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Children of Stigmatized Parents: Concerns and Fostering Holistic Development

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Child Safety, Welfare and Well-being

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Abstract

Parental stigma presents unique psychosocial challenges before families and particularly the children. Stigma hinders access to basic but necessary services and impinge on the rights entitled to people. When parents are subjected to social inequality complicating their everyday interactions, its impact can be sensed on the nurturing patterns. Children of stigmatized parents are vulnerable to stigma-related distress as they begin feeling courtesy stigma which leads to the impairment of their overall development. The environment of living, nurturing, and caring becomes quite stressful and causes a number of adverse childhood experiences. These children tend to develop low aspirations, low self-esteem, addictions, psychological issues, and adjustment problems. The chapter highlights how parental stigma affects the learning and development, home environment, accessibility to quality services, and rights of the children. It covers families which are stigmatized by the society because of factors including stigma attached to certain diseases, disabilities, profession, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, and criminal activities or alleged association. Stigma leads to living as marginalized and ostracized that has unique lifelong consequences on the mental and emotional well-being of the children, even as they grow as an adult. The chapter throws light on carving out a comprehensive model of stigma for paving a way toward mainstreaming of the children of stigmatized parents. The policies, legislative provisions, and practice-based models are highlighted further to formulate recommendations in supporting such children in order to ensure safety, protection, foster, and facilitate their holistic development and well-being.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Work, School of Social Sciences, Central University of Rajasthan, Bandarsindri, Kishangarh, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India

    Aishwarya Gautam & Subhasis Bhadra

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  1. Aishwarya Gautam
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  2. Subhasis Bhadra
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  1. Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    Sibnath Deb

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Gautam, A., Bhadra, S. (2022). Children of Stigmatized Parents: Concerns and Fostering Holistic Development. In: Deb, S. (eds) Child Safety, Welfare and Well-being. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9820-0_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9820-0_12

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