摘要：The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of awareness of
same-sex relationships among school-aged children living in Romanian orphanages
in late 90s in a sample consisting of 1,353 children (703 boys and 650 girls), ages
7 - 20 years old who were residing in 48 institutions. The results showed that 59%
had heard about sexual relations between children of the same-sex. When asked
about peer same-sex relationships in their current institutional setting, only 23%
responded affi rmatively. This 21% decrease in children’s responses could indicate
underreporting of this phenomenon due to fear of negative consequences and,
therefore, reluctance to disclose such sensitive information about these behaviors
within the institutions where they were placed. These results provide insight into
a topic of children’s institutionalization that is insuffi ciently studied and may be
informative for practitioners working with institutionalized children, and policymakers
tasked with improving children’s quality of care.
