New Article: Ben-David, Families at High Risk of Child Maltreatment

Ben-David, Vered. “Profiles of Families at High Risk of Child Maltreatment in Israeli Court Cases Dealing with the Termination of Parental Rights.” Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal 32.4 (2015): 359-73.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10560-015-0378-4

 

Abstract

The present study analyzes the characteristics of children and parents in court cases dealing with the termination of parental rights, in order to draw a profile of families at high risk of child maltreatment and shed light on the professional decision-making process. The analysis of a sample of 127 cases identified various child, parent and child–parent characteristics and inter-characteristics which served as a rich database for understanding the profiles of children at risk and their parents. On the basis of these profiles, the study was able to draw a prototype of a family at high risk of child maltreatment and identify the main factors considered by the courts when determining whether or not to terminate parental rights. This paper discusses the implications of these results on the need for early and extensive professional intervention in such families.

 
 
 
 

New Article: Shalhoub-Kevorkian, A Universalist Perspective for How Israel is using Child Arrest

Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Nadera. “Childhood: A Universalist Perspective for How Israel is using Child Arrest and Detention to further its Colonial Settler Project.” International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies 12.3 (2015): 223-244.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aps.1456

 

Abstract

Drawing from reports and documentation published by Israeli and Palestinian human rights and children’s rights organizations, and establishing the analyses from the voices and stories of Palestinian children suffering from politically motivated abuses, the present paper examines child abuse in settler colonial contexts. Through the analyses of the various voices, narratives, and reports, the paper examines the inscription of state power over children’s bodies and lives, marking the connection between biopolitics and geopolitics, as well as the resultant suffering of children. The analyses of the collected data suggest that knowledge about child maltreatment and the violations of children’s rights cannot be dislocated from the history, politics, and structure of settler colonialism. The paper concludes by arguing that living a childhood situated in spaces of exterminability, as the voices of the studied children reveal, should be defined as child abuse and maltreatment.

 

 

 

New Article: Baron-Epel & Ivancovsky, Unintentional Injuries in Minorities: A Case Study of Arab Israeli Children

Baron-Epel, Orna, and Michal Ivancovsky. “A Socio-Ecological Model for Unintentional Injuries in Minorities: A Case Study of Arab Israeli Children.” International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion 22.1 (2015): 48-56.

 

URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17457300.2013.855794

 

Abstract

Minority children have often been reported to be at high risk of injury. The higher levels of reported unintentional injuries among Arab children compared to Jewish children in Israel are mainly due to pedestrian traffic crashes, falls and burns. Arab children aged 1–4 years have a higher relative risk of injury compared to Jews. We suggest a socio-ecological model to explain these differences in risk based on individual, interpersonal, community and societal ecological levels of society. Each level is divided into social and physical environments and behaviour. Two main factors may contribute to the high rates of injury among Arab children: the quality of the physical environment in which the children live and play and the levels of child supervision. Socio-economic status may contribute to these differences at all ecological levels of society. This approach could be useful for researchers and practitioners to analyse similar issues in other communities and help develop appropriate interventions.

CFP: Child and Family in challenging situations: legal issues (Ono Academic College, apply by April 30, 2015)

Click here for a PDF file of this announcement.

Notice of Academic Symposium and Call for Papers

“Child and Family in challenging situations: legal issues”

June 9-10, 2015, Ono Academic College Faculty of Law, Kiryat Ono (Israel)

The International Academy for the Study of the Jurisprudence of the Family (“IASJF”) is pleased to announce that it will hold its 8th international symposium on the jurisprudence of the family on on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 9-10, 2015, at Ono Academic College Faculty of Law, Kiryat Ono, Israel. The topic of the symposium is “Child and Family in Challenging Situations: Legal Issues.” The Symposium will address the issues related to the topic from a juridical point of view; interdisciplinary presentations are also welcome.

Kiryat Ono, Israel, is in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, and approximately 50 minutes’ drive from Jerusalem. The Ono Faculty of Law is Israel’s largest law school with 50 full-time faculty members including two full-time Family Law faculty: Dr. Yitshak Cohen and Dr. Yoav Mazeh, who are the hosts of this symposium. The symposium will be followed with an organized tour to the Old City of Jerusalem, which will take place on Thursday, June 11th.

