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Child protective services during COVID-19 and doubly marginalized children: International perspectives
Carmit Katz1, Natalia Varela2, Jill E Korbin3
1Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 69978, Israel.
Insights
The COVID-19 pandemic heightened child maltreatment risks, especially for doubly marginalized children. Child protective systems must adopt an intersectionality framework to ensure equitable services for all vulnerable children during global crises.
Area of Science:
- Child protection
- Public health
- Sociology
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing inequalities, increasing child maltreatment risks and straining child protective services globally.
- Certain children faced compounded disadvantages due to pre-existing vulnerabilities and new pandemic-related risk factors, leading to potential marginalization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify children overlooked or excluded from services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- To understand the mechanisms and manifestations of double marginalization among children during global crises.
Main Methods:
- International collaboration involving researchers from eight countries (Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Israel, South Africa, Uganda, UK, USA).
- Qualitative data collection through country-specific narratives addressing key research questions.
- Thematic analysis using an intersectional theoretical framework to analyze children's intersecting identities and experiences.
Main Results:
- Identified five categories of doubly marginalized children at higher risk of maltreatment.
- Uncovered mechanisms of neglect, including unplanned, discriminatory, and inadequate actions.
- Revealed that children were doubly marginalized through policy/practice exclusion and belonging to vulnerable groups.
Conclusions:
- The COVID-19 pandemic serves as a critical case study for protecting children during worldwide crises.
- Child protective systems globally must integrate an intersectionality framework to safeguard all children.
- Adopting an intersectional approach is crucial for promoting equitable and high-quality child protection services.
Background:
Alongside deficits in children's wellbeing, the COVID-19 pandemic has created an elevated risk for child maltreatment and challenges for child protective services worldwide. Therefore, some children might be doubly marginalized, as prior inequalities become exacerbated and new risk factors arise.
Objective:
To provide initial insight into international researchers' identification of children who might have been overlooked or excluded from services during the pandemic.
Participants And Setting:
This study was part of an international collaboration involving researchers from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Israel, South Africa, Uganda, the UK and the USA. Researchers from each country provided a written narrative in response to the three research questions in focus, which integrated the available data from their countries.
Method:
Three main questions were explored: 1) Who are the children that were doubly marginalized? 2) What possible mechanisms may be at the root? and 3) In what ways were children doubly marginalized? The international scholars provided information regarding the three questions. A thematic analysis was employed using the intersectional theoretical framework to highlight the impact of children's various identities.
Results:
The analysis yielded three domains: (1) five categories of doubly marginalized children at increased risk of maltreatment, (2) mechanisms of neglect consisting of unplanned, discriminatory and inadequate actions, and (3) children were doubly marginalized through exclusion in policy and practice and the challenges faced by belonging to vulnerable groups.
Conclusion:
The COVID-19 pandemic can be used as a case study to illustrate the protection of children from maltreatment during worldwide crises. Findings generated the understanding that child protective systems worldwide must adhere to an intersectionality framework to protect all children and promote quality child protection services.
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