Surname 7 Academic Writing Research 1320 Joseph Trimble 19 October, 2015 Abandoned Children The term abandonment of children refers to the failure of a parent or guardian to provide support to his/her children as per the requirement of the court of law. Similarly, the practice of leaving a child at the doorstep of a stranger when he or she is not at home has been classified as child abandonment. Generally, child abandonment is witnessed when a person in charge of a child, a guardian, or a parent fails to provide all the basic needs to a child or deserts his/her child without putting into consideration the physical health and the general welfare of the child. According to UNICEF, more than 400,000,000 abandoned children from all over the world live on their own in various streets especially in all the major towns in different countries. More often than not, we are reminded in the bible to, "Care for the orphan" and to "Care for the fatherless." Because if we don't reach out to them, then who will? Rather than asking the question, Why me? We should instead ask the question, Why not me? As members of the society we should act with immediate effect before this problem gets out of our hands. Different authors have conducted extensive research on some of the core causes of abandoned children or abandonment of children by their guardians or by their parents. Donlon, Lake, Pope, Shaw, and Haskett M (2014), argues that the root cause of abandonment of children is unwanted pregnancies especially among the youth. I do agree with Donlon et.al. that cases of abandoned children especially in the developing countries have been increasing at a high rate because a good number of the youths more so those at adolescent stage are getting pregnant. In order to curb or to reduce this problem then it will be a prudent idea for policy makers in the education sector to introduce sex education as part of the school syllabus. By doing this, youths especially young girls and boys at adolescent stage will be given information on unprotected sex as well as ways in which they can make informed choices. Considering the fact that, knowledge is power, the sex education will equip knowledge to these youths on the consequences of unplanned pregnancies thus we will rest assured of witnessing a substantive reduction in the number of cases of abandoned children in our society. On their Nelson, Fox and Zeanah, (2013) argue that cases of abandoned children arise as a result of the weakening of our family setup or family institutions. Indeed this argument is very true and as a matter of fact, technological advancement and globalization has created a society whereby parents no longer take the responsibility of bringing up their children however they delegate this duty to other people whom they employ. For the case of the United States of America, nearly all parents who are employed are full time workers thus they spend 10 or even more hours in their places of work. As a resu ...

1. Surname 7
Academic Writing Research 1320
Joseph Trimble
19 October, 2015
Abandoned Children
The term abandonment of children refers to the failure of a
parent or guardian to provide support to his/her children as per
the requirement of the court of law. Similarly, the practice of
leaving a child at the doorstep of a stranger when he or she is
not at home has been classified as child abandonment.
Generally, child abandonment is witnessed when a person in
charge of a child, a guardian, or a parent fails to provide all the
basic needs to a child or deserts his/her child without putting
into consideration the physical health and the general welfare of
the child. According to UNICEF, more than 400,000,000
abandoned children from all over the world live on their own in
various streets especially in all the major towns in different
countries. More often than not, we are reminded in the bible to,
"Care for the orphan" and to "Care for the fatherless." Because
if we don't reach out to them, then who will? Rather than asking
the question, Why me? We should instead ask the question, Why
not me? As members of the society we should act with
immediate effect before this problem gets out of our hands.
Different authors have conducted extensive research on
some of the core causes of abandoned children or abandonment
of children by their guardians or by their parents. Donlon, Lake,
Pope, Shaw, and Haskett M (2014), argues that the root cause of
abandonment of children is unwanted pregnancies especially
among the youth. I do agree with Donlon et.al. that cases of
abandoned children especially in the developing countries have
been increasing at a high rate because a good number of the
youths more so those at adolescent stage are getting pregnant.
In order to curb or to reduce this problem then it will be a

