A Job and a Bicycle: One Experience of Child Labor in Beirut

In this video, UNICEF highlights one of its partner organizations, Himaya in Lebanon, through the story of Ahmad. Amad is a 15-year-old Syrian refugee living in Lebanon, who narrates his struggles living and working in Beirut.

The video shows the challenges of child labor. A child cannot just transition from working and supporting his family to attending school. The child may not have attended school before. Plus the impact on the family economy must be considered, as these children are often supporting their families financially. Himaya rightly notes that child labor must be addressed on a case-by-case basis.

Waiting in Turkey's "Baking Camp"

UNHCR just released a news report on the conditions at Suruç camp, the largest refugee camp in Turkey. Built by UNICEF and Turkey's Emergency and Disaster Management Presidency (AFAD) in the middle of 2014, Suruç now houses 25,000 mostly Kurdish refugees from Kobane, Syria.

The article describes the overwhelming heat inside the camp, where "the sun offers relentless heat and pitiless light which bounces off soil bleached almost white." Understandably, families tend to stay inside their tents to escape the heat of the day.

Suruç Refugee Camp, Photo: Associated Press

What are the implications for children's mobility in these contexts? What are their lives like when the environment does not allow for freedom of movement? How do families cope with earning livelihoods in these contexts?

The Connection Between Large-Scale Violence and Family Violence

Here's an excellent op-ed in The New York Times drawing connections between violence in the home and large-scale violence. As one commenter states, in order to curb violence in society, we have to start with our young children.

Shakespeare in Syria

The New York Times published a story about Syrian refugee children living in Jordan who participated in a performance of King Lear. You can find the story here, as well as a beautiful slideshow highlighting the challenges facing these children and families, and the resources they call upon to persevere.

One Million Syrian Children Refugees

UNHCR has just reported that one million Syrian children have crossed the Syrian border to seek safety from the uprising against President Assad, which began in March 2011. Three-quarters of those children are under the age of 11. An additional two million children are currently displaced within Syria. And more than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

[Photo: UNHCR]

International news outlets were airing footage of an alleged chemical attack against Syrian civilians, which was recently confirmed by the US White House as being credible. One heartbreaking video I watched last night from Al-Jazeera showed a young father crying while cradling his two dead children, both of who looked no older than eight.

It is shameful that the world is standing by and letting Syrian civilians be slaughtered. I am certainly not one to rush towards military intervention, but there must be something that can be done to curb the human rights abuses. I look forward to hearing the US and other countries' plans for intervention; considering how many children are being affected in this conflict, a plan may be too little, too late.

My Neighborhood

My Neighborhood is a documentary about settler expansion in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem. The film is narrated by seventh-grader, Mohammed, who sagely and poetically describes the violent changes to his home and his neighborhood as a result of settler expansion. The film explores Mohammed's feelings towards the settlers and his evolving opinions about the Israeli people. It's short (about 25 minutes), yet extremely powerful.

Talking Palestine with Rana al-Rabi and Julie Norman

Yesterday, I sat down with Rana al-Rabi, host of CKUT's caravan radio show, and Julie Norman, professor of political science at McGill to talk about Obama's recent visit to Israel and Palestine, doing research with Palestinian families and children. You can access the archive of the program here (we start the conversation about halfway through the show).

57th Commission on the Status of Women

Worldwide, it is estimated that one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or abused in some other way. Women and girls who have been displaced by conflict are at particular risk of gender-based violence (GBV). From the Democratic Republic of Congo to Syria, forms of GBV such as rape, sexual exploitation and forced prostitution turn women’s lives upside down, leaving lasting physical and emotional scars. GBV doesn't just affect women, but it has deep and lasting effects on families, communities, and societies.

Violence against women can and should be prevented. Also, survivors of GBV must be able to access the care and services that they need, including medical and mental health services.

Today, non-governmental organizations and activists are gathering at the United Nations for the first day of the 57th Commission on the Status of Women. As one of the participants in the Commission, the Women's Refugee Commission is also starting a social media initiative called "Power of Prevention: Ending Violence Against Women and Girls in Crises", which aims to raise awareness about the prevention of GBV in crisis settings and highlight tools and resources to help make displaced women and girls safer.

