10,992 entries for Inspections - State
BackThe 16 witnesses whose mental health was described as poor gave accounts of frequent and lengthy admissions for inpatient psychiatric treatment, repeated episodes of self-harm and suicide attempts. Nine (9) witnesses reported that they had made one or more suicide attempt and three witnesses reported a history of substance abuse. A number of witnesses described enduring many years of depression, alcohol dependency and extreme anxiety. Some commented that they were dependant on personal support services and required intensive ongoing assistance.
Two (2) witnesses, one male and one female, gave the following accounts of their history and the impact their experience of abuse has had on their adult lives: You would try to block it out of your mind and get on with life but at night it would come, the nightmares.... Crying in bed at night, thinking back on what happened me, it never goes away .... Walking along the street... at night time, you always feared someone was going ...(pause) ... coming behind you ....I always go around with this carving knife in my pocket...cutting my arms was a way of letting the anger out... • I came back to nowhere.... I had nowhere to go. My sister took me in for a while.... I started to get panic attacks, I thought I was dying, I thought I had a brain tumour, the doctor kept on telling me I was alright, it’s not physical. ... I was suicidal, they took me into ... a locked ward, I spent ...(many months)... there. I used to just lose control.... I took overdoses.... Then it...(details of abusive experiences)... started coming out and I started getting angry, I wouldn’t do anything to anybody when I was angry, only to myself and would start cutting my arms ... it was my way of releasing.... They ... (hospital staff) ... said my problems were so deep in the past....
Many of the 38 male and 23 female witnesses described what they believed were the damaging consequences of their experiences of child abuse in Children’s Homes. They described difficulties in many areas of their lives including health, family and social relationships and reported that their childhood experiences of abuse had multiple effects on their adult lives, as outlined in Table 84: <br><table><colgroup><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col></colgroup><thead><tr><th><strong>Male witnesses</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Female witnesses</strong></th>
 </tr><tr><th><strong>Effects on adult life*</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Number of reports</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Effects on adult life*</strong></th>
 <th><strong>Number of reports</strong></th>
 </tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Lack of trust</strong></td>
 <td>26</td>
 <td><strong>Lack of self-worth</strong></td>
 <td>20</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Angry</strong></td>
 <td>19</td>
 <td><strong>Lack of trust</strong></td>
 <td>16</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Counselling required</strong></td>
 <td>19</td>
 <td><strong>Abuse not easily forgotten</strong></td>
 <td>13</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Loner</strong></td>
 <td>19</td>
 <td><strong>Counselling required</strong></td>
 <td>13</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Suicidal feelings or attempts</strong></td>
 <td>19</td>
 <td><strong>Feeling different from peers</strong></td>
 <td>12</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Alcohol abuse</strong></td>
 <td>16</td>
 <td><strong>Feeling isolated</strong></td>
 <td>12</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Feeling different from peers</strong></td>
 <td>16</td>
 <td><strong>Suicidal feelings or attempt</strong></td>
 <td>10</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Abuse not easily forgotten</strong></td>
 <td>14</td>
 <td><strong>Loner</strong></td>
 <td> 8</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Feeling isolated</strong></td>
 <td>14</td>
 <td><strong>Post-traumatic effect</strong></td>
 <td> 8</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Mood instability</strong></td>
 <td>14</td>
 <td><strong>Unable to show feelings to partner</strong></td>
 <td> 8</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Nightmares</strong></td>
 <td>14</td>
 <td><strong>Withdrawal</strong></td>
 <td> 8</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Anxious and fearful</strong></td>
 <td>13</td>
 <td><strong>Angry</strong></td>
 <td> 7</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Aggressive behaviour – verbal </strong></td>
 <td>12</td>
 <td><strong>Anxious and fearful</strong></td>
 <td> 7</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Lack of self-worth</strong></td>
 <td>11</td>
 <td><strong>Tearfulness</strong></td>
 <td> 7</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Unable to settle</strong></td>
 <td>11</td>
 <td><strong>Feelings related to being a victim</strong></td>
 <td> 7</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Feelings related to being a victim</strong></td>
 <td>10</td>
