McCall Robert B, Groark Christina J, Rygaard Niels P
University of Pittsburgh.
Infant Ment Health J. 2014 Mar-Apr;35(2):87-93. doi: 10.1002/imhj.21441.
This Special Issue includes articles that contribute to (a) the global research base pertaining to the development of infants and toddlers at risk, primarily those who are institutionalized in lower resource countries; (b) interventions in institutions and to promote family alternatives to institutionalization; and (c) attempts to create modern child welfare systems emphasizing family care in entire states and countries. This introduction places these articles into the broader contexts of the literature in these three domains of interest. Across the world, urbanization, migration, armed conflict, epidemics, and famine disrupt families. Add poverty, abuse, neglect, and parental incapacity due to substance abuse and mental health problems, and the result is millions of children without parental care who come under governmental responsibility, often to be reared in institutions, and at risk for long-term developmental deficiencies and problems. Over the last 2 decades and especially recently, national and international governments and nongovernment organizations have increased efforts to help such children, especially those in low-resource countries. Two types of efforts have been made: one to improve the quality of care provided by institutions and the other to minimize the use of institutions and promote family residential care alternatives. The latter effort includes preventing family separations in the first place, reunification of children with birth families, and developing systems of kinship care, foster care, and adoption. This Special Issue of IMHJ is devoted to reports pertaining to issues in the research knowledge base, program practices, and countrywide policies for infants and young children at risk. We attempt in this introduction to place these reports in the broader context of this field, identify their unique contributions, and highlight lessons learned that can contribute to improved care practices and better child welfare systems.
（a）充实全球有关处于危险中的婴幼儿发展的研究基础，主要针对那些在资源匮乏国家被安置在机构中的儿童；（b）在机构中开展干预措施，并推广替代机构照料的家庭照料方式；（c）尝试在各个州和国家建立强调家庭照料的现代儿童福利体系。本引言将这些文章置于这三个感兴趣领域的更广泛文献背景中。在全球范围内，城市化、移民、武装冲突、流行病和饥荒破坏了家庭。再加上贫困、虐待、忽视以及因药物滥用和心理健康问题导致的父母无行为能力，结果是数以百万计的儿童失去了父母照料，由政府负责抚养，他们往往在机构中长大，面临长期发育缺陷和问题的风险。在过去20年，尤其是最近，国家和国际政府及非政府组织加大了帮助此类儿童的力度，特别是那些生活在资源匮乏国家的儿童。已经做出了两类努力：一类是提高机构提供的照料质量，另一类是尽量减少机构的使用，并推广家庭寄养照料替代方式。后一类努力包括首先防止家庭分离、使儿童与原生家庭团聚，以及发展亲属照料、寄养照料和收养体系。《国际精神卫生杂志》的本期特刊致力于报道有关处于危险中的婴幼儿的研究知识库、项目实践和全国性政策方面的问题。在本引言中，我们试图将这些报道置于该领域更广泛的背景中，确定它们的独特贡献，并突出所吸取的经验教训，这些经验教训有助于改进照料实践和完善儿童福利体系。
