A Gender-Focused Analysis of Structural and Social Precipitators to Child Institutionalization in Azerbaijan: A Qualitative Study

Background: With up to 1.3 million children, the former Soviet Union (fSU) and Eastern European countries have the highest rate of institutional care worldwide. Given that over 75% of children in institutions have at least one living parent, the national De-Institutionalization program (DI) in Azerbaijan aims to close down all institutions by focusing on family reunification as one of the key strategies. While poverty associated with the economic and social crisis following the collapse of the Soviet Union has been referred to as the main reason for institutionalization, a dearth of literature exists on additional factors that put parents at risk of institutional placement. To inform reunification strategies, this study explores the reasons behind institutional placements from parents’ perspectives, with  focus on the gendered experiences that contributed to the institutional placement of their children.

Methods: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 24 caregivers who were biological parents or relatives caring for a child currently living in an institution or with a history of institutionalization. Four coders reviewed the transcripts in Azerbaijani language and in English and conducted Thematic Analysis using Dedoose software.

Results: All interviewed caregivers were females, including two grandmothers and 22 biological mothers.  Most children entered institutional care around school age (M=6.81, SD=2.25). Main reasons for institutional placements included: a) Lack of economic resources (limited employment opportunities for women and minimal benefits for single mothers); b) Low status of women in society (domestic violence, early and forced marriage through bride kidnapping, sexual harassment at work); and c) Lack of social support (e.g., due to stigma around divorce). In a culturally conservative environment where divorces are condemned, women reported separating from their husbands in the most grave situations such as severe domestic violence often stemming from their husband’s substance abuse. Missing out on educational and employment opportunities, often due to early marriage, and left without a breadwinner in a context with minimal institutional resources, many women were forced off a trajectory toward independence, all while managing the multiple emotional traumas and gendered subjugation.

Conclusion: The resurgence of patriarchal cultural and religious traditions, a decline in Soviet ideology that championed women’s equality, the dismantling of Soviet systems of universal child benefits and free child care services as well as an economic crisis that rendered many women unemployed or in low-wage work, has left many women, particularly single-mothers, in precarious social positions. Being left with the Sisyphean task of rearing their children alone often while working full-time for low wages, women felt they had no choice but to to place their children in publicly funded residential care institutions that provide education, food, and clothing. Therefore, to ensure successful reintegration of formerly institutionalized children, deinstitutionalization and family reunification initiatives should include a) an economic component to strengthen family financial stability and prevent future abandonment; b) address parents’ emotional well-being; and c) strengthen networks of social capital.