SILENT STRUGGLES, SHARED VOICES
Children experience more and talk less, yet the effects of social learning and adverse events in their lives impact psychological distress and their mental well-being far into adulthood. The purpose of this study was to hear the voices of children living in an orphanage setting and to understand the psychological distress emanating from their lived experiences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 7 children living in an orphanage to explore their experiences and perception of trauma, depression, somatization, and prosocial behaviour within and outside the institution, and how these have shaped them in relation to self and others. A phenomenological methodology was used to reveal the lived experiences of these children. Results: The emerged themes showed trauma as fear and pain, aggression as defensive coping, somatization as embodied stress, discipline as care and control, ambivalence in prosocial behaviour, safety within discipline and pre-institution trauma unarticulated. Recommendations suggest a reduction in punitive discipline, psycho-education on emotion regulation and non-aggressive coping and routine care training for caregivers.
