The remote work of child protection professionals during COVID-19: A scoping review and thematic analysis.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic created new challenges and barriers for the work of child protection professionals (CPPs) and intensified existing hardships for families and children, increasing the risk of child maltreatment. As new restrictions and precautions were implemented by governments worldwide to stop the virus from spreading, CPPs had to adapt to a new reality of working remotely. However, limited research has investigated how remote work impacted CPPs and child protection work and how CPPs handled this alternative work style. OBJECTIVE: This review aims to address gaps in the research to reveal the creative and effective approaches CPPs developed to overcome the challenges presented by COVID-19, defined as the 'positive legacy' of CPPs, particularly in adapting to remote work challenges. METHOD: This review was conducted using a scoping review, followed by two rounds of thematic analysis. The scoping review was conducted in six languages: Hebrew, Arabic, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and English. RESULTS: The first round of thematic analysis found 18 articles relevant to this review. The second round extracted two main themes: 1) the challenges of remote work and 2) overcoming the challenges of no contact. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this review may be used to inform future strategies for child protection during a pandemic. They also provide an opportunity to rethink the relationship child protection work has with technology to systematically reform current and future protection policies and practices, including outside of a pandemic.

What was missed in child protection responses during COVID-19? Perceptions of professionals from various countries.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic increased the likelihood of child maltreatment and made already difficult circumstances for children and their families much worse. This increased the significance of the child protection system's role in responding to child maltreatment and ensuring children's rights, including their right to a safe life without violence. Unfortunately, accumulating evidence has indicated that the rates of child maltreatment increased during the pandemic. OBJECTIVE: The current study sought to identify the gaps within child protection responses in various countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and to discover how we can respond to crises in the future while preserving children's rights, including their right to protection from maltreatment. METHOD: Five focus groups with a total of 47 professionals working with children from various countries were conducted via Zoom and analyzed using a thematic approach. RESULTS: Three main themes were identified: 1) gaps in policies, 2) gaps in practice, and 3) professionals' messages to improve policy and practice. CONCLUSIONS: This study emphasizes what was missed in child protection policy and practice, highlighting the continuous neglect of children's needs and voices within policies, practices and guidelines worldwide during the pandemic. Professionals' recommendations for policy and practice are also discussed.

Examining resilience among child protection professionals during COVID-19: A global comparison across 57 countries.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic led to numerous challenges for child protection professionals (CPPs). However, limited research has investigated the interwoven concepts of coping, resilience, and mental distress among CPPs during COVID-19 on a global scale. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore CPPs' practice, resilience, and mental distress during COVID-19, the relationship between their resilience and mental distress, the global stability of the Multi-System Model of Resilience (MSMR), and how CPPs' resilience varied according to the Human Development Index (HDI). METHODS: Data were collected from 420 CPPs in 57 countries across five continents between July and September 2021. Participants completed an online questionnaire on demographics, resilience, mental distress, coping, and perceptions of child protection during the pandemic in their native languages. The analyses compared the countries grouped according to HDI using means comparisons, correlations, and multiple linear regressions. A two-path analysis was also performed to identify variables associated with behavioral resilience engagement and mental distress. RESULTS: The findings indicated that CPPs' perceptions of COVID-19's impact on child maltreatment varied in correlation with their country's HDI. There were also significant HDI-based differences regarding the perceived opportunity to engage in resilient behavior and its helpfulness. Years of professional experience, internal resilience, and external resilience were shown to be significant predictors of mental distress among CPPs during the pandemic, and resilience mediated how years of experience predicted mental distress. CONCLUSIONS: This study emphasized the importance of experience and internal resilience for CPPs' psychological well-being. It also provides empirical evidence to support the MSMR theory on a global scale. Additionally, it demonstrates how the perceived changes in child maltreatment during COVID-19 may be associated with regional HDI. Lastly, the opportunities CPPs had to engage in resilient behavior and how much this helped them was associated with regional HDI, but not in the way originally predicted. Study results also hold implications for how practice and policy may be altered to help CPPs cope better during times of crisis and generally.

Experiences and responses of child protection professionals during COVID-19: Lessons learned from professionals around the globe.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 significantly worsened already challenging circumstances for children and their families and globally increased the likelihood of child maltreatment. This risk heightened the urgency of child protection professionals in preventing child maltreatment and defending children's rights. The vast and growing body of research on protecting children from child maltreatment during COVID-19 has emphasized practitioners' tremendous difficulty in this arena. OBJECTIVE: The current international study sought to identify the experiences and responses of child protection professionals to child maltreatment during COVID-19. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Five real-time, virtual focus groups were conducted among professionals who work with children from countries around the globe. METHOD: Reflexive thematic analysis was employed to analyze the focus group transcripts. RESULTS: The participants identified their experiences and challenges in performing their role of protecting children. Additionally, they shared context-adapted and innovative responses to child maltreatment, while emphasizing self-care and their mental health. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlighted that child protection was significantly more challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, they underlined the importance of establishing practices and policies for child protection in crisis times as well as ensuring both children's and professionals' well-being and mental health.