The International Academy (IASJF), is an independent, interdisciplinary scholarly society that seeks to promote thoughtful consideration and discussion of the foundations of the family, including marriage, parenting, extended and other family relations. Our website is at: http://www.iasjf.org/. The IASFJ has previously hosted academic symposia at Boston College Law School in Boston, Massachusetts, USA; at Bratislava Law School of Pan-European University in Bratislava, Slovakia; at Pontifical Catholic University of Buenos Aires in Buenos Aires, Argentina; at the University of Malta in Valletta, Malta; in Doha, Qatar (hosted by the Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development); at Cardozo Law School, New York City, USA; and at University of La Coruña, Spain. The IASFJ sponsors the International Journal of the Jurisprudence of the Family (“IJJF”), which is published in both print editions and in HeinOnline. Papers from prior symposia have been published in the IJJF; and selected submitted papers from the 2015 Symposium will be published in Volume 6 of the IJJF.

A person wishing to present a scholarly paper at the symposium should submit a short abstract of the paper they propose (no more than one page) including a working title, the identity, institutional affiliation and full contact information of the author(s), and a brief description of the paper proposed. Proposals should be sent to Professor Lynn D. Wardle (BYU, US) at wardlel@law.byu.edu, to Professor Carlos Martínez de Aguirre (University of Zaragoza, Spain) at aguirre@unizar.es, or to Dr. Yitshak Cohen (Ono Academic College, Israel) at Itshak_c@ono.ac.il , by April 30, 2015. Acceptances will be on a rolling basis. All symposium participants must register ($ 80 for Academy members, $ 120 for non-members, plus $ 40 late fee after 31 March 2015) and pay for their own transportation and hotel. The fee includes all symposium meals. Please, check for updated news about this symposium on http://www.iasjf.org/.

New Book: Hanafi et al, UNRWA and Palestinian Refugees

Hanafi, Sari, Leila Hilal, and Lex Takkenberg, eds. UNRWA and Palestinian Refugees. From Relief and Works to Human Development. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2014.

 

 

URL: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415715041/

 

Abstract

Exploring the evolution of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), this book fills a lacuna in literature on the agency. It employs recent fieldwork in order to analyse challenges in programmes and service delivery, protection, camp governance, community participation, and camp improvement and reconstruction. The chapters examine the way UNRWA is adapting to a changing social, political and economic context, mostly within urban settings – a paradigmatic shift from understanding the Agency’s role as simply a provider of relief and services to one comprehensively supporting the human development of Palestinian refugees.

Examining the refugee debate using new disciplines and research frameworks, this collection aims to emphasise the centrality of the Palestinian refugee issue for Middle East peace-making and to contribute a better understanding of a unique agency. This book will be a useful aid for students and researchers with an interest in Middle East Studies, Politics, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Table of Contents

Part I: Meeting Challenges in Programmes and Service Delivery

1 Realizing Self-Reliance through Microfinance – Allex Pollock

2 UNRWA’s ‘Traditional’ Programmes as a Catalyst for Human Development – Tjitske de Jong & Miriam Aced

Part II: Protection: From Concept to Practice

3 Incorporating Protection into UNRWA Operations – Mark Brailsford

4 Advancing Child Protection in Jordan, Lebanon, Occupied Palestinian Territory and Syria – Laurent Chapuis

Part III: Governance: The Camps and UNRWA

5 From Chaos to Order and Back: The Construction of UNRWA Shelters and Camps 1950- 1970– Kjersti Gravelsaeter Berg

6 UNRWA as ‘Phantom Sovereign’: Governance Practices in Lebanon – Sari Hanafi

Part IV: Civic Participation and Community Engagement

7 From Beneficiary to Stakeholder: An Overview of UNRWA’s Approach to Refugee Participation– Terry Rempel

8 Community Participation and Human Rights Advocacy: Questions Arising from the Campaign about the Right to Work of Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon – Sergio Bianchi

Part V: Camp Improvement/Reconstruction and Development

9 Dynamics of Space, Temporariness, Development and Rights in Palestine Refugees’ Camps– Mona Budeiri

10 Talbiyeh Camp Improvement Project and the Challenges of Community Participation: Between Empowerment and Conflict– Fatima Al-Nammari

11 Implementing the Neirab Rehabilitation Project: UNRWA’s Approach to Development in Syria’s Palestinian Refugee Camps– Nell Gabiam

12 The Urban Planning Strategy in Al-Hussein Palestinian Refugee Camp in Amman: Heterogeneous Practices; Homogeneous Landscape– Lucas Oesch

Part VI: Palestinian Refugees and Durable Solutions: A Role for UNRWA

13 UNRWA as Avatar: Current Debates on the Agency and their Implications – Rex Brynen

14 The Role of UNRWA in Resolving the Palestinian Refugee Issue – Leila Hilal