The family as the basic unit of society plays an important role in the lives of individuals
especially children. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has devastated the family structure which is
already strained by other detrimental factors such as urbanisation and poverty. The
increased death rate of young parents due to AIDS-related diseases has led to an
escalating number of orphaned children growing in child headed households (CHH)
without adult care.
A qualitative study was undertaken to develop an understanding of the barriers that
hinder the integration of orphaned children into extended family folds and to obtain
suggestions on how to overcome these barriers. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews
were conducted in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province, with a sample of children
heading CHH, relatives of these children and social workers who were rendering social
work services to these client-systems.
The study revealed that the level of suffering faced by CHH began with the illness of the
parents. This was further exacerbated by the death of the parents as these children were
not absorbed by their extended families. Barriers that hindered the integration of
orphaned children into extended family folds go beyond the extended families’ economic
capacity to absorb the children. There is an interplay of barriers that are poverty related,
relational and family related, culturally related, circumstances that are related to the
orphaned children as well as limitations in social work service delivery.
The findings indicate that CHH is not a good option to care and protect orphaned children
as it exposes them to pervasive adversities with little resources and support. The
integration of orphaned children is embraced as a good option to care for the children
because of its potential value, amongst others, of enabling the extended families to
relieve the CHH from the burden of care. From the findings of this study, practice
guidelines were developed to enhance the efficacy of integrating orphaned children into
extended families to prevent the CHH phenomenon.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:umkn-dsp01.int.unisa.ac.za:10500/3985 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Nziyane, Luzile Florence |
| Contributors | Alpaslan, A.H. (Dr.) |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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