Child protective services and out-of-home Care for Children during COVID-19: A scoping review and thematic analysis.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic challenged child protection and posed new risks for child maltreatment (CM). Moreover, governmental efforts worldwide prioritized mitigating the spread of the virus over ensuring the welfare and protection of families and children. This neglect caused hardship for many vulnerable children, including those in out-of-home care (OOHC), and challenged the functionality of child protective services (CPS). However, only limited research has investigated the impact of COVID-19 on OOHC and CPS and explored how CPS overcame the challenges of helping children in OOHC. OBJECTIVE: This review aims to address this gap in the research to unveil the 'positive legacy' left by CPS in their work with children in OOHC during COVID-19. METHOD: This review utilized three stages of analysis, including a scoping review followed by two rounds of thematic analysis. The scoping review was carried out in six languages: English, Hebrew, Arabic, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. The first round of thematic analysis found eight relevant articles for this review. The second round of thematic analysis found three themes related to this paper's aim in the context of COVID-19. RESULTS: Three main themes were identified: 1) decision-making and OOHC, 2) difficulties in procedures related to OOHC placement, and 3) handling challenges of OOHC. CONCLUSIONS: The discussion emphasizes the crucial role of preserving children's rights, hearing their voices and needs, and considering their safety and well-being when planning policies and practices to protect them. It also emphasizes society's responsibility to acknowledge contextual factors in child protection.

"I was alone. No one offered me a real intervention": Israeli child protection services as experienced by adults who underwent child sexual abuse.

BACKGROUND: Many children worldwide come into contact with child protection social workers (CPSW) following child sexual abuse (CSA). Surprisingly, little is known concerning how they experience and perceive these encounters. OBJECTIVE: The current study was designed to examine the way adults who underwent CSA experienced and perceived child protection services (CPS) in Israel as conveyed in their written testimonies. METHOD: The current sample included 83 written testimonies sent to the Israeli Independent Public Inquiry on CSA, analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. RESULTS: The participants' testimonies uncovered two main themes: 1) experiences with CPSW interventions, including being disregarded, abandoned and disbelieved; and 2) constructions of the CPSW practice as poor, maladapted and abusive. Some participants described their active efforts to change the system from within. CONCLUSIONS: The participants' testimonies, which reflected the negative manifestations of neoliberal policy in the CPS, will be broached in the discussion section, alongside two other significant concepts: child participation and a context-informed perspective of child risk and protection. The ramifications for policy and practice will be expanded while acknowledging the complex role of social workers in CPS.

What do adults who experienced child sexual abuse want to convey about therapy?

BACKGROUND: Child sexual abuse (CSA) studies have significantly advanced the understanding of its prevalence and adverse consequences. Tremendous efforts worldwide have been devoted to CSA interventions. However, surprisingly, there is a lack of research dedicated to learning about experiences with therapy among adults who experienced CSA. OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to address this gap by exploring the perspectives and experiences with therapy among adults who experienced CSA. METHODS: Thirty-nine written testimonies comprised the current sample. All of the testimonies were provided to the Israeli Independent Public Inquiry into CSA by adults who experienced CSA and received therapy at one point in their lives. A qualitative inductive thematic analysis guided the exploration of the testimonies. RESULTS: The testimonies provided an important glance into significant characteristics of therapy, such as the timing and reasons leading to therapy, and perceptions regarding what constitutes appropriate therapy. Although beneficial and rehabilitating therapy experiences were mentioned by some of the participants, the majority of the testimonies focused on experiences related to the obstacles and challenges to accessing and engaging in therapy faced by those who experienced CSA. CONCLUSIONS: The testimonies not only addressed essential aspects of therapy, but also highlighted the importance of thoroughly comprehending the broad context of a person's life that leads them to seek therapy. The discussion points to grave social and policy lacunas that prevent people who experienced CSA from receiving therapy that is accessible, timely, subsidized, stigma-free and multifaceted.

