Orphans in orphanages of Kashmir “and their Psychological problems

Abstract

The number of orphans is increasing day by day in India in general and in Jammu and Kashmir in particular. Besides, the trend of institutionalizing them is spreading easily in the society, which had its own traditional mechanism of rehabilitation and care/support. This study thus examined the effect of institutionalization on orphans and aimed to find out the psychological impact on orphans. The methodology applied for this study was mixed method design, where qualitative method was used for collecting facts and figures that already exist and quantitative method was used for obtaining new inputs. Interview schedule was used to collect the data from the respondents. The study shows that conflict is the major reason why there was increase in the number of orphans in Kashmir. It also pointed out the fact that most of the orphans face psychological problems and almost all agreed that their adjustment in conventional society will be difficult after they leave the institutions.