Historic inspection practices and children's experiences of residential care, 1945-1980

Abstract

In January of 1965 Quarrier's Homes was inspected by the Child Care and Probation Inspectorate. It was one of the most extensive – and damning – inspections of a children's home at that time. Many of the criticisms relating to staff practices and organisational failures were an open secret amongst the civil service in Scotland since at least the 1940s and would continue to be repeated until the 1980s. The testimony of those who were formerly in the care of Quarrier's Homes, heard before the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, reveals a considerable gulf between the priorities and perspectives of children and those who delivered and regulated their care. This article reflects on historic inspection practices and the regulation of children's residential care in the decades following the end of the Second World War. Using the 1965 inspection of Quarrier's Homes as an illustrative case study, this article finds that many voluntary children's homes were not effectively regulated, and the Inspectorate had little influence over day-to-day caregiving practices and therefore on children's experiences of care. It finds that a focus on children's physical needs by the Inspectorate contributed to the catastrophic failure of many voluntary children's homes to meet the emotional needs of the children in their care.

Keywords

• children's homes
• orphanages
• scotland
• inspection