Prisoner's Day in the West Bank

Last Tuesday, April 17th, 2012 was Prisoner's Day for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Israel arrests more than nine Palestinians (of all ages) per day on average. As of 2011, 4,489 Palestinians are being held as political prisoners. Of those, 320 Palestinians are being held in prison by Israel under administrative detention, which means that they are being held without trial. 183 prisoners are minors (under the age of 18). The people I interviewed in one village I visited yesterday said that 16 children were arrested or detained in a one week period in March, the vast majority on suspicion of stone throwing. In the same village last summer, a six-year-old was arrested and detained by Israeli forces; he was eventually released 24 hours later. As one father expressed, "Imagine if that was your child! What would you do?"

Detainees face an increased use of solitary confinement of prominent leaders, a ban on reading materials and television, a halt of transfer of funds from family members for prisoners to purchase many basic food products, and the discontinuation of academic studies for distance learning. To protest the prison conditions, 3,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails fasted last Tuesday as part of the Karameh (Dignity) Strike. 1,200 declared that they will continue to fast, joining several administrative detainees. Two detainees who have been on hunger strike for over 40 days--Bilal Diab (27) and Tha’ir Khekhle (34)--have been admitted to the hospital and their condition is deteriorating. Diad has been in detention for eight months, and Khlekhle has been in detention for more than two years. He has not yet seen his 22-month old baby, born after his detention. The two are examined regularly by doctors from Physicians for Human Rights doctors, and the NGO has expressed concern over their condition, calling for their immediate release.

There were several demonstrations throughout the West Bank to show solidarity with the prisoners and call for their release. En route to Al Azariyah, my research assistant and I stumbled upon a peaceful protest in Ramallah. Elderly mothers were holdings framed photos of their beloved sons who are being held in detention. Children of prisoners waved Palestinian political party flags. Fatah leader Abbas Zaki proclaimed, “There will be no peace and no safety without releasing all prisoners from Israeli jails.” After the central demonstration in Ramallah and after my assistant and I were on our way to Al Aazariya, hundreds of people went to protest near the Ofer military prison, were political prisoners are held. They were dispersed by the Israeli army with tear gas and the “skunk” water canon (a high-pressured hose that sprays foul smelling water).

Israeli's detention of Palestinians is not only punishment for the individual, but also collective punishment for Palestinian families, who face increased economic hardship and targeting by Israeli forces as a result of the imprisonment of their fathers, sons, and brothers. Due to the illegal transfer of prisoners outside the occupied territories, more than 3,000 prisoners cannot be visited by their families. This is a major challenge for Palestinian families. This week, I interviewed one family in a village near Bethlehem whose father has been imprisoned for the past ten years. The family is unable to visit their father, because of the recent Israeli restrictions on family visits. Even if they were allowed to visit, the journey would be nearly impossible considering the permits needed for Palestinians to cross into Israel as well as the travel costs that this family cannot afford. I asked the 11-year-old son to draw his dream place, and it was a picture of his mother, father, older sister, and younger brother going for a picnic in the park. His family responded by saying, Inshallah (God willing).

Land Day

Land Day is approaching tomorrow (Friday 30 March). It is an annual day of commemoration for Palestinians of an event in 1976. In response to the Israeli government's plan to expropriate thousands of acres of land for "security and settlement purposes", a strike and marches were organized in Palestinian towns throughout the West Bank. In the ensuing confrontations with the Israeli army and police, six Palestinians were killed, about one hundred were wounded, and hundreds of others arrested. For this year's Land Day, Palestinian activists are organizing a Global March to Jerusalem intended to bring attention to the situation here and to recognize Jerusalem as a vital and controversial site for both Palestinians and Israelis. The March will engage people from all over the world, who will show their support for Palestinians by marching as close to Jerusalem as they can get considering existing country borders and political barriers.

