Neglecting and Violence Toward Children in Orphanage in East Java
Province
Sutinah Sutinah
Sociology Department, FISIP, Universitas Airlangga, Jl. Airlangga 4-6, Surabaya, Indonesia
Keywords: Neglecting, Orphan, Orphanage, Survival Mechanism, Violence Toward Children.
Abstract: This study has purpose to discuss about types of neglecting and violence toward children who live in
orphanage and how they develop survival mechanism to the neglecting and violence that they have gotten.
This research will be done in five cities/towns, they are Surabaya, Malang, Nganjuk, Madiun, and
Probolinggo. There are one hundred neglecting children respondents in each city/town. In-depth interview
will be done to some sources to get more information. The result of this study shows that all of the children
in orphanage are not neglected because almost all of the facilities are completed even though some of
orphanage do not maximize in providing. However, the facilities are almost completed, but they still get bad
treatment especially in physical violence such as hitting, kicking, and pulling ears. Another violence is in
psychological side such as swearing in bad words, threatening, exploitation, and forcing to work. Violencers
are border of orphanage, companion, senior, and friend of the same age. The children of that orphanage only
be quiet and try not to break the rule, even they ignore the violencers. Orphanage is the place to give the
orphans feel safe, but in the reality it cannot fully happen. Based on this situation, there must be
socialization about rights and protection for children rights.
1 BACKGROUND OF THE
STUDY
There is not exact data about the number of
neglected children in Indonesia, but approximately
there are millions of neglected children who do not
get social services (Suyanto, 2012). In 2017, the
number of neglected children are predicted to be
increasing because the poverty spreads in some
areas.
Some of neglected children especially orphans
usually live in some orphanages. The boarders of
orphanage look after the orphans. The neglected
children who live in orphanage not only need a
protection and basic stuff but also the guaranty and
opportunity to grow up well. Although there are a lot
of people who give their sympathy and care to this
children, but they are still usually placed as the
wrong side. Because of this, they are being the
victim of exploitation children by some people who
want to get benefit from their life, neglecting them
or taking their rights.
Kementrian Sosial and UNICEF (2015) did some
researches in six provinces to get a comprehensive
overview about the caring quality toward orphans in
orphanage named Panti Sosial Asuhan Anak
(PSAA) in Indonesia. There are some main finding
of the research. First, orphanage has more function
as an institution that provides education access for
children rather than being the last alternative in
caring children who cannot be taken care by their
parents or family. Second, children who usually live
in orphanage still have parent. They are sent to
orphanage in case to get higher education. Third, for
educational purpose, the children have to stay in
orphanage for a little bit longer at least until the
graduate from senior high school. They also have to
join coaching rather than get caring which is should
gotten by them. Fourth, orphanage boarder does not
have enough knowledge about children condition
that should be cared in orphanage and how to take
care of them.
Meanwhile, other research that has been done by
Kementrian Sosial and UNICEF (2015) to sixty
children from six orphanages in West Kalimantan
and Maluku shows the daily life of them inside and
outside the orphanage. Children commonly worry
about their condition after they graduate from senior
high school. It is because of less support that they
Sutinah, S.
Neglecting and Violence Toward Children in Or phanage in East Java Province.
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education (ICSE 2017) - Volume 2, pages 355-359
ISBN: 978-989-758-316-2
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
355

get when they are in orphanage, further relationship
with family, and losing of hometown friend even
orphanage neighbourhood when they leave
orphanage. Those effects make the children confuse
and worry. (Jufri, 2011)
The existence of orphanage in some cities or
towns in East Java are hypothec to have the same
problem with other common orphanage. Physically,
treatment and threatening that have to be faced by
children are not so dramatic when we hear or see the
violence toward children such as seeing a girl victim
of raping, physically violence victim, or violencing
until death. Although the physical appearance is not
much, but neglected children get a lot of social and
psychological threatening. In individually stage,
children who are usually neglected will grow as an
inferior person, having lack of confidence, or
oppositely such as aggressive and naughty to get
attention from people around. They even commit to
do criminality because they are not looked after by
the right person and surrounded by wrong
association.
This study has purpose to discuss some types of
neglecting and violence that has been gotten by
children who live in orphanage. Another purpose is
having strategy about survival mechanism that has to
be developed by children who live in orphanage to
do the strategy when they get neglecting and
violence.
2 METHODS
The purposes of this study are to discuss some types
of neglecting and violence that has been gotten by
children who live in orphanage and get strategy
about survival mechanism that has to be developed
by children who live in orphanage to do the strategy
when they get neglecting and violence. It is
categorized as descriptive study.
