Listening to child protection workers in Saudi Arabia: Child protection workers speak of how they experienced the policies and programs introduced to protect children between 2010 and 2013

Abstract

The protection of children at risk of abuse and neglect requires engagement of the whole community. In this article, child protection managers and direct service workers in Saudi Arabia report their experiences in implementing new policies. Findings of the study showed that early improvements to child protection policies and programs led to confusion among workers regarding their role and were perceived by the workers to be placing children at risk. Limited power assigned to workers, conflict with cultural norms, and a lack of specialist education in child protection were among the barriers preventing workers from undertaking their roles effectively.

Keywords

Child protection child protection training Islam policy implementation qualitative research Saudi Arabia

Introduction

This article explores the experiences of child protection workers in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, we examine the findings of a study conducted with managers and front-line child protection workers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between 2009 and 2014. Legislative child protection work in Saudi Arabia is a relatively recent practice. In 2004, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia began developing a policy response to child maltreatment by strengthening government infrastructure and institutional resources (Davies and Duckett, 2008). The purpose of the study was to examine how changes in child protection policies between 2009 and 2013 were implemented in practice by direct service workers and managers to effectively protect children. We explore key themes that emerged through interviews and focus groups, and conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings for child protection policy, practice, and research.

More broadly, this article is concerned with the ways in which cultural and societal factors influence and shape the practice of child protection. Globally, there is a recognition that interventions are required to protect children who have experienced abuse (Hansen and Ainsworth, 2009; Hart et al., 2011; Horwath, 2011; Jackson et al., 2009; Winkworth and McArthur, 2009). As with all societies, the rights of children within Islamic traditions are mediated by local, cultural, and sociopolitical contexts (Hutchinson et al., 2015). As we demonstrate using Saudi Arabia as a case study, the development and implementation of specific child protection policies is a process that is often complicated by societal and cultural understandings of child abuse and neglect.

The historical development of child protection in Saudi Arabia: The influence of international standards and Sharia Law

An early exploration of child maltreatment in Saudi Arabia was completed in 1991 by Al-Eissa (1991: 133), who at the time concluded that legislation and policy should be developed to allow for state intervention in child protection matters. Al-Eissa’s (1991) study explored seven cases of child abuse, which included four instances of physical abuse, two cases of neglect, and one of intentional poisoning. At the time of Al-Eissa’s (1991) study, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had no services specifically dedicated to child protection and cases were treated solely as criminal matters to be resolved through the justice system. Following Al-Eissa’s work, the King Faisal Hospital and Research Centre established the first Child Protection Centre (CPC) in 1994. The CPC developed processes and regulations for hospitals in situations of child abuse and neglect. At the time, CPC policies focused primarily on the individual health impacts of abuse and did not include prevention and intervention programming for at-risk children and families (Al-Zahrani, 2003, 2004).

Saudi Arabian legal and political frameworks, including child protection policies, are heavily influenced by Islamic ideologies and based upon Sharia Law (Alsehaimi and Alanazi, 2015). There is debate over how the rights of children should be understood within the Saudi interpretation of Sharia. Some scholars have posited that the adoption of more stringent protections for children upholds respect for the central place of the family unit within Islamic values (Al Faryan, 2014).Islamic law obliges parents to provide for their children’s health, education, safety, and happiness (Al Azhar University in cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund, 2005). However, Sharia law also includes responsibilities that children have toward their parents, notably respect and obedience, with some scholars arguing that these responsibilities are understood to be as important as the rights held by children (Rajabi-Ardeshiri, 2009).

Saudi Arabia ratified the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1996. However, critiques of the UNCRC have noted that the document is based upon Western understandings of the rights of children and some principles are perceived to be incongruent with Islamic perspectives. This has led to many clauses not being implemented within Islamic countries (Rajabi-Ardeshiri, 2009). Indeed, in cases where conflict exists between international standards of children’s rights and Islamic law, the Saudi Arabian legal system has given precedence to Islamic principles (Almihdar, 2008). While attempts to integrate Saudi Arabian values with international standards on children’s rights represent a positive development for the safety of children, as argued by Moosa (2012), international convention participants such as the UNCRC are filtered through ‘a set of bifocal lenses combining secular and religious narratives’ (p. 293). In some ways, the desire to uphold traditional values may impede the full implementation of the UNCRC. As discussed later in this article, for example, firmly held beliefs about the role of women in Saudi Arabian society can undermine child protection practices. This is but one example of a conflict between Sharia law and Western child rights discourses that is both concerning and in need of further investigation and monitoring.

