types of homes were discovered in Russia and the Ukraine,
although the most striking images promulgated by Western media stemmed from
Ceausescu’s Romania, largely attributed to the dictator’s heavy-handed repression on
family planning. (Haupt, 1987) International charity organizations responded heavily
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