Ghetto Kids: Here's the reality of 'orphanages' around the world

Ghetto Kids warmed hearts around the world after earning the coveted "golden buzzer" on Britain's Got Talent. [Courtesy

Studies have revealed that numerous children are victims of exploitation and trafficking into institutions. In some cases, orphanage owners recruit or traffic children to establish "voluntourism" programmes. They can profit from overseas volunteers who pay to spend time with "orphans".

The orphan myth

In my research in Thailand parents told my colleagues and I that they were dissuaded from visiting their children in the homes. This was to avoid the parents from encountering donors who believed the children were orphans. Researchers describe this false narrative as the "orphan myth".

There is no evidence that the Ghetto Kids home engages in these exploitative practices, but Britain's Got Talent risks perpetuating this myth in how it frames their story. Press coverage, and the children themselves, refer to the home as an orphanage. However, Kavuma Dauda, the founder of the troupe, has only said that "some" of the children are orphans. (Britain's Got Talent did not respond to The Conversation's request for comment.)

In many countries, children are rarely placed into care due to orphanhood or concerns about abuse. More often, the driver is poverty and resources. In Thailand, we found that parents often placed their children in care to ensure access to basic needs, food, healthcare and education.

For a family living in poverty, the experiences of children from organisations like Ghetto Kids - attending university, finding career success or international dance fame - might present an opportunity to give their children a better life. However, these opportunities can come at a significant cost: a childhood apart from their families.

Decades of research has highlighted the negative outcomes for children in institutional forms of care around the world. The staff-to-child ratio in institutions often affects the staff's ability to nurture the children. This is often compounded by the staff members being on shift patterns that result in inconsistent care. Children in some settings can experience an estimated 50 to 100 different caregivers in the space of a year.

A systematic review of the literature concluded that institutional care has a negative impact on children's attachment. Other studies have reported lower IQ scores and impaired physical growth in institutionalised children compared to those in family-based care. This has led researchers to argue that institutional care can be considered a form of child maltreatment, and described this as a form of structural neglect.