Two days out of the past week, I have heard gunfire in the distance. I have not been able to pinpoint exactly where the gunfire is coming from. But, like the Israeli military jets continually flying over Nablus, it is a reminder that the occupation is ubiquitous. For example, the following happened in the past week in Nablus:

• last Friday, an 8-year-old boy was injured by an explosion in the village of Qaryut; apparently, the devise was set there by the Israeli army during training exercises.
• on Monday, the Israeli army detained three men for unknown reasons in the Nablus city center.
• on Tuesday, a 24-year-old farmer from the Nablus village of Iraq Burin sustained head injuries when settlers from the nearby Yizhar settlement threw rocks at him.
• and, yesterday, settlers blocked the entrance of the village of Beit Dajan, protesting the reopening of a road to Nablus city.
  

These events were tempered by a unity rally held in Nablus City center last week, which called for an end to the division between the political parties in the West Bank in Gaza, to more effectively resist the occupation. Of course, this is controversial, because the Palestinian division is between Fatah and Hamas, the latter which has been recognized as a terrorist organization by the EU, US, Canada, Israel, and Japan.

In terms of my research with children and families, things are going slowly but surely. I have finished three interviews in Balata Refugee Camp. The interviews have been extremely interesting. Each interview was supposed to be the parent and two children (older and younger), but the whole family is there for the whole interview. So it's usually Mom and her 10 children, and maybe a sister-in-law or a bunch of young cousins as well. It's definitely a different kind of methodology (more like a family focus group) using a collaborative process, with every member of the household contributing a piece, which is more culturally representative of how families operate here. I can distract the kids with some mapping and drawing exercises and then talk to the adult. But I also try to spend more than half of the interview speaking with the children to get their views. Parents have commented on how great it is that the research cares about what children think.

Some of the families' stories are difficult to hear. Two separate families told me about how the Israeli army has entered their homes and broken down the wall between their wall and their neighbor in order to arrest their neighbors. (The image to the right is of one family's wall that was broken down and is now repaired with cement.) This practice, known in Israeli army parlance as "walking through walls", is the action in which soldiers create holes in the walls of Palestinian homes in order to avoid the streets, roads, alleys, and courtyards of the community, where they fear being attacked by militants. Though an effective military strategy, the “penetration of war into the private domain of the home” is described by Weizman (2007) as “ the most profound form of trauma and humiliation” (p. 194). My study participants have called it "insulting". In another house I went to, the 6-year-old son was asleep on a mat on the floor near where we were conducting the interview. The mother told me that the Israeli army had been in the refugee camp a few days ago, and when the boy saw them, he involuntarily urinated and has been incontinent since then. This is a common symptom in school-age children who have experienced traumatic stress. These cases are not the majority, though, and there are plenty of happy, bright, and energetic children who "seem" impervious to the effects of occupation.

Parental Involvement with the Criminal Justice System and The Effects on their Children

My latest article details the effects of parental incarceration on children, and describes the collaborative model developed by the Child Psychiatric Epidemiology Group (CPEG) and The Bronx Defenders to research these families. The article can be downloaded here.

Research with Young Children Affected by Family Violence

Why is there such a shortage of research on the effects of violence on young children? Drawing on my experience of working in Israeli-occupied Palestine, in this article in Bernard van Leer Foundation's publication Early Childhood Matters, I suggest some explanations and ideas for furthering the research agenda.

Quality of Parental Involvement More Relevant Than Use of Child Corporal Punishment in Development of Negative Adolescent Outcomes

Child development researchers have long suggested that corporal punishment is a predictor of negative behavioral outcomes in children. However, because they suffer from serious methodological limitations, studies on the effects of corporal punishment have yet to definitively determine if corporal punishment is causally related to negative adolescent outcomes. In this study, the authors attempt to determine the extent that quality of parental involvement and corporal punishment independently predict adolescent maladjustment, specifically adolescent aggressiveness, delinquency, and psychological well-being. The authors used a prospective study design, interviewing 332 families annually over a three-year period. Interviews consisted of parent self-reports, adolescent reports, and observed ratings of family interaction tasks. Corporal punishment was determined by time (i.e., consistent use of physical discipline over the three-year study period), age-appropriateness (i.e., continuing during adolescence, indicating harsh discipline), and type (i.e., use of object, being shoved or pushed.) Quality of parental involvement was determined by display of warmth and affection, monitoring and supervision, consistency of discipline, and use of inductive reasoning to explain rules and expectations. The authors found that once other dimensions of parenting are controlled for, there exists a significant relationship between quality of parental involvement and adolescent outcomes. Contrary to past research on this topic, the study found no significant relationship between corporal punishment and the adolescent outcomes.

