Can I tell you my story? : understanding and explaining the adverse experiences of Ugandan children within transition to an orphanage in Kampala : a critical hermeneutic inquiry

• Main Author: Bunyan, Elle
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh 2023

Situated at the interface between Psychology and Sociology, this thesis and related academic publications focus on the experiences of Ugandan children living within an orphanage, also known as a childcare institution (CCI), in Kampala. Aiming to develop understandings of the children's adverse experiences within the context of transition from familial home to a CCI, to inform responses aimed at alleviating the adversity they face, this work was multidimensional. Embracing psychology's concern with the individual and sociology's critical intrigue in the social, this qualitative research assumed a bricolage approach that surpasses disciplinary and paradigmatic boundaries, to explore and integrate dimensions such as: the children's life stories (n=30), the perspectives of adult local community members (n=14) and CCI operatives (n=2), and autoethnographic critical reflections. In so doing, facilitated by a critical hermeneutic methodology, the study comprised several strands synthesised in what follows, including autoethnography, exploration of children's transition from home to a CCI through their narratives, a case study problematising the influence of western actors through the prism of children's narratives, and exploration of the perspectives of the adult participant sample concerning the issues that shape the lives of children within their community.