Related Experiment Videos
Child maltreatment as perceived by Arab students of social science in the West Bank
1Paul Baerwald School of Social Work, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mt. Scopus, Israel.
Insights
Child maltreatment knowledge is limited in Arab societies. A study found helping professionals perceive abuse and neglect as maltreatment but are more willing to report abuse than neglect.
Area of Science:
- Social Work
- Psychology
- Middle Eastern Studies
Background:
- Limited research exists on child maltreatment in Arab societies.
- Palestinian professionals face challenges integrating Western knowledge into their sociocultural context.
- Developing culturally congruent knowledge on child maltreatment is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess helping professionals' students' perceptions of child maltreatment.
- To evaluate awareness of signs and risk factors associated with child maltreatment.
- To determine willingness to report child maltreatment cases in the West Bank.
Main Methods:
- A study surveyed 353 students in helping professions in the West Bank.
- An instrument examined perceptions of child maltreatment situations.
- Awareness of signs, risk factors, and reporting willingness were assessed.
Main Results:
- High agreement on viewing abuse and neglect as maltreatment.
- Greater willingness to report abuse compared to neglect.
- Minimization of social/cultural factors as risk factors and disregard for non-explicit danger signs.
Conclusions:
- Findings highlight specific areas for training and service development for child protection in Arab societies.
- Interventions should address cultural nuances in recognizing and reporting child maltreatment.
- Future research should explore culturally sensitive approaches to child welfare in the region.
Abstract:
There is a dearth of knowledge about the problem of child maltreatment in Arab societies. In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Palestinians are facing the challenge of establishing their own social welfare system as a result of signing the Declaration of Principles with Israel. In creating services for families and children, the helping professionals in these areas find that one of the main challenges is to integrate and apply knowledge accumulated in Western countries into a different sociocultural context. Another challenge is to develop knowledge on this subject congruent with their own cultural background. Because of this lack of knowledge, a study was conducted among 353 students in the helping professions in the West Bank. An instrument constructed for this study was utilized to examine the following subjects: (a) students' perceptions of situations of child maltreatment; (b) their awareness of signs of maltreated children; (c) their awareness of risk factors which could be related to this problem; and (d) their willingness to report cases of child maltreatment. The results indicate a high level of agreement among students in viewing situations of abuse as well as neglect as maltreatment. Differences were found in their willingness to report situations of maltreatment. A higher tendency was found to report situations of abuse rather than neglect. An inclination was found among students to minimize social and cultural factors as risk factors and to disregard signs that did not contain explicit signals of danger as characteristics of maltreated children. Implications for the development of services in Arab societies are discussed.