Psychiatric Dispensary, Kapan, Armenia © Onnik James Krikorian 2002
Aside from conflict, elections, and minorities, much of my work in Armenia focused on social vulnerability and related issues. As with some of my work in Georgia, one connected topic has been residential institutions for the socially vulnerable and also those with disabilities.
In particular, in the early 2000s I spent a lot of time at the Specialized Children’s Home in Kharberd, an institution for kids with severe mental disabilities and other handicaps, sometimes ambiguously diagnosed according to Soviet rather than Western methodologies.
The Children’s Home has come along way since the 1990s when it was more notoriously known for corruption, mistreatment, and abuse. Nevertheless, there still remains problems. In particular, Kharberd is over capacity.
In the past, upon reaching adulthood, the children were usually sent to Armenia’s psychiatric institutions where conditions and care are really bad. Kharberd’s Director refuses to do so, preferring instead to look into respite care and other options.
Some of my work from a few years back on Kharberd Children’s Home and Psychiatric Institutions in Armenia is below.