This study is approached in five areas, they are
Surabaya, Malang, Nganjuk, Madiun, and
Probolinggo. Researcher chooses those five cities
and towns because they have a lot of orphanages. In
each city or town, the researcher selects one hundred
children who live in orphanage in the purposive
way. There are five hundred children in total.
Based on primary data from structured interview,
researcher uses questionnaire to get the data. This
data shows the neglecting condition and violence
toward children in orphanage. Beside this structured
interview, there is in-depth interview to some
sources for getting data that has been gotten from
structured interview.
Beside data that has been gotten from children
who live in orphanage, there are some data from
Biro Pusat Statistik (Central Bureau of Statistics)
and Dinas Sosial Provinsi Jawa Timur (Social
Services of East Java Province) to know the number
of orphanage spreads.
Data analysis is approached to all data that has
been collected, including primary and secondary
data. Data from structured interview is processed by
using SPSS. Then, it is classified and arranged into
frequency table. After that, researcher makes an
interpretation by giving a meaning that is
appropriate to the theme or discussed problem.
Especially for data that is taken from in-depth
interview, it will be classified and interpreted to
make quantitative data analysis obvious.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Neglecting Children in Orphanage
It can be found from this study that generally in
orphanage, children are given meal three times in a
day. 78% of children in orphanage say that they can
take rice as much as they want but they cannot take
side dish as much as they want because it has been
allocated for each person. 12% children in
orphanage say that they can get rice and side dish as
much as they want. 10% of children in orphanage
say that they can take rice as much as they want but
they cannot take side dish as much as they want. It is
admitted by border in orphanage because they have
a limit budget, so their food is also limited.
Actually, there are not a lot of orphanages that
provide additional food. Based on data, there are
69,8% of orphanages seldom give additional food
such as cake, but 30,2% orphanages often give cake
as an additional food. 95,5% of children say that
they often get milk as the additional food, it is only
4,5% who do not get milk as the additional food.
Fruits as healthy unsure of food are often given in
59,2% orphanages, but 40% orphanages seldom give
it. Fruits that are given to them based on the harvest
season of the fruits. Beside the main dishes, ideally
they also get snack twice in a day (Lee and svevo
2009).
Dishes menu should be served consider children
taste who live in orphanage (Ramiro et al., 2010).
This study finds most of children who live in
orphanage never discuss about the menu. 67%
seldom, 13% never, and 20% often have discussion
but just in the beginning of entering the orphanage.
Based on in-depth interview, children who live in
ICSE 2017 - 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education
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orphanage say that living in orphanage are different
from living at home because in orphanage they
always eat three times in a day, but not at home
because of poverty.
For food needs, children who live in orphanage
have to eat high nutrition food in fit portion as long
as they live in orphanage every day. The applicable
standard is three times meal and twice coffee break
(snack) in a day (Pierce and Bozalek, 2009).
It is shown through this study that all children
(100%) say that they get minimum 3 clothes and
four clothe types of school uniforms. There is a batik
clothe and a sport clothe. 95,6% children get sport
clothe, 99% children get praying clothe such as
sarung and mukena. 87% children get sajadah. 49%
of children get batik clothe and the rest of it do not
get it.
Beside clothes, there is data that shows all of
children in orphanage get their own stationary and
tool for school such as book (notebook), pen, pencil,
shoes. But no all of the students have guiding book
for every subject. 41% children in orphanage have
all of the guiding book, 39% of children in
orphanage have most of all guiding book, 20% of
children in orphanage have a few of it. The boarder
of orphanage say that notebook is the important part
of learning process provided for children who live in
orphanage. The aim is to make the learning process
going well. One mission in the orphanage is
supporting the education of children who live in.
There are some facilities that are supported such as
tools for learning, transportation, teaching process,
and other facilities for academic purpose (Webster,
2006).
Beside education facilities such as notebook,
stationary, and school uniform, there is also other
facility that is provided for children in orphanage
like non-formal teacher (tutor). According to
children, 12% of them say that tutors adequate in
teaching, 49,5% of them say that tutors do not
adequate in teaching, and 38,5% of them say that
there is not any tutor who teaches them, so they are
let to learn by themselves.
Based on the data of health facility in orphanage,
it shows that just a few of it. 7% of children in
orphanage say that they do health check-up every six
months. 71% of them say that they seldom do health
check-up. 22% of them say that they never do health
check-up. Beside doing regularly check-up, children
have to be provided an access to get insurance from
health program by orphanage where they live. It can
be health program that is held by government or
society. To make sure that children will get health
service, they need to have Jaminan Pelayanan
Kesehatan (Health Service Guaranty) card, for
example joining BPJS. In fact, there are some
orphanages that have not provide health access to
children who live there. In terms, children have to do
health check-up every six months.
