Positioning and Respectful Professional Interventions for Working with the Legacy of Irish Institutional Care

Since the late 1990's, there has been an outpouring of stories of abuse and maltreatment of residents in Irish institutional settings. The use of institutional care for children and adults in need crosses many cultural and geographical boundaries. Two major differences exist between institutional care in Ireland and that provided elsewhere. First is the extent of the practice and, secondly, the delay in change and the slow pace of commencement of family-based care. Paradoxically, Ireland now has one of the highest rates of family-based care in the world. A significant part of this chapter is given to an analysis of the context in which the institutional care of children occurred in Ireland to enable professionals to have a better understanding of: what occurred in Irish institutional settings and why; the impact of the institutional experience for people and their families, with a focus on trans-generational issues; the extent to which an emigration experience intersected with the institutional e xperience; the complexity involved for therapists and professionals working with people with an institutional experience; the importance of professionals' sensitivity to resilience and strengths; the non-homogeneity of the people involved and the need to be careful to avoid processes that may be experienced by users as stigmatising, pathologising and as inherently disrespectful as were some of their experiences of institutional care.