Foundling and Abandoned Children in Palestine

Bassam Yousef Ibrahim Banat,Iskandar Andon,Sameer Shqair

doi:10.5539/gjhs.v11n11p52

Abstract

The study addressed foundling and abandoned children in the Palestinian society as a multi-dimensional phenomenon. The study consisted of a retrospective transversal survey of one hundred and fifteen abandoned children, and ninety-two abandoning mothers purposefully selected from the records of Cr&egrave;che Institution in Bethlehem, West Bank. The findings indicated that the ratio of foundling and abandoned children in the Palestinian society is very low comparison with international figures. The study concludes that child abandonment in the Palestinian society is a risk factor, and that under-reporting of offences, especially incest is widespread in the Palestinian patriarchal society.

Highlights

Child abandonment still remains a largely hidden problem in most countries worldwide
The findings indicated that the ratio of foundling and abandoned children in the Palestinian society is very low comparison with international figures
The study concludes that child abandonment in the Palestinian society is a risk factor, and that under-reporting of offences, especially incest is widespread in the Palestinian patriarchal society

Summary

Introduction

Child abandonment still remains a largely hidden problem in most countries worldwide. Abandonment occurs when a mother physically, emotionally or psychologically withdraws from her children. She does this by ignoring her responsibility to parent her children, or ending her relationship with her children (Van Wyden, 2014). Child abandonment is a global phenomenon that has occurred to varying degrees in almost every culture and society. Mass child abandonment around the world and through generations since the early 1600s, has been reported usually associated with urbanization and other related social problems such as broken family support systems, young single women's vulnerability in these environments, and the devastating impact of poverty (Blackie, 2014). In the 19th century, the United States experienced a similar rise due to industrialization and migrant labor They lacked the social support systems in Europe with devastating consequences for children. In the late 1980s, there was a significant increase in child exemption in China, which coincided with governments recently implementing a strict policy on one child per family (Fuchs & McBride-Schreiner, 2014)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion