Growing from Grass to Grace - Preventing family separation through empowerment

Sammanfattning: Child institutionalization is a common and growing phenomenon embedded in today’s Ugandan society, with a variety of socio-economic factors contributing to it. The increase of child institutionalization has coincided with an increase of research into the developmental effects of growing up in institutional care, which proved to have negative impacts on a child’s cognitive, physical and social-emotional development. The increased awareness about the negative developmental effects in combination with increased awareness about the positive developmental effects of growing up in family care, has resulted in the implementation of policies and frameworks prioritizing the improvement and expansion of family strengthening support services. By using Amartya Sen’s capability approach as a theoretical framework, this study aimed to illustrate if a family separation prevention intervention as provided at Abide Family Center can act as a development tool to empower caregivers and prevent family separation in Uganda. Through in-depth interviews I have been able to conclude that by empowering caregivers and providing them the opportunity to become an agent in their own life, the caregivers are now able to keep their families together.