Attachment provision in the Saudi orphanages: Exploring the narratives of residential staff

Abstract

This qualitative study explored the accounts of 50 residential childcare staff in Saudi Arabia, aiming to identify ways in which staff and residential institutions may function as attachment objects for the children in their care. Rather than conducting a formal attachment assessment, a semi‐structured interview schedule was utilised, intending to generate novel insights into the child–carer relationship. Informed by attachment theory, thematic analysis suggested that keyworkers' narratives were organised around three conceptual dichotomies – social rejection versus social acceptance, distress versus containment and development of the self versus bonding. The accounts also indicated that staff and institutions might encounter significant challenges in providing emotional security to the orphans, challenges touching upon all three levels – individual, dyadic and collective.Key Practitioner Message: • The study identified main ways in which the orphanages and their staff facilitate or inhibit the formation of secure bonds between them and the children in their care; • The study highlights that attachment provision in those institutions should be explored at the individual, dyadic, organisational and sociocultural levels; • Change in care arrangements should address all these levels, with an emphasis on improving child and staff psychological well‐being, staff working conditions and staff training and education. Interventions should also challenge deeply rooted stigmatising attitudes.