2. prudent idea for policy makers in the education sector to
introduce sex education as part of the school syllabus. By doing
this, youths especially young girls and boys at adolescent stage
will be given information on unprotected sex as well as ways in
which they can make informed choices. Considering the fact
that, knowledge is power, the sex education will equip
knowledge to these youths on the consequences of unplanned
pregnancies thus we will rest assured of witnessing a
substantive reduction in the number of cases of abandoned
children in our society.
On their Nelson, Fox and Zeanah, (2013) argue that cases
of abandoned children arise as a result of the weakening of our
family setup or family institutions. Indeed this argument is very
true and as a matter of fact, technological advancement and
globalization has created a society whereby parents no longer
take the responsibility of bringing up their children however
they delegate this duty to other people whom they employ. For
the case of the United States of America, nearly all parents who
are employed are full time workers thus they spend 10 or even
more hours in their places of work. As a result of this children
end up growing without the experience of their parental love. In
fact our present day parents are interested in career and work
development thus they don’t have enough time to spend with
their children. In my view, parents should remember that
children are a gift from God thus they should be close to them
as much as possible. The point here is that, children do bring
you to their parents and above all when parents get old then it’s
their children who will take care of them. Therefore, there is an
urgent need for parents to create more time which they will
spend with their children and we will rest assured of reducing
cases of abandoned children in our societies.
While assessing some of the challenges faced by troubled
children, Nelson, Fox and Zeanah, (2013) states that most of
them especially those in the streets do have trouble sleeping. In
addition to this Nelson, Fox and Zeanah, (2013) says that quite
a number of abandoned children feel betrayed by their parents

3. or guardians who were looking after them before they were
abandoned. I do agree with this sentiments and from my
personal observations I can add that abandoned children end up
experiencing a lot of difficulty when it comes to concentration
on school work thus their performance is dismal or totally poor.
Fig1..Abandoned child
Furthermore abandoned children are susceptible to chronic
illness or chronic diseases among other types of diseases. I do
believe there is an urgent need for healthcare professionals and
psychologists to work hand in hand with these children, with
their guardians, parents, as well as with their teachers so as to
ensure that their special needs are gathered for.
Fig2.Abandoned child crying
In my opinion, the government and non-governmental
organization as well as members of the society should play a
vital role if we are to avoid or if we are to reduce the number of
children who are abandoned on daily basis. Van den Berg,
(2015) argues that, there is an urgent need for the government
to enforce a law that is geared at ensuring that all parents and
guardians are held responsible in providing their children with
the basic needs. In addition to this, the police should be trained
on how they can make use of new techniques such as DNA test
in finding out the parents of those children who have been
abandoned by their parents or by their guardians.
Besides that, Van den Berg, (2015) argues that there is an
urgent need for the government as well as the Non-
Governmental Organization to ensure that they provide shelter
or homes to pregnant girls as well as to the abandoned children
who are out there in the street. As mentioned above, the root
cause of abandoned children is unwanted pregnancy especially
among young girls who are unwed or those who are not
employed. Basically, bringing up a young child poses a great
challenge to not only unmarried women but also to married
couples thus some abandon their children as a way to escape

4. from the big responsibility of bringing up a child. In setting up
homes for pregnant girls and the abandoned children, the
government should ensure that these individuals are provided
with counseling services. This will help them to overcome
depression that they are undergoing and in addition to this,
counseling services will help them to adapt in their new
environment. It is equally important, for the government and the
Non-Governmental Organizations to help the abandoned
children to find their parents and ensure that they provide them
with all the basic needs and good care as per the constitution.
By doing this, parents will not risk abandoning their children
because they know very well that if they do so then they will
face the full force of the law.
Furthermore Suárez and Marshall, (2015) states
categorically that media can play a vital role in overcoming this
problem of abandoned children. It is quite evident that we live
in a global village whereby we are connected by technology
thus technology can help us overcome social challenges that we
are facing such as abandoned children. As concerned citizens
and members of a society we need to create awareness among
our friends, our families, and in our society at large on the
importance of providing children with their basic needs as their
parents or as their guardians. In addition to this, we should use
various media platforms that are available such as Twitter,
emails, Television, and radio among other forms to educate or
to remind members of the society on how they can help
abandoned babies as well as the importance of taking care of
their beloved children given to them by God.
Fig3. Abandoned child
To sum up my essay, I can attest that the problem of
abandoned children is increasingly become a threat to the social
organization of our society. As I have noted earlier, it is
estimated that more than 400,000,000 children from all parts of
the world have been classified as abandoned because their
parents or their guardians are not responsible. It is very clear

