Becoming Orphans Caregivers: Free or Forced Choice, How Do They Perceive It?
Tina Hayati Dahlan
Educational Psychology Study Program, School of Postgraduate Studies, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Abstract
Not all of the children entrusted to orphanages are truly orphans; some of them still have parents/close family. In general their parents/family entrust children to be taken care in orphanages in order to obtain access to education. In this case, the role of orphanage caregivers is crucial for orphans- lives; however, becoming caregivers cannot be separated from stressful situation triggered by internal or external factors. The article presents the results of a qualitative study conducted with one male and four female caregivers engaged in an Islamic orphanage in Indonesia; the female caregivers were used to be the orphaned in the orphanage. The information was gathered through in-depth interviews and the analysis was content driven without imposing preconceived theoretical limits. This article seeks to understand the background on becoming orphans caregivers and how the caregivers perceive it. Findings of this study reveal that the background of ‘obligation to serve- underlies caregivers- attitude and behavior toward their role and nurturing situation. However, the caregivers perceived their role and nurturing situations as a process of learning to be a better person and worth a worship, and they admitted the importance of parenting program for them in order to be more effective in playing their role in the orphanage. The implication of the findings provides a basis for the researchers to develop a draft of mindful parenting program to be implemented in Islamic orphanage in related to caregivers nurturing skills and orphaned children well-being.
Keywords: Caregivers, orphanage, nurturing, mindful, well-being
Topic: Parenting Class in Early Childhood Education Centres