The global impact of COVID-19 on child protection professionals: A scoping review and thematic analysis.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic triggered new risks for child maltreatment (CM) and exacerbated existing challenges for families and children, elevating the importance of child protection professionals (CPPs) while also adding barriers to their work. During the pandemic, many CPPs experienced increased workloads, a disrupted work environment, and personal pandemic-related hardships. However, the scope of how COVID-19 impacted CPPs globally, as well as their adopted coping strategies, have not been well explored. OBJECTIVE: This study addresses these gaps in the research by conducting an international scoping review to explore and analyze these topics. METHOD: The scoping review was performed in six languages: English, Hebrew, Arabic, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, across 16 databases. Sixteen manuscripts were included in the final thematic analysis of this review. RESULTS: Two main themes were identified: 1) the impact of COVID-19 on CPPs, and 2) the coping and adaptation strategies employed by CPPs during COVID-19. This review revealed and emphasized the importance of CPPs' resilience during COVID-19, underpinned by the theoretical framework of the social ecology of resilience. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the responsibility of social ecologies and organizational structures to create readiness for a rapid response in times of crisis as well as valuable evidence to inform how CPPs, children, and families may be better supported in the event of a future crisis.

"One Day It Will Be Over, and You Will See Other Landscapes. . . You Are Not Alone": Adult Survivors' Messages to Children Undergoing Child Sexual Abuse.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) has received considerable attention from scholars, contributing to policy, intervention, and prevention efforts worldwide. However, survivors' involvement in this research is limited. This study was designed to delve into the messages of adult CSA survivors to abused children. In all, 371 written testimonies were provided to the Israeli Independent Public Inquiry on CSA by survivors from diverse communities in Israel. The Inquiry aimed to promote change in policies related to CSA. The testimonies were analyzed using the qualitative thematic analysis method. The results revealed five main messages emphasized by survivors to children experiencing CSA: (a) transferring the responsibility and guilt from children to perpetrators and society; (b) turning toward the light and continuing on; (c) disclosure is essential; (d) a happy life is possible; and (e) together we can survive. The discussion emphasizes how various systems in survivors' lives have profound impacts following the abuse. Although survivors were from diverse backgrounds, their messages to abused children were consistent. Through their messages to the children, the survivors emphasized their wish to transfer responsibility and guilt from children experiencing abuse to the society that is supposed to see, listen, protect, and validate. Implications for practice are discussed, focusing on the importance of making room for survivors' voices and experiences in the processes of shaping policies in the area of CSA. Moreover, the survivors' desire to be there for the children emphasized the urgent need to promote the perception of survivors as key stakeholders in the field of child abuse and to integrate their experiences and perceptions into the formal and informal systems for children.

"I was the only one talking about the abuse": Experiences and perceptions of survivors who underwent child sexual abuse as boys.

OBJECTIVE: Empirical literature on child sexual abuse (CSA) has traditionally focused on the CSA of girls. Much less is known about the CSA of boys, specifically about the survivors' experiences. The current study was designed to examine the experiences and perceptions of male adult survivors who underwent CSA as boys. METHOD: Fifty-one written narratives were collected from survivors who experienced CSA as boys as part of the Israeli Independent Public Inquiry into CSA. A qualitative inductive thematic analysis guided the data analysis. RESULTS: The findings highlighted CSA survivors' experiences of not understanding and confusion about the abuse while highlighting the context in which the abuse took place. The findings also emphasized the exploitation of power and the survivors' difficulty identifying being sexually abused during physical fights or public events. Moreover, the survivors referred to their surroundings' failure to notice the abuse and their struggle to establish their identity and overcome the abuse consequences, their loneliness and pain. CONCLUSION: The present findings advance the literature on the CSA of boys by examining narratives written by male CSA survivors. They highlight the potentially destructive role of the heteronormative and conventional masculinity discourse for male CSA survivors, which often enabled the continuation of abuse and challenges that survivors continued to face throughout their lives. The findings also stress society's crucial role in CSA prevention and treatment and the need for public education to challenge societal perceptions regarding the CSA of boys.

The social response to child sexual abuse: Examining parents, perpetrators, professionals and media responses as described in survivors' testimonies to the Israeli Independent Public Inquiry.

BACKGROUND: CSA is an extremely adverse experience, and its prompt and early disclosure is vital. Whether the effects of disclosure are positive or negative depends largely on the recipients' reactions to the disclosure. Early disclosure of abuse could help end the abuse, prevent repeated victimization, protect other children, enable psychological interventions, and make it possible to hold the perpetrator(s) accountable. OBJECTIVE: Spotlighting the societal responsibility regarding CSA, the current study was designed to examine how adult survivors of CSA perceived and experienced various actors' responses to the CSA, as well as the impact of these responses on their lives. METHODS: Qualitative inductive thematic analysis was carried out on 35 written narratives of adult survivors of CSA submitted to the Israeli Independent Public Inquiry into CSA. RESULTS: The results pointed to several actors responding to CSA, and delved into the perceived responses of the parents, preparators, professionals and media. CONCLUSION: The discussion emphasizes the crucial role of social responses to CSA, while addressing the various actors and their dynamics. The journey to justice through the inquiry process is being challenged throughout the social discourse highlighted in the current study. There is an urgent need to provide public platforms for survivors to share their testimonies to mitigate the stigmatization of CSA, which will hopefully promote more just societies.

