The Child in Care: Results of the Living and Parenting Conditions’ Monitoring of Children in Care and Their Subjective Well-Being in Orphanages

The article is based on an analysis of the results of monitoring conducted by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation (formerly the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia) between 2018 and 2020: 1 — Monitoring on the compliance of organizations for orphans and children left without parental care with the requirements of Russian Federation Government Resolution No. 481 of 24 May 2014 On the activities of organizations for orphans and children left without parental care and the placement of children in them; 2 — Evaluation of the welfare of children in organizations for children left without parental care. It is shown that in three years there have been significant changes both in the environment external to the foster child and in the sphere of psychological well-being. Unfortunately, the introduction of a lockdown in the children’s home system due to the COVID-19 pandemic does not allow for the ‘net’ impact of the new living and parenting environment on children’s subjective well-being to be identified. Monitoring has made it possible to obtain annual information on the number of orphanages of all types and the number of children in them, which the current official system for collecting information (statistical form D-13) does not allow for. The data obtained made it possible to conduct a comparative analysis of current problems (abuse, bullying, consideration of the child’s opinion, etc.) from the perspective of the administration and the children themselves. The study involved: 443 pre-schoolers, 1825 children aged 7—12, 3398 teenagers over the age of 12. The verified instrument was a psychodiagnostic complex assessing the subjective well-being of orphans. The results of the analysis of the monitoring data revealed objective factors of well-being related to “the duration of children’s stay in the institution”; “creation of favorable conditions of stay close to the family”; “assistance in social adaptation for graduates of organizations for orphans”; “specifics of education and care of orphans and children without parental care, with disabilities” as well as subjective factors related to child satisfaction with their health, safety, well-being in the organization, self-esteem. The significant discrepancies in the formal assessment and subjective opinion of the children obtained allow adjustments to be made to the monitoring toolkit.

1. Avdeeva V.P., Ruppel’ A.F. Resursy zhiznestoikosti u semei i detei, poluchayushchikh gosudarstvennuyu sotsial’nuyu pomoshch’ [Elektronnyi resurs] [Resources of resilience in families and children receiving state social assistance]. Zhurnal sotsiologii i sotsial’noi antropologii [Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology], 2019. Vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 80—112. Available at: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/resursy-zhiznestoykosti-u-semey-i-detey-poluchayuschih-gosudarstvennuyu-sotsialnuyu-pomosch (Accessed 10.09.2021). (In Russ.).
2. Vyyavlenie i uchet detei, ostavshikhsya bez popecheniya roditelei, stat’ya 122: Semeinyi kodeks Rossiiskoi Federatsii ot 29.12.1995 N 223-FZ (ed. of 02.07.2021) [Elektronnyi resurs] [Identification and registration of children left without parental care, Article 122: Family Code of the Russian Federation of 29.12.1995 N 223-FZ (ed. of 02.07.2021)]. Konsul’tant Plyus. 2021. Available at: http://www.consultant.ru/document/ cons_doc_LAW_8982/03ce2c58e861183eb17af2339b8c200f7ddaa003/ (Accessed 21.11.2021). (In Russ.).
3. Iizendorn van M., Bakermans-Kranenburg M., Dushinskii R., Foks N., Goldman F., Gunnar M., Dzhonson D., Nel’son Ch., Reidzhmen S., Skinner G., Ziana Ch., Sonuga-Bark E. Institutsionalizatsiya i deinstitutsionalizatsiya detei: sistemnyi i kompleksnyi obzor fakticheskikh dannykh o vliyanii na razvitie [Elektronnyi resurs] [Institutionalisation and deinstitutionalisation of children 1: a systematic and integrative review of evidence regarding effects on development]. The Lanset, 2020. Vol. 7(703—20). 86 p. Available at: https://www.unicef.by/uploads/models/2020/11/institucionalizaciya-i-deinstitucionalizaciya-detey.pdf (Accessed 29.09.2021). (In Russ.).
4. Ob ob”yavlenii v Rossiiskoi Federatsii Desyatiletiya detstva. Ukaz Prezidenta Rossiiskoi Federatsii ot 29.05.2017 № 240 [Elektronnyi resurs] [About the announcement of the Decade of Childhood in the Russian Federation. Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 240 dated 29.05.2017]. Informatsionno-pravovoe obespechenie [Garant. Information and legal support], 2021. Available at: https://base.garant.ru/71684480/ (Accessed 20.11.2021). (In Russ.).
5. Ob utverzhdenii plana osnovnykh meropriyatii do 2020 goda, provodimykh v ramkakh Desyatiletiya detstva. Rasporyazhenie Pravitel’stva Rossiiskoi Federatsii ot 06.07.2018 № 1375-r [Elektronnyi resurs] [On the approval of the plan of main activities until 2020, carried out within the framework of the Decade of Childhood. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1375-r dated 06.07.2018]. Ofitsial’nyi internet-portal pravovoi informatsii [Official Internet portal of legal information], 2021. Available at: http:// www.pravo.gov.ru (Accessed 28.11.2021). (In Russ.).
6. Oslon V.N., Sem’ya G.V., Prokop’eva L.M., Kolesnikova U.V. Operatsional’naya model’ i instrumentarii dlya izucheniya sub”ektivnogo blagopoluchiya detei-sirot i detei, ostavshikhsya bez popecheniya roditelei [Operational Model and Tools for Studying Subjective Well-Being of Orphans and Children Without Parental Care]. Psikhologicheskaya nauka I obrazovanie = Psychological Science and Education, 2020. Vol. 25(6), pp. 41—50. DOI:10.17759/pse.2020250604 (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.).