 <td><strong>Mood instability</strong></td>
 <td> 7</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Unable to show feelings to partner</strong></td>
 <td>10</td>
 <td><strong>Nightmares</strong></td>
 <td> 6</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Aggressive behaviour – physical</strong></td>
 <td> 9</td>
 <td><strong>Overprotective of children</strong></td>
 <td> 6</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Sleep disturbance</strong></td>
 <td> 9</td>
 <td><strong>Sleep disturbance</strong></td>
 <td> 6</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Unable to show feelings to children</strong></td>
 <td> 9</td>
 <td><strong>Feelings related to being powerless</strong></td>
 <td> 5</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Post-traumatic effect</strong></td>
 <td> 8</td>
 <td><strong>Issues of needing approval</strong></td>
 <td> 5</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Withdrawal</strong></td>
 <td> 7</td>
 <td><strong>Unable to show feelings to children</strong></td>
 <td> 5</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Over harsh with children</strong></td>
 <td> 6</td>
 <td><strong>Alcohol abuse</strong></td>
 <td> 4</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Aggressive behaviour – psychological </strong></td>
 <td> 5</td>
 <td><strong>Find others with similar experiences</strong></td>
 <td> 4</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Tearfulness</strong></td>
 <td> 5</td>
 <td><strong>Issues of self-blame</strong></td>
 <td> 4</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Issues of needing approval</strong></td>
 <td> 5</td>
 <td><strong>Overly compliant behaviour</strong></td>
 <td> 3</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Overprotective of children</strong></td>
 <td> 5</td>
 <td><strong>Sexual problems</strong></td>
 <td> 3</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Sexual problems</strong></td>
 <td> 5</td>
 <td><strong>Aggressive behaviour – verbal </strong></td>
 <td> 2</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Issues of self-blame</strong></td>
 <td> 4</td>
 <td><strong>Fear of failure</strong></td>
 <td> 2</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Feelings related to being powerless</strong></td>
 <td> 3</td>
 <td><strong>Over harsh with children</strong></td>
 <td> 2</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Gender and sexual identity problems</strong></td>
 <td> 3</td>
 <td><strong>Somatic symptoms</strong></td>
 <td> 2</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Thankful for what we have now</strong></td>
 <td> 3</td>
 <td><strong>Aggressive behaviour – physical </strong></td>
 <td> 1</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Fear of failure</strong></td>
 <td> 2</td>
 <td><strong>Aggressive behaviour – psychological</strong></td>
 <td> 1</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Overly compliant behaviour</strong></td>
 <td> 2</td>
 <td><strong>Substance abuse</strong></td>
 <td> 1</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Somatic symptoms</strong></td>
 <td> 2</td>
 <td><strong>Thankful for what we have now</strong></td>
 <td> 1</td>
 </tr><tr><td><strong>Substance abuse</strong></td>
 <td> 2</td>
 <td><strong>Unable to settle</strong></td>
 <td> 1</td>
 </tr></tbody></table>
The table indicates some gender differences. For instance most of the female witnesses reported issues related to feelings of self-worth compared with less than a third of the male witnesses. Half of the male witnesses reported that they were loners and experienced feelings of unresolved anger, compared with less than a third of the female witnesses.
Sixteen (16) witnesses described feelings of terror, anger and disconnectedness associated with childhood trauma. Others described the fear and enduring shame that sexual abuse generated in them as children and eight witnesses described ongoing psychological and sexual difficulties associated with their sexual abuse. I didn’t go home.... I just started wandering here and there. I went to ...named place of refuge.... I was 13 or 14. I stayed in hostels. Once I came out of there ...(Children’s Home)... I went to hell on the drink, life was really difficult. My life was destroyed, as I get older it gets worse. I ended up in psychiatric hospitals, I used to cut myself up.... I would just get depressed and start thinking of the things that were done to me, it ...(experiences of sexual abuse)...would play on your mind. Then you would think of suicide, I tried it several times, I was sent to the hospital then. I was off drink for several years.... We were sent there ...(Children’s Home)... to be corrected not to be abused like that. I still wake up at night, some nights I am afraid to go asleep at night, thinking ...(over 20)... years down the road that someone has just come into the room, thinking I am back at that place again, that this ...(sexual and physical abuse)... is happening all over again. Counselling has helped a good bit, but it can’t really bring out what’s happened to you, it can’t take away what’s happened to you.