It is found from this study that most of the
neglected children do not have health insurance.
73,7% of neglected children do not have health
insurance and 26,3% of children who live in
orphanage do not have health insurance too. It
means, they cannot get healthy service when they do
not have the insurance. Orphanage that has provided
health insurance to the children who live in will not
get any problem when the children get sick and need
an intensive treatment like hospitalized or outpatient
that needs a lot of cost. It will be different from
other side when children who live in orphanage do
not join insurance. Orphanage will get problem by
paying a lot of cost for health treatment for children
who is suddenly get sick.
Ideally, orphanage will take the best decision
when there is child who is sick, but in this study
there is a fact that 43,6% orphanage boarder will
take care of the children by giving the common
medicine in orphanage, 52,7% will take them to
Puskesmas (Society health centre in village or small
district), and the rest of it (3,7%) will be taken to
hospital. Taking to the hospital is usually done when
Puskesmas cannot handle the patient. According to
children who live in orphanage, they are event just
provided by a few common medicine that can be
bought in the drugstore such as medicine for
influenza, diarrhea, wounds, and cold.
To prevent children in orphanage, get sick,
orphanage boarders should promote and provide
some facilities that are needed for supporting clean
and healthy life in the daily activities. Some things
to keep the healthy life are soap, toothbrush, and so
on should be provided by orphanage boarders for
children who live in (White and Tjandraningsih,
2000a). Some personal needs such as soap,
toothbrush, toothpaste, towel, and tampons for girl
are also provided by orphanage boarders based on
what is found in this study.
Orphanage role in giving children rights
especially does not only accommodate and do
training to children in orphanage but also provide
some facilities that are needed by children. Children
who live in orphanage do not only need place for
living but also proper basic facilities such as
bathroom, clean and health facility, cupboard, study
room, including facilities in bedroom.
In this study, it can be found that tools such as
cupboard, sport facility, playground, study room,
Neglecting and Violence Toward Children in Orphanage in East Java Province
357

library, and bathroom are separated between male
and female including facilities in bedroom such as
bed, wardrobe, desk, mirror, etc. All of the facilities
are provided by orphanage, but it is not adequate
based on 70% of children statement.
Finding of this study about providing food for
children shows almost all of children in orphanage
get three times meal in a day. The educational needs
are provided well too such as uniform, stationary,
book, shoes, and additional money for them. But,
health needs are still not provided well because a
few of them who have health guaranty card and first
aid medicine.
3.2 Violence and Survival Mechanism
This study shows that children who live in
orphanage get some violences such as swearing in
bad words, threatening, exploitation, and forcing to
work. It shows that orphanage environment or
educational institution that is normatively thought as
the safest place for children still cannot give the
guaranty. In the other word, violence can happen to
children everywhere. They get two kinds of
violences, they are physically violence and
psychologically violence. The psychologically
violences that they get are sweared in a bad word,
threatened, locked in the close room, etc (Mmari,
2011).
People who do this violence usually have close
relationship, even they are people who have
responsibility to take care of the children in
orphanage. Violencers are border of orphanage,
companion, senior, and friend of the same age.
Case of bullying and violence do not only
happen in military institution but also in orphanage
environment which build close relationship among
boarders, companions and children. In the other
words, violence can happen everywhere to everyone
even in a close relationship (Pierce and Bozalek,
2009).
Children in orphanage who are being victim of
violence has strategy to prevent the repetition of
violence that they get. Things that they usually do
are being quiet and trying not to break the rule,
pretending as a good child, etc. It means, they have
known the strategy when they get violence (White,
and Tjandraningsih, 2000). As people know that
neglecting and violence toward children are never
exposed in media. It makes people do not know that
neglecting and violence also happen in educational
institution and orphanage.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Based on the explanation above, it can be concluded
that violence still happens toward children,
especially physically and psychologically violence.
Violencers are border of orphanage, companion,
senior, and friend of the same age. Based on this
situation, there must be socialization about rights
and protection for children rights. This socialization
is given to border of orphanage, companion, senior,
and children in orphanage.
Survival mechanism that is developed by
children as victim of violence are being quiet and
trying not to break the rule, even they ignore the
violencers. Children do not have power to against
them because children depend their life in
orphanage. Because of this, it is important to give an
explanation about children rights. It is important to
be known by children, so they can develop this
mechanism as a strategy if neglecting and violence
toward children will happen.
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