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From the 1950s to the 1980s, the New Zealand government took more than 100,000 children from experiences of strife, neglect, poverty or family violence and placed them under state care in residential facilities. In homes like Epuni and Kingslea, Kohitere and Allendale, the state took over as parent. The state failed. Within institutions, children faced abysmal conditions, limited education and social isolation. They endured physical, sexual and psychological violence, as well as secure cells, knock-out sedatives and electro-convulsive therapy.
This book tells the story of 105 New Zealanders who experienced this mass institutionalisation. Informed by thousands of pages of Child Welfare accounts, letters, health reports, legal statements as well as interviews, Stanley tells the childrens' story: growing up in homes characterised by violence and neglect; removal into the State's care network; daily life in the institutions and violence and punishment.
Featured in the 29 August 2016 New Zealand Newsletter.
To receive this newsletter regularly please email us with your name and contact details.Featured in the August 2016 LAW Newsletter.
To receive this newsletter regularly please email us with your name and contact details.