5. that the root cause of abandoned children is unplanned
pregnancy especially among the youths who are not employed
thus because they lack financial ability they abandon their
children at the expense of strangers or at the expense of the
government. Secondly, it has comes out clearly that abandoned
children face a number of challenges and they include: trouble
sleeping, chronic diseases among other problems. That said,
government and non-governmental organization should play a
vital role in the fight against this problem of child
abandonment. Among the roles to be played by the government
include: formulation and implementation of laws that will put
parents and guardians on the radar, supporting non-
governmental organizations that are tasked with provision of
support to homes established to help abandoned children.
Moreover, policy makers should include sex education in school
syllabus and we will rest assured of having a group of youths
who are well informed about their bodies.
Work Cited
Donlon P, Lake J, Pope E, Shaw C, Haskett M. Community
Action Targeting Children Who Are Homeless (CATCH):
Addressing the Mental Health and Developmental Needs of
Children Experiencing Homelessness. Families In
Society [serial online]. July 2014;95(3):163-170. Available
from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed
October 14, 2015.
Nelson Iii C, Fox N, Zeanah J. Anguish of the Abandoned
Child. Scientific American [serial online]. April 2013;
308(4):62-67. Available from: Academic Search Complete,
Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 14, 2015.
Suárez D, Marshall J. Capacity in the NGO Sector: Results from
a National Survey in Cambodia. Voluntas: International Journal
Of Voluntary & Nonprofit Organizations [serial online].
February 2014; 25(1):176-200. Available from: Academic
Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 14, 2015.
Van den Berg R. Providing a containing space for unbearable

6. feelings. Psycho-Analytic Psychotherapy In South Africa [serial
online]. July 2014; 22(2):1-18. Available from: Academic
Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 14, 2015.
Surname 5
Academic Writing 1320
Mr. Joseph Trimble
10 October 2015
Abandoned Children-Annotated Bibliography
Donlon, Lake, Pope, Shaw, and Haskett M. Community Action
Targeting Children Who Are Homeless (CATCH): Addressing
the Mental Health and Developmental Needs of Children
Experiencing Homelessness. Families In Society [serial online].
July 2014; 95(3):163-170. Available from: Academic Search
Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 14, 2015.
The authors of this journal article are interested in a
collaborative community project whose main aim is to help
abandoned children of children who are homeless and they are
facing mental health problems. The idea here is that these
children are faced with the double burden that is to overcome
the mental problem which they are undergoing and secondly the
problem of homeless. The authors argues that, though
abandoned children face a number of risk factors outside there,
limited attention from the government as well as from members
of the society is paid so as to understand these children and
above all to help these children address their individual needs
which are totally different from the needs of other children who
are not abandoned.
The authors of this journal article give an example of the
Community Action Targeting Children whose main aim is to
meet the needs abandoned children and those children who are
homeless. According to the authors of this journal article, the
Community Action Targeting Children was established
purposely to help in the overal development of children who are

7. homeless or those who have been abandoned by their parents
cum guardians. Generally, the authors of this journal article
give a brief discussion on the rational for the establishment of
the Community Action Targeting Children which has played a
vital role in helping abandoned children. Similarly, the author
of this journal article do give a detailed description of some of
the goals of the Community Action Targeting Children as well
as the main strategies which should be implemented by
stakeholders in order to ensure that these goals are met. Lastly,
the authors of this journal article gives us a brief analysis of
some of the lessons we can learn from the Community Action
Targeting Children project especially when it comes to the issue
of abandoned children.
Nelson Iii , Fox , and Zeanah . Anguish of the Abandoned
Child. Scientific American [serial online]. April 2013;
308(4):62-67. Available from: Academic Search Complete,
Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 14, 2015.
The main theme for this journal article is psychological impact
of institutionalization of abandoned children in Romania. In
addition to this, the authors of this journal gives a comparative
study on the emotional well-being of abandoned children that
are raised in a foster care and those children who are brought up
by their parents in the United States of America. Furthermore,
the authors of this journal article give a closer analysis of the
impacts of 1966 mandate from Romanian president Nicolae
Ceaușescu. According to the journal article, President Nicolae
Ceaușescu of Romania banned the use of contraceptives as well
as abortion and this led to a significant increase in the number
of abandoned children in Romania.
For the case of US, the authors of this journal article states
categorically that, there is a big disparity in terms of brain
development between abandoned children who are raised in a
foster care and those children who are brought up by their
parents. Accordingly, abandoned children who are raised in a
foster care do experience slow brain development as compared
to their counterparts who are brought up by their parents. On