Child Sexual Abuse Studies in Arab Societies: A Systematic Review and Directions for Future Research.

Although child sexual abuse (CSA) is acknowledged as a worldwide social phenomenon, less is known about CSA within Arab societies. The current systematic literature review was designed to highlight the empirical knowledge on CSA in Arab societies. Guided by PRISMA principles, key databases were searched, with no time limit, for studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Fifty-seven studies were identified. The majority focused on the prevalence of CSA in various Arab societies around the world, with a wide range of rates reported. It is important to stress two main barriers addressed by the included studies. The first relates to the issue of taboo and the forbidden discussion of sexual content. The second is ethical, in which the researchers expressed their fear of creating emotional distress for their participants. A small group of studies examined parents' perceptions of CSA and the need for parents' involvement in the protection of their children. Another small group of studies focused on professionals' perceptions and experiences in contending with CSA, as well as their distress, conflict, and urgent need for support and guidance. The conclusions from the systematic literature review emphasized the enormous challenge of conducting studies on CSA in Arab societies and the urgent need to advance this research while also including children and adult survivors, whose perceptions and experiences are currently understudied. Moreover, the discussion stresses the need to adopt an intersectionality paradigm in future studies to advance the improvement of CSA policy and practice.

"Not understanding but feeling guilty at the same time": The peritraumatic responses of CSA survivors from the Muslim Arab community in Israel.

BACKGROUND: Studies on child sexual abuse (CSA) have greatly contributed to theoretical and empirical developments, advancing policy and practice. However, studies on CSA in closed societies are still scarce. OBJECTIVE: The current study focuses on CSA in the Muslim Arab community in Israel while delving into the peritraumatic responses of survivors to CSA. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Twenty-eight Muslim Arab survivors of CSA provided written testimonies for an independent inquiry. METHODS: The exploration of the Muslim Arab survivors' peritraumatic responses to CSA, according to their testimonies, was guided by an inductive thematic analysis and Braun and Clarke's (2006) six steps of analysis. RESULTS: The results indicated that, as most of the abusive incidents were committed by an extended family member, the survivors experienced an inability to understand what had happened to them while simultaneously feeling guilt and self-blame. Furthermore, the survivors discussed feeling trapped by all of the systems and social expectations in their lives, leaving them feeling extremely lonely and with the understanding that seeking help and disclosing the abuse was not relevant for them. CONCLUSION: The discussion addresses the developments in the research on peritraumatic responses that require further examination. This includes top-down processes that might explain survivors' peritraumatic responses, which are not merely instinctual. In addition, when perpetrators are family members, survivors are expected to stay in contact with them, which demands enormous resources and survival strategies from the survivors.

"The most shocking thing was that I didn't respond to the abuse": The peritraumatic responses and transitions as conveyed by survivors of continuous child sexual abuse.

BACKGROUND: Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a worldwide phenomenon with ongoing and far-reaching consequences for millions of children worldwide. It is a consensus among researchers that continuous CSA represents a unique challenge. OBJECTIVE: The current study aimed to explore the peritraumatic responses of survivors of continuous CSA as described in their written narratives of abuse. The transitions between the peritraumatic responses will also be examined, highlighting the unique context of continuous CSA. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Written narratives of CSA were recruited via an advertisement in the media inviting CSA survivors to share their stories of abuse on an anonymous online platform. The data collection was carried out under the Israeli Independent Public Inquiry on CSA. METHODS: A qualitative thematic analysis was applied to 32 richly written accounts of abuse. RESULTS: Three peritraumatic responses were identified: the adaptive response, hinting, and attempts to fight and flight. Transitions between these responses were described by the survivors and addressed the heavy load of the abuse, realization of the abuse, fear of consequences and the central role of the survivor's environment. CONCLUSIONS: The current study provides a unique platform for the exploration of peritraumatic responses in continuous CSA. Alongside the identification of three peritraumatic responses described by the survivors, the current study provides an initial glance into transitions between peritraumatic responses. This insight strengthens the developing notion that peritraumatic responses in the unique context of CSA are a top-down process, often shaped by various contexts and multidimensional dynamics in the children's lives.