INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD CARE IN URBAN SOUTH AFRICA

societies do not have an option and must adopt institutionalized child care to cope with a
large volume of children who need care.
What are the alternative options?
Instead of simply evaluating South Africa’s OVC institutions on the basis of good
or bad, it is more pragmatic to evaluate them as favorable or unfavorable over other
alternative solutions. The factors which contribute to high rates of OVC populations also
reduce the amount of able caretakers, thus foster care does not present itself as a feasible
alternative. Adoption has been a widely explored approach, however the majority of
caregivers reported that they would be ‘extremely unhappy’ about the prospect of
domestic or international adoption. (Freeman & Nkomo, 2006) Given that for most
children, the alternative to institutionalization would be street living, likely coupled with
participation in illicit activity, institutionalization could actually be seen as a protective
defense. (Boyer, 2008)
A recent study by Braitstein argues that the preferrential approach to orphan care
is contingent upon the child’s actual circumstances. (2015) In any scenario, whether in an
institution or through extended family traumatic experiences are not uncommon, and
another study has found there to be no difference in the prevalence of traumatic events
between institutionalized children, and those in family-based care. (Gray, Pence, et. al.,
2015) Braitstein’s argues that the top priority of researchers should be on how
improvements could be made in any OVC-care setting. In order for improvements to be
made, more research that describes OVC living scenarios should come to the forefront in
lieu of the current saturation of studies seeking to evaluate one system over another.
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