8. the same note, children in the foster care units do experience
mental health problems at a high rate as compared to those ones
who are raised by their parents in their homes. It is quite
evident from this essay that abandoned children are
disadvantaged as compared to their counterparts who are
brought up by their parents or guardians as per the constitution
or as per the law. This journal article proposes that parents or
guardians who are guilty of abandoning their children should be
held responsible for this and they should face the full force of
the law in order to make them responsible and to enable them to
bring up responsible citizens who will help our country as well
as our neighboring countries and the whole world at large.
Suárez D, Marshall J. Capacity in the NGO Sector: Results from
a National Survey in Cambodia. Voluntas: International Journal
Of Voluntary & Nonprofit Organizations [serial online].
February 2014; 25(1):176-200. Available from: Academic
Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 14, 2015.
The authors of this journal article argues that capacity has been
the main them in different literatures presented by on
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the last few years.
The authors of this article conduct a critical analysis of local
and international Non-governmental organization that are
working or which are offering their services to abandoned
children in Cambodia. The main interest of the authors was to
get a clear understanding of organizational dimensions
associated with local and internal nongovernmental
organizations that are tasked with taking care of abandoned
children in Cambodia. Some of the issues highlighted in this
article include: concrete management practices and structural
characteristics of these non-governmental organization in
relation to issues such as abandoned children in Cambodia.
Generally, this article has highlighted a number of issues and
problems that are faced by abandoned children as well as those
who are termed as homeless not only in the United States of
America but also in other countries outside North America.
According to the authors of this journal article, the international

9. non-governmental organizations ate better placed in such a way
that they are in a position to help or to handle issues of
abandoned children. Generally, as per this journal article, non-
governmental organizations are categorized into four distinct
classes on the basis of their capacity to handle abandoned
children as well as their ability to provide additional insights to
the societal needs especially the needs of abandoned children so
as to gather for diversity in the society. The authors of this
journal article concludes their study by mentioning that non-
governmental organizations are key stakeholders when it comes
to helping abandoned children in the society. Therefore, there is
an urgent need for these non-governmental organizations to
come up with capacity-building programs that will help
abandoned children. On the same note, there is an urgent need
for non-governmental organizations to design an agenda that
will be used as a guideline in monitoring the overal progress of
those children who are abandoned in our society.
Van den Berg R. Providing a containing space for unbearable
feelings. Psycho-Analytic Psychotherapy In South Africa [serial
online]. July 2014; 22(2):1-18. Available from: Academic
Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 14, 2015.
The authors of this journal article explore therapeutic
intervention process that is geared towards the overal
establishment of a group of support staff group. This support
staff group is tasked with the responsibility to ensure that
abandoned children are provided with the needed care and
support. On the same note, the authors of this journal article
have identified resistance of staff support group in an attempt to
equip these individuals with adequate knowledge on how they
can help abandoned children in our society. In addition to this,
the authors have make it clear that defensive practice to contain
feelings of anger, anxiety, and sadness among the abandoned
children poses a great challenge to personnel who are tasked
with the responsibility of ensuring that the needs of abandoned
children are met with immediate effect by the personnel
concerned. It is very clear from this journal article that the

10. problem of abandoned children has become universal and in fact
statistics shows that there is a sharp increase in the number of
abandoned children in the entire globe. The question is who is
to blame for this problem? Is it the government? Is it the
church? Or is it our society that has lost its virtues of valuing a
child as a lifelong asset? These questions have remained a
mystery because neither the above mentioned organs are ready
to carry the blame, thus there is an urgent need for all the
bodies to sit down in a round table and come up with amicable
solution that will ensure that all children are brought up in a
suitable living environment.
When it comes to intervention, the authors of this journal article
puts a lot of emphasis of psychotherapist whose main work is to
take the abandoned children to a kind of therapy that will enable
him or her to adapt to the new changes in the environment. In
addition to this, the authors of this journal article argues that
there is an urgent need for the employment of experts who are
equipped with knowledge and skills on how to handle
abandoned students or students who are depressed. In addition
to this, the author of this journal article emphasis the
importance of government in ensuring providing training to
clinical experts or psychotherapists who will help the
abandoned children with the necessary therapy. In addition to
this, the government plays a vital role in providing training and
training facilities to counselors whose responsibility is to guide
and provide counseling services to the abandoned children.