Abstract:

Representing the emotional bond formed through the care process and interactions between the newborn child and the mother is an important acquisition for the social and emotional development of the children in the early development period. Because early childhood is a critical stage of connectivity, problems such as the experience of an uncertain connectivity during this period, the interruption of connectivity or the failure to create a safe connectivity continue to have negative effects in subsequent developmental periods through mental mechanisms called internal working models. Children who are separated from their mothers and protected for different reasons are both experiencing uncertain connectivity from their previous family experiences, and are trying to establish new connectivity relationships with many caregivers in the institutional environment. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the patterns of connectivity behavior in protected children and the connectivity relationships they establish with the caregivers in the institutions. In this direction, the Istanbul Ministry of Family, Work and Social Policy has been conducted individual conversations using the "Connection Care Environment Conversation Form" and "Connection Functions Survey" prepared by researchers with 150 care members who are working on the sites of children's houses related to the Provincial Directorate. In the study, the maintenance elements indicated that they generally provide connectivity functions. According to the research, the number of children per caregiver, the number of caregiver per child, the professional education and professional experience have a significant impact on the caregiver’s performance of some connective functions. Also, long-term staying in the institution, the history of bad treatment has been considered negative factors. According to the assessments of the caregivers, being in the early development period, staying in the same institution with the brother and home-type new caregivers facilitate children to establish emotional connections with the caregivers. Finally, in our country, children who are under care in the children’s home sites are more frequently seen than examples of anxious connection, random proximity and distorted connection behavior, unable to establish a connection and avoided connection. At the end of the study, recommendations were presented to support the formation of safe connections in children who need protection.

Keywords: