Author: Majdleen Taha
The study examined the traumatic experiences of the detention among the ex-detentes Palestinian children from Israeli jails in the West Bank. The study approached the literature as a multi-dimensional phenomenon, which addressed both theoretical and applied research. The study sheds light on a very important topic in the Palestinian children in the Israeli jails. It's a pattern of behavior that violates their rights, damages their health and well-being due to the increased prevalence of traumatic experiences of the detention experience among the ex-detentes Palestinian children from Israeli jails in the past three years.
The study adopted the quantitative research approach using the sampling survey method. The questionnaire is appropriate for the exploratory nature of the research. A 165-item questionnaire was formulated which was divided into six sub-scales as follows: the general information of the participants; the second section dealt with the detention experience (35 items); the third section included the traumatic experiences of the detention scale (22 items); the fourth section had the self-esteem scale (10 items); the fifth section dealt with life orientation scale (12 items); the sixth section included the psychological symptoms of stress scale (57 items); and the seventh section dealt with the defense mechanism scale (29 items). The random stratified method was utilized which comprised of a sample size of (234) male and female respondents among the ex-detentes Palestinian children from Israeli jails in the West Bank. The collected data was statistically analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS).
The findings demonstrate that traumatic experiences are prevalent among the ex-detentes Palestinian children from Israeli jails (M 3.20 SD 0.94). Of the Palestinian children surveyed, 64% reported traumatic experiences. The study revealed the determinant effect of traumatic experiences on self-esteem and the psychological symptoms of stress among the children. However, the findings revealed an inverse effect between traumatic experiences and life orientation and defense mechanism among the children. Current statistics revealed that gender, family birth rank, detention year, detention duration, detention frequently, and number of household members were significant predictors for traumatic experiences among the ex-detentes Palestinian children.
These findings confirm the effect of traumatic experiences on the personality of the ex-detentes Palestinian children from Israeli jails, mostly on their self-esteem, the psychological symptoms of stress, life orientation, and the defense mechanism and recommend the need to provide legal protection for the Palestinian children and fight all arbitrary measures of Israeli occupation against them. The need for a rapid therapeutic and counseling intervention to avoid any problems that may cause significant distortions in the children personality, finally, further research is essential to develop an understanding of traumatic experiences among the ex-detentes Palestinian children from Israeli jails using the case study and qualitative research design.
Keywords: Traumatic experiences, children, Palestine, detention.
Majdleen Taha, MA. Criminal Justice-Criminology, Faculty of Arts, Al-Quds University, Main Campus, Jerusalem- Abu Dies, Palestine. Social worker, Defense for Children International, Palestine. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
