Oqallinnermi meeqqat tusaaneqarnerulernissaat anguniaraa

A new book about children placed in care in Greenland has seen the light of day. With ‘Children’s homes or orphanages – Greenlandic children placed outside the home’, associate professor Bonnie Jensen from Ilisimatusarfik focuses on the children’s field and has a particular focus on children’s homes, also known as residential institutions.

Bonnie Jensen says:

Bonnie Jensen says:

– The book is written based on my PhD project, where I spoke to 38 children and young people. In connection with the book, I subsequently re-interviewed some of them several years later to hear how things had gone for them.

In your work, you have chosen a very clear focus on hearing from the children themselves rather than, for example, the principals or parents. Why is that?

– It is really, really necessary that we listen to the voices of children, because it is their lives that are at stake. Yes, the rest of us have also been children and young people ourselves, but back then the world looked different. It is our responsibility to understand how children feel, and thus what help we can give them – also in relation to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

– It is common in many stories that the children do not understand what is going on in their lives, and they do not feel heard and seen, says Bonnie Jensen.

For example, 14-year-old Aputsiaq and Cedrik say they don't know why they even live in an institution, and 16-year-old Ejnar is afraid of when he will have to move again (all the children's names have been changed).

Good stories exist

It is well known that children in institutions are more likely to have other problems, both as children and later in adulthood.

Bonnie Jensen has had some tough conversations and even left out some of the worst details in some stories. But that's exactly why it's important to keep in mind that it's not all bad, she says.

– It was good and important to also describe some of the good stories. We must remember that there are places where it works, says Bonnie Jensen.

What is a good story? 

– Hulda's story is an example of that. She is also one of those I re-interview in the book. Hulda has dreams and ambitions, and then she has been given opportunities to actually live them out.

Hulda was placed in an institution when she was eight years old because of alcohol problems in her family. She was interviewed by Bonnie Jensen for the first time when she was 17. Hulda said, among other things:

– Of course it can be difficult, there are rules and we have to clean up, and sometimes you don't want to. It's hard, but that's life. I often think about what would have happened if I hadn't come to the orphanage.

Five years later, Hulda has made good progress, thanks in part to a well-functioning aftercare program, notes Bonnie Jensen. It is a support system that prepares her for adulthood.

Hulda herself believes she has been lucky. She is right, adds Bonnie Jensen.

– Hulda was one of those who won the placement lottery. She has been in a place that has helped her get where she wants to go, says the associate professor.

Now that the book about and with children has been written, Bonnie Jensen hopes that it can inspire a good debate among adults, especially those adults who make important and complicated decisions in this area.

– I hope we can look at whether we are placing too many children and what we can do to avoid continuing to do so, says Bonnie Jensen.

Placements can be avoided with preventive, family-oriented work, she explains.

– Some children end up in foster care because their parents become homeless or can't make ends meet. It doesn't necessarily mean that those parents are really bad and that the children should be removed. It could also mean that those parents need more help.

Some places are better than others

The author also believes that in some cases more can be done to keep children within their families in a so-called network placement. That said, there will of course still be orphanages in the future, which must function as best as possible.

– The children's stories tell me that there are significant differences in quality at the institutions in question. There were coincidences where several positive stories came from the same places – and similar ones with the negative ones, says Bonnie Jensen.

Smaller institutions generally seem to function better, the author concludes in his book.

– It would be very interesting to learn more about the differences in orphanages, and exactly what the best places do right, she says.

'Children's home or orphanage - Greenlandic children placed outside the home' has been published by Aarhus University Press with support from Ilisimatusarfik.