7. Oslon V.N., Sem’ya G.V., Prokop’eva L.M., Kolesnikova U.V. Struktura sub”ektivnogo blagopoluchiya detei-sirot s OVZ mladshego shkol’nogo vozrasta, vospityvayushchikhsya v organizatsiyakh dlya detei-sirot i detei, ostavshikhsya bez popecheniya roditelei [Elektronnyi resurs] [Structure of Subjective Well-being of Primary-School-Age Orphan Children with Disabilities Living in Orphanage Institutions and of Children Deprived of Parental Care]. Psikhologiia i pravo = Psychology and Law, 2021. Vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 205—221. DOI:10.17759/psylaw.2021110315 (In Russ., а in Engl.).
8. Plan meropriyatii, provodimykh v ramkakh Desyatiletiya detstva, na period do 2027 goda. Rasporyazhenie Pravitel’stva Rossiiskoi Federatsii ot 23.01.2021 № 122-r. [Elektronnyi resurs] [The plan of activities carried out within the framework of the Decade of Childhood for the period up to 2027. Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 122-r dated January 23, 2021]. Informatsionno-pravovoe obespechenie [Garant. Information and legal support], 2021. Available at: https://www.garant.ru/ products/ipo/prime/doc/400150053/ (Accessed 27.11.2021). (In Russ.).
9. Postanovlenie Pravitel’stva Rossiiskoi Federatsii ot 24.05.2014 N 481 «O deyatel’nosti organizatsii dlya detei-sirot i detei, ostavshikhsya bez popecheniya roditelei, i ob ustroistve v nikh detei, ostavshikhsya bez popecheniya roditelei» [Elektronnyi resurs] [Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 24, 2014 N 481 “On the activities of organizations for orphans and children left without parental care, and on the placement of children left without parental care in them”]. Informatsionno-pravovoe obespechenie [Garant. Information and legal support], 2021. Available at: https://base.garant. ru/70661542/ (Accessed 23.11.2021). (In Russ.).
10. Prikhozhan A.M., Tolstykh H.H. Psikhologiya sirotstva [Psychology of orphanhood]. St. Petersburg: Peter, 2007. 416 p. (In Russ.).
11. Rubtsov V.V., Alekhina S.V., Vikhristyuk O.V., Voitas S.A., Zabrodin Yu.M., Zaretskii V.K., Leonova O.I., Margolis A.A., Saitgalieva G.G., Sem’ya G.V., Kholmogorova A.B., Sharikov S.V. O problemakh professional’noi podgotovki spetsialistov sotsial’noi sfery dlya raboty s uyazvimymi kategoriyami naseleniya [Elektronnyi resurs] [On the Problems of Professional Training of Social Sphere Specialists to Work with Vulnerable Categories of the Population]. Vestnik prakticheskoi psikhologii obrazovaniya = Bulletin of Psychological Practice in Education, 2020. Vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 8—34. DOI:10.17759/bppe.2020170201 (In Russ., а in Engl.).
12. Sem’ya G.V. Daidzhest negosudarstvennykh nekommercheskikh i blagotvoritel’nykh organizatsii, uchastvuyushchikh v realizatsii Natsional’noi strategii deistvii v interesakh detei na 2012-2017 gody [Digest of Non-governmental Noncommercial and Charitable Organizations Involved in the Implementation of the National Strategy on Action for Children 2012—2017 (Compiled by Semya G.V.)]. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie = Psychological Science and Education, 2016. Vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 184—202. DOI:10.17759/pse.2016210116 (In Russ., а in Engl.).
13. Sem’ya G.V. Obzor mezhdunarodnykh issledovanii, posvyashchennykh posledstviyam nakhozhdeniya rebenka v usloviyakh institutsionalizatsii: kak dobit’sya polozhitel’nykh rezul’tatov [Elektronnyi resurs] [The Overview of International Research on the Effects of Being a Child in the Conditions of Institutionalisation: How to Achieve Positive Results]. Sotsial’nye nauki i detstvo = Social Sciences and Childhood, 2021. Vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 73—84. DOI:10.17759/ssc.2021020106 (In Russ., а in Engl.).
14. Sem’ya G.V., Zaitsev G.O., Zaitseva N.G. Formirovanie rossiiskoi modeli preodoleniya sotsial’nogo sirotstva [Preventing Social Orphanhood: the Russian Model]. Psikhologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie = Psychological Science and Education, 2016. Vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 67—82. DOI:10.17759/pse.2016210105 (In Russ., а in Engl.).
15. Federal’nyi zakon «Ob obrazovanii v Rossiiskoi Federatsii» ot 29.12.2012 N 273-FZ (Redaktsiya ot 02.07.2021) [Elektronnyi resurs] [Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” dated 29.12.2012 N 273-FZ (Revision dated 02.07.2021)]. Konsul’tant Plyus. 2021. Available at: http://www.consultant.ru/ document/cons_doc_LAW_140174/ (Accessed 21.11.2021). (In Russ.).
16. Berument S.K. Environmental enrichment and caregiver training to support the development of birth to 6-year-olds in Turkish orphanages. Infant Mental Health Journal, 2013, no. 34, pp. 189—201. DOI:10.1002/imhj.21380
17. Child Protection: every child has the right to live free from violence, exploitation and abuse [Elektronnyi resurs]. Child Protection. UNICEF, 2020. Available at: https://www. unicef.org/ protection/57929_58004.html (Accessed 18.06.2021).