Abstract
M.A.
Teachers and child care workers continue to perform important roles in the lives of
children who have been placed in institutions of care. In institutions to which
children have been referred for uncontrollable behaviour, it is evident that the
children’s behaviour is compounded by their separation from families and they
exhibit further behavioural problems in the school. The aims of the study were: to
describe family life experiences of children from blended families placed in
Emmasdal School of Industries; and, to make recommendations that sensitize
teachers and child care workers to the struggles these children face. This study
was conducted in Emmasdal School of Industries, Heidelberg (Gauteng).
Selection of this site was informed by a concern for the insensitive handling of
children in the school by staff members, where I am employed as a social worker.
Family systems theory and developmental family approaches were used to
illuminate the dynamic interplay of sub-systems within blended families (Popple &
Vecchiolla, 2007; Hetherington, 2005). Two crucial concepts relevant to this
study included family adaptability and family cohesion, which were deficient in the
blended family experiences of children participating in this study.The research approach of the study was qualitative as the goal was to describe
and analyse children’s lived experiences from their own standpoint. A pilot study
was conducted followed by individual interviews with six children who came from
blended families.