Qualitative study uncovers complex parental experiences of court-ordered child removal in East Jerusalem, highlighting the need for politically sensitive child welfare interventions.
Key Points
To examine how Palestinian parents in East Jerusalem interpret the reasons behind court-ordered child removal and perceive their encounters with welfare and legal systems.
Conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 22 primary caregivers (13 mothers, 8 fathers, 1 aunt) whose children aged 0–6 were removed by court order.
Utilized an inductive, context-sensitive qualitative design informed by grounded theory principles.
Caregivers challenged official grounds for removal, attributing family difficulties to structural hardships, geopolitical pressures, and precarious legal residency statuses.
Most parents described initial encounters with the welfare system as disempowering and exclusionary, whereas select mothers without legal status viewed the intervention as an unexpected opportunity to reconnect with their children.