Abstract International studies have suggested that parental loss is a risk factor for poor physical and mental health, but all orphans do not develop the same kind and intensity of wellbeing indicators. This disparity is associated with certain biopsychosocial characteristics of the developing orphan which may interact with certain environmental factors to determine the levels of vulnerability a child may experience following parental death. While studies have been devoted to orphanhood in Ghana, no study has examined the nature of multisystemic risks within the sociocultural environment, and the factors within orphans which may interact to determine their experiences and developmental outcomes in Ghana. In the present paper, the Ecological Systems Theory is used to depict different vulnerabilities associated with orphanhood in the Ghanaian context. Using this theory, I demonstrate that Ghanaian orphans may experience vulnerabilities at all systems of the theory. Implications of the identified vulnerabilities for research, interventions and policy making are discussed.

中文翻译：

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加纳孤儿的脆弱性：以生态系统理论为视角

摘要 国际研究表明，失去父母是身心健康状况不佳的一个危险因素，但并非所有孤儿都发展出相同类型和强度的幸福指数。这种差异与正在发育的孤儿的某些生物心理社会特征有关，这些特征可能与某些环境因素相互作用，以确定儿童在父母死亡后可能经历的脆弱程度。虽然研究一直致力于加纳的孤儿，但没有研究检查社会文化环境中多系统风险的性质，以及孤儿内部可能相互作用以确定他们在加纳的经历和发展成果的因素。在本文中，生态系统理论用于描述加纳环境中与孤儿相关的不同脆弱性。使用这个理论，我证明了加纳孤儿可能会在该理论的所有系统中遇到漏洞。讨论了已识别的脆弱性对研究、干预和政策制定的影响。