Many witnesses commented on their limited potential in employment situations due to the neglect of their education. Others reported having difficulty with authority, never looking for promotion, being constantly vigilant and as one witness remarked in relation to the workplace ‘I kept my head down’. A male witness who described continuing difficulties in many areas of his life stated: Nearly every job I had I lost it over the drink because I couldn’t handle it ... (memories of sexual abuse) ... I’d feel more relaxed with the drink otherwise I’d be as nervous as hell... I kind of block it out now, they are bad thoughts ... I just try and get on ... I came ... (to hearing) ... for someone to talk to, you see there is very few people you can talk to. I never tell anybody. I didn’t tell her ... (spouse) ... most of it. I just told them ... (children) ... I was in an orphanage.
As previously reported male and female witnesses stated that their experience of abuse influenced their relationships, particularly as a result of their inability to trust, the sense of shame and the lack of confidence they have endured throughout their lives. I couldn’t really meet people ... I was so used to the orphanage, it was a confined place. It’s hard to explain, you get very paranoid and all of a sudden you think someone is going to force you or something like that... • I didn’t know how to behave with people outside ... I didn’t feel good about myself. I had such an inferiority complex and I didn’t know how to behave ... when I went to a party I’d sit in a corner ...
The separation from their parents and siblings and the difficulties encountered when re-establishing contact with their families following discharge was reported as a continued source of distress and anger for a number of witnesses. A female witness commenting on her attempts to re-establish a relationship with her mother stated: I still wanted to get to know her. I still wanted to understand. I still wanted to be with her ... we just didn’t get on ... all the anger came out ... there was never any closeness there, ever ever. It was so sad ...
Many witnesses reported a life-long history of difficulties coping with everyday life and socialisation. The reported difficulties included isolation, withdrawal, feeling different from their peers, and being unable to show affection to their partners and children. Approximately half of the witnesses reported having been assisted through counselling.
This section of the Report has summarised the experiences of the 61 witnesses who reported abuse in Children’s Homes over a period of 73 years, the majority of whom were discharged after 1960.
Foster care, previously known in Ireland as ‘boarding out’ or ‘at nurse’, is a form of out-of-home care that allows for a child to be placed in a family environment rather than an institution. Foster care has been provided over the years through the State and non-government sectors, and by both formal and informal private arrangements. Funding for these placements was generally made to the foster parents by the organisation responsible for the placement or by the child’s relatives. Foster care arrangements, including the assessment of potential foster carers, the supervision of foster placements, and payment allowances for children in foster care have been standardised and become better regulated in recent years.
The Confidential Committee heard evidence from 24 witnesses, eight male and 16 female, who reported being abused while in foster care. The reports related to 22 foster care placements. The witnesses identified 18 foster families by name and location, four others were referred to by their geographic location. Two (2) of the 18 named foster families were each reported as abusive by two separate witnesses.
The reports of abuse in foster care refer to a 64-year time period between 1931 and 1995, being the years of earliest admission and the latest discharge reported by witnesses. The majority of reports of abuse in foster care refer to placements before 1960. Sixteen (16) witnesses, four male and 12 female, were originally placed in foster care prior to 1960 and 12 of those witnesses, three male and nine female, were also discharged before 1960. Five (5) of the witnesses who reported abuse were discharged from their foster care placements in the 1980s and 1990s.
Seven (7) witnesses, five male and two female, reported abuse in other placements in addition to foster care, including Industrial Schools, Children’s Homes, a special needs school, and a primary school. Witness evidence regarding those accounts is reported in the relevant chapters of this Report.
Twelve (12) of the foster homes reported were in rural locations and 10 were in cities and provincial towns.