This study’s main strength lies in its design aimed at isolating other parenting behaviors to determine that quality of parental involvement, rather than corporal punishment, was a predictor of maladaptive behavior among adolescents. The study’s use of self-reports from parents and adolescents, combined with observation of family interactions, created a more comprehensive depiction of family interaction. However, the sample selection presents some limitations to the study. Firstly, the sample represents a rural population, highlighting the need for the study to be replicated in an urban setting. Furthermore, though 451 families were recruited for the study, only 404 families completed all four waves, 19 families were not eligible after divorcing during the study period, and there was incomplete data for 53 of the families. Secondly, the authors emphasize that corporal punishment should not be confused with physical abuse, for in this study, the corporal punishment wasn’t extreme enough to be considered physical abuse; therefore, additional studies should be conducted to examine the effects of physical abuse on adolescent outcomes, independent of other parental behaviors. Thirdly, there might be other adolescent dimensions not addressed in this study that would be important indicators of maladjustment; the authors suggest looking at autonomy, self-reliance, and creativity in future research.

Reference:
Simons, R.L., Johnson, C., and Conger, R.D. (1994). Harsh corporal punishment versus quality of parental involvement as an explanation of adolescent maladjustment. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 56(August 1994), 591-607.

Preventive Interventions Help Secure Attachment in Maltreated Infants

Child maltreatment presents threats to child developmental processes, including long-term maladjustment and development of psychopathology. Cicchetti, Rogosch, and Toth’s (2006) study examines the effectiveness of two preventive interventions: psychosocial parenting education (PPI) and infant-parent psychotherapy (IPP). Based on the theory that secure attachment is derived from parental knowledge and skills, PPI involves a series of psychoeducation-focused home visits with mothers to improve parenting skills, increase mothers’ knowledge of child development, and enhance coping and social support skills. IPP is based on attachment theory and includes an exploration of the parent-child relationship through therapy. The hypothesis that PPI or IPP interventions will be most effective for ameliorating the effects of maltreatment of infants is explored in this study. The study sampled mothers and their infants in maltreating families (n=137). Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three cohorts: (1) psychosocial parenting education (PPI), (2) infant-parent psychotherapy (IPP), or (3) community standard (CS). A normative comparison (NC) group of non-maltreated infants and their mothers (n=52), with similar demographics to the intervention group, was also included. Using validity tested measures, the authors found that mothers and children in the PPI and IPP groups showed greater increases in secure attachment than mothers and children in the CS and control groups. This study supports evidence that preventive intervention programs can alter attachment organization and ameliorate the negative developmental consequences of maltreatment.

As compared to results from the CS group, the authors provide evidence that the PPI and IPP interventions result in greater increases of secure attachment in maltreating families. However, the non-maltreating control group varied greatly from the maltreating group, with maltreating mothers reporting higher rates of maltreatment in their own childhoods, more insecure relationships with their mothers, more maladaptive parenting attitudes, more parenting stress, and lower family support. Similarly, despite trying to maintain uniform adherence to the therapeutic intervention, the therapy was not completely standardized, because the intervention used different therapists. Lastly, the intervention groups were actively pursued to follow the therapy schedule, which is not commonly done in treatment modalities such as the CS group.
The authors attempt to eliminate any self-selection bias, by seeking out maltreating families rather than the families seeking to be enrolled in the study.

Reference:
Cicchetti, D., Rogosch, F.A., and Toth, S.L. (2006). Fostering secure attachment in infants in maltreating families through preventive interventions. Development and Psychopathology, 18, 623-649.