Story: Family welfare

Disciplined orphanages

Disciplined orphanages

Children in orphanages lived highly regimented lives, like these boys at the Salvation Army Boys' Home in Eltham, in Taranaki, who are lined up along the driveway in a very disciplined way. While these orphanages prepared children for workplaces and the expectations of employers, they did not provide children with adequate care and affection. From the 1920s onwards large impersonal institutions which focused on discipline and control were not seen as the best way to care for children.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, R. Standish Collection
Reference: 1/2-044821-F

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Maureen Baker and Rosemary Du Plessis, 'Family welfare - Welfare, work and families, 1918–1945', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/26078/disciplined-orphanages (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Maureen Baker and Rosemary Du Plessis, published 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 29 Jun 2018