Social orphan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Often it is assumed that all children living in orphanages are orphans. However a closer study of children found in orphanages divides children into two categories: true orphans and social orphans. A true orphan is a child with no parents or extended family to care for them. Social orphans come from families where the child cannot be cared for because of incarceration, extreme poverty, physical abuse, and abandonment.

The convention on the rights of the child has brought many countries to reassess their mandate to care for children inside their borders thus bringing to light various new ways of thinking about international child care.

[edit] Populations

In a study of Honduras it was found that 54.3% of children commonly identified as “orphans” were actually social orphans.

Cause of Social Orphaning Percentage of Orphans actually Social Orphans in Honduras
Street situation 19.3%
Unemployment 11.5%
Maternal / Paternal Irresponsibility 7.4%
Extreme Poverty 5.5%
Physical Abuse 5.9%
Disabilities / Handicap 4.7%

[edit] References