Abstract
BackgroundSince 1967, the Palestinian Occupied Territories are marked by a political conflict between Palestinians and Israel. During this conflict, about one fifth of the Palestinian population has been detained; about one quarter of these are parents. Although we know that father’s incarceration might impact their children’s psychological wellbeing, little is known about the impact of father’s imprisonment on young children (under 11 years old), and when the incarceration is framed in contexts of political conflict. Therefore, this study aimed at gaining insight into the impact of parental detention on young children’s psychological wellbeing, and the impact of witnessing the detention process itself.MethodsBased on the list of imprisoned Palestinian men with children living in the West Bank, a group of 79 (3- to 10-years old) children was randomly composed. Above, through schools and health centers, a comparison sample of 99 children who didn’t experience imprisonment of a family member was selected. Mothers of these children completed two cross-culturally validated questionnaires on their children’s psychological wellbeing, the UCLA-PTSD-Index and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).ResultsResults showed higher levels of PTSD and general mental health problems associated with father’s capturing. Above, when the children watched the arrest process of their fathers, scores still increased further. Younger children tended to show higher SDQ scores, and children living in villages reported higher posttraumatic stress scores compared to children living in urban areas or refugee camps. Little gender differences were found.ConclusionThis study shows the important impact of parental detention on the psychological wellbeing for young children and urges for more psychological care and support for family members – in particular children – of detainees.
Highlights
This study shows the important impact of parental detention on the psychological wellbeing for young children and urges for more psychological care and support for family members – in particular children – of detainees
Detention of fathers largely impacts the psychological wellbeing of the children involved, with a large range of emotional and behavioral problems, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bedwetting, nightmares and anxiety, as possible consequences [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
The impact of arrest and detention can largely differ from that in contexts of individual crimes: Detainees and their family members are seldom informed about the specific reason for detention, and the detention happens in particular circumstances
Summary
Detention of fathers largely impacts the psychological wellbeing of the children involved, with a large range of emotional and behavioral problems, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bedwetting, nightmares and anxiety, as possible consequences [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. Some studies report age differences, either in prevalence or in type of emotional problems [8,15], and here, findings are not conclusive [17], and there is a paucity of literature investigating the impact of fathers’ detention onto the wellbeing of children who are younger than 11 years old. Most of these studies have focused on children whose fathers were arrested because of particular criminal facts, and did not consider children whose fathers were arrested because of political reasons or within contexts of ongoing political conflicts. This study aimed at gaining insight into the impact of parental detention on young children’s psychological wellbeing, and the impact of witnessing the detention process itself
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