CHILD-FRIENDLY APPROACHES AND PSYCHOTRAUMA OUTCOMES AMONG RESCUED STREET CHILDREN IN SELECTED CHILDREN’S HOMES IN KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

Abstract

This study was carried out to identify the effect of child-friendly approaches on psychological trauma among rescued street children in three selected Children’s Homes, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. The research established the psycho-trauma outcomes among rescued street children in selected Children’s Homes. It determined the influence of music and dance on psycho-trauma outcomes among rescued street children in selected Children’s Homes; identified the influence of storytelling on psycho-trauma among rescued street children in selected Children’s Homes; and examined the influence of meditation on psycho-trauma among rescued street children in selected Children’s Homes. Moreover, Gestalt Theory and Attachment Theory guided the study. The Mixed-Methods convergent parallel design was employed to collect and analyse quantitative and qualitative data simultaneously. The quantitative data was analysed using statistical methods of the SPSS program. The study used a total sample of 142 rescued streets children of the three selected Children’s Homes. The sampling procedure was the extreme case sampling. The first stage, baseline, consisted in selecting through the intake forms of the children the extreme cases. The study employed PCL-5 Child Self-report to screen the trauma symptoms before and after the intervention. The second stage was the intervention stage, which was the implementation of the child-friendly approaches. The third stage was the post-intervention stage, which consisted on screening the trauma levels after the intervention. The findings revealed that before the intervention the trauma level of all the participants was significantly higher than the level of trauma after intervention. The expected results of the current study show gradually an improvement on the psycho-trauma outcomes among rescued street children of the three selected Children’s Homes, and learning of the new socio-emotional coping skills by the children. The study established that child-friendly approaches such music/dance, storytelling and meditation were effective in treating traumatized rescued street children. In addition, it was noted that the awareness of the personnel on the traumatic experience of the children and its consequences increased, therefore the quality of life and relationships between the caregivers and the children was promoted. The study recommended that the government should support and accompany those institutions that are willingly to work for the wellbeing and protection of street children. This includes training the social workers and caregivers in counselling skills especially when working with traumatized children to compensate where counsellors cannot reach