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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

school based family, parental figures, orphans, vulnerable children, Ugandan schools

College

Marriott School of Management

Department

Recreation Management

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine the possible formation of surrogate families within Ugandan schools to potentially provide a context for positive development experiences, especially for orphans who lack positive development opportunities provided by parents. The sample for this study consisted of 66 Ugandan Secondary School students from eight schools the Mukono district of Uganda. In 1994, the United Nations declared families are the basic unit of society and require special attention (Bowen & McKechnie, 2001). However, the failure of the biological family is seen on a mass scale in Uganda due in large part to the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS. Literature addressing possible avenues for alternative non- biological family formation for the millions of orphans who have suffered the irreplaceable loss of a parent, however, is sparse (Baer, 2002; Lansford, Ceballo, Abbey, & Stewart, 2001). This research aims to fill this gap in the literature. It is important for readers from Western countries to substitute biological conceptions of the family with the culturally fluid nature of family in Uganda. Researchers allowed subjects to define family according to the people they considered family and did not limit family boundaries to strictly biological relationships. Researchers hypothesized surrogate families were being formed between students and their teachers/coaches. Researchers also hypothesized a greater identification of teachers and coaches as family among orphans who had lost both their parents.

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