Chapter 10: Development of multi-disciplinary model for OVC
5. Risks and coping mechanisms
8.3.1 Psychosocial issues
8.3.1.1 Emotional issues
Data collected from paricipnats revealed that OVC deal with several emotional issues which proves that they are troubled and fragile children, They need a lot of support and proper handling. The responses from participants allude to this view and identify several psychosocial issues that confront them.
These issues are discussed below under two sub-themes, which are emotional and social issues. There are also sub-sub-themes under both the emotional and the social issues.
They are discussed and supported by the actual words of participants:
Findings reveal that OVC have many emotional problems. They are emotionally broken and often do not know how to handle and manage their emotions. In some instances, their emotional problems affect their social relationships. In their responses they highlighted the following emotional issues; difficult temperament and anger, deep thinking
and suicidal thoughts and loneliness and isolation. They are then discussed:
Difficult temperament and anger
The responses from participants indicated that OVC tend to have emotional issues such as anxiety, depression and distress. This results in a temperament (or temper) that is difficult to deal with by others, as their anger that is unexplainable.
The following words of participants capture this sentiment:
“Sometimes, I just get angry. I get angry because I cannot change my situation. I am angry because I have no one to talk to. I am angry because I don’t have the things that I need and there is no one to tell”.
She then continues:
“This anger is not limited to one person. I get angry at any person I come across. I also get angry at teachers. I blame other people for my misery”.
This difficult temperament is associated with internal anger they are feeling. It is like a cycle, where they get angry and behave in a certain way, which other people find difficult to deal with. This repels the very people who are supposed to care for them, as they may be lacking a proper understanding of what the children are going through.
Phillips (2015), in trying to explain the source of this anger, argues that it is emanating from the fact they do not have adequate care and protection. This relates well to what the study’s participants articulate. A study conducted by Sebola (2019) attributes this anger to unresolved grief that is not expressed. Makhonza (2018) asserts that the change they experience after the loss of their parents makes them react with anger, which is worsened by the fact that their survival, care, protection and development become compromised because of the expressed anger.
A participant reveals the feelings of anger and frustration they experience when they see family members change after the loss of their parents:
“People we were trusting before we lost parents change; and you will be surprised and have nothing to do. This leaves us with frustration and anger”.
It is as if anger becomes the natural response, because they feel hopeless and helpless, as there is nothing much that they can do to change to their situation. Children need adults to protect them. In the absence of caring and protective adults, they react by being angry. Literature declares anger issues as being a result of the grief that cannot be expressed as already articulated.
Deep thinking and suicidal thoughts
Findings from the participants’ responses reveal that they are preoccupied with thinking.
In their view, their lives revolve around thinking. They think about their parents, especially when they believe that caregivers are not treating them well. When the thinking becomes too much, then suicidal thoughts and the temptations of taking drugs creep in. This is shown by their words as follows:
“We think too much about our parents, especially when we face challenges.
“Sometimes you think, maybe if I go and get drugs I may desensitise myself not to think too much about my problems. I don’t have anyone to take care of me. I am feeling lost. So, drugs is an escape to the pain I am feeling”.
Another participant from a child-headed home shares the view regarding the source of deep thinking and suicidal thoughts:
“The situation is worsened when I don’t have food. And there is no one to tell that there is no food. You think and think that it is better to commit suicide to escape the
pain”.
Another participant corroborates the views of the other participants:
“We think deep, especially when you think that you are not treated right. You think that maybe they do this way, because they know that your parent is not present”.
In one of the schools, one participant highlights it this way:
“We think deep when we are hurt deeply. Sometimes, my caregiver nags me and tells me about what my mother used to do when she was alive. I get so hurt”.
Studies confirm that OVC are likely to be more often depressed than other children, by virtue of being orphans and vulnerable as a result (Saraswat & Unisa, 2017; Makhonza, 2018). A study conducted by Schenk, Ndhlovu, Tembo, Nsune, Nkhata, Walusiku, &
Watts (2008) in Zambia found that children who grew up in vulnerable contexts are more likely to experience traumatic events, feelings of worry and stress, irritability, sadness and they have difficulty in concentrating. This view is shared by a study conducted by Sebola (2019) in South Africa, who asserts that OVC show a higher level of depression than their counterparts.
When these psychosocial issues overwhelm the learners, they tend to feel suicidal or entertain suicidal thoughts. This correlates with what was revealed in a study conducted by Mbatha (2015), which states that some OVC attempt suicide after the loss of parents.
This constant worry by OVC is sometimes also caused by them feeling overburdened, since these children were forced to carry the responsibility of adulthood while still young.
Some of them are family heads, which implies they are carrying the burden of family responsibility. They find it difficult to meet the expectations of coping with taking care of the home and school at the same time. In the researcher `s observation some OVC tend to day dream ans sleep in class. It may be due to the fact that they are both mentally and
emotionally tired.
Loneliness and isolation
Findings show that OVC often experience feelings of loneliness and abandonment, which make them isolate themselves even further. They long for their parents when they see other children with their parents. In their view, they sometimes feel lost:
“I feel lonely when I see what other parents are doing for their children and start to have a wish that maybe if my parents were still alive, I could be having the things I want”.
Another participant adds:
“There are things that need your parent; they don’t need any other person”.
“In some cases, you will be with your friends who start to tell you about the things they do with their parents and what they do for them. You then start to feel lonely and long that you could be having your parents to talk about. When you feel like that, you start to isolate yourself, becauseyou feel you do not fit in their
conversations”.
However, another participant gives a different view, which shows that OVC do not react the same to their vulnerability. This confirms what was discussed in the section 4.3.4 of Chapter 4; vulnerability is individualistic and it shows that some children display strong resilience. They will be happy no matter what has happened to them (Pillay, 2016). This view is captured in these words:
“Some of us are fine even though things are not well. They will socialise with other children as if all is well. But inside, they will be having feelings of loneliness”.
Several studies agree with these findings and reveal that after the loss of their parents, these learners experience prolonged pain, sadness, anxieties, fear, loneliness, despondency and deep-rooted and persistent anger towards their mother (or father) for dying (Mbatha, 2015; Ntuli et al., 2020; Zwane, 2015). Even for those who may not have known their parents, they persistently but silently long for their dead mothers or fathers.
They persistently think about their mothers or fathers, and how difficult life is without them and how life could have been different (Dekeza, 2018).
This relates to what a similar study by Saraswat and Unisa (2017) identified in orphanages in India, where most of OVC feel lonely and often helpless. In addition, they identified stress, depression, yearning for parents, and emotional instability, among others, as some of psychosocial issues they experience. This confirms what has been asserted earlier that children not only have material needs, but do have psychosocial needs.
Howver in the researcher`s practical observation there are others who find a way of improving their lives. Though they have feelings of loneliness, they find ways of coping by socialising with other children.