Internationally, implementation of the UNCRC among signatories has varied. The interpretations and applications of the document’s principles across countries is wide-ranging (Todres, 1998). For example, while the United States signed the Convention in 1995, it has yet to ratify the document through the Senate (Mehta, 2015). In 2012, Australia, a country which has ratified the Convention, was criticized by the United Nations for ‘an inadequate understanding and application of the principle of best interests in asylum-seeking, refugee and/or immigration detention situations’ (UNCRC, 2012: 8). The focus of the UN CRC committee is to work with countries to gradually have all principles implemented. Based upon the findings of this research, it is clear that significant legislative and societal shifts would be required for Saudi Arabia to comply with all the articles of the UNCRC.

Given the lack of formal policies and procedures related to child protection in Saudi Arabia, the 2004 legislative changes symbolized a critically important stage in the development of child protection work in the Kingdom. In 2004, specialized professional agencies were instituted to intervene in cases of child maltreatment (Almuneef and Al Eissa, 2011). The establishment of these agencies occurred following a media outcry over a series of child deaths from abuse and neglect (Almuneef and Al Eissa, 2011). In 2004, 17 provincial Social Protection Committees (SPCs) were formed throughout the Kingdom. The SPCs operate through the Ministry of Labor and Social Development (MLSD, 2014)¹ and include representatives from the health, justice, social affairs, and education sectors. The SPCs are very much involved in front-line child protection service provision. Their staff provide counseling, conduct home visitations, and plan and facilitate interventions for victims and perpetrators (Almuneef and Al Eissa, 2011).

While Saudi Arabia was strengthening its approach to child maltreatment at the nation-state level, regional strategies were also being developed in response to perceived tensions between Sharia law and Western child rights standards. In 2005, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation developed the Covenant of the Rights of the Child in Islam in an attempt to create a culturally relevant model for children’s rights and protections (Rajabi-Ardeshiri, 2009). This move signified a broader political recognition of issues around child maltreatment in the Islamic world.

By 2008, 39 CPCs were also established in major hospitals throughout the country to deal with allegations of child abuse (Almuneef and Al Eissa, 2011). The CPCs operate under the jurisdiction of the National Health Council (Almuneef and Al Eissa, 2011). The CPCs are composed of multidisciplinary teams that include pediatricians, social workers, and psychologists along with other relevant professionals, all of whom are provided with free training through the National Family Safety Program (NFSP)² (Almuneef and Al Eissa, 2011). The CPCs are responsible for substantiating instances of child abuse, at which time the cases are meant to be sent to the local provincial SPC for further investigation.

In 2010, the NFSP developed a Child Helpline as part of its child protection strategy (Almuneef and Al Eissa, 2011). Initially run as a pilot project, the purpose of the Helpline is to provide telephone counseling services to families across the Kingdom, and is not solely focused on child maltreatment concerns. Originally staffed 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, the Helpline has now expanded to provide 24-hour service. In addition to providing counseling and referral of emergency cases for intervention, the Helpline also collects data related to child maltreatment. The annual data collected by the NFSP in 2014 provide insight into the challenges faced by Saudi Arabian families. Children were most likely to contact the Helpline (60%), followed by female adults (34.53%), then male adults (6%) (NFSP, 2014). Only 18 percent of calls for 2014 were determined to be ‘serious,’ while 82 percent were listed as ‘not serious’ (NFSP, 2014). About 7 percent of the ‘serious’ calls were for counseling, while 10 percent of callers were seeking unspecified information (NFSP, 2014). Figure 1 illustrates the issues Child Helpline staff were most likely to provide counseling for, based on the latest statistics presented by the NFSP (2014).

In an earlier study of the Child Helpline, Mmajhed (2011) identified the geographical size of Saudi Arabia as presenting a challenge to the efficacy of the service. Both the variation of services available across the Kingdom and the difficulties in identifying the location of the callers were issues reported by respondents (2011: 14). The report also noted that there was an ‘absence of a reliable database because of the new experience in the social field’, which could indicate a lack of access to appropriate training for Helpline counselors (p. 14). Figure 2 illustrates the agencies most likely to receive referrals from Child Helpline staff members, and was based on the latest statistics presented by the NFSP (2014).

The chart highlights that more than half (60%) of the referrals from Child Helpline are to the MLSD, which was specifically established to take action on the referral and suggests recognition of the role of the MLSD among Helpline staff members. Only 11 percent of the referrals were to the Ministry of Education.

Prevalence of child maltreatment in Saudi Arabia: The current climate

A review of 188 cases of reported child maltreatment at the King Abdulaziz Medical City for National Guard found that the numbers of cases increased drastically between 2000–2004 (n = 6.4/year) and 2007–2008 (n = 61.5/year) (Al Eissa and Almuneef, 2010: 28). According to Al Eissa and Almuneef (2010), the increasing number of case referrals was due not to higher rates of child maltreatment in Saudi Arabia, but rather to important attitudinal shifts in society regarding child abuse. As child maltreatment is increasingly recognized as a social problem requiring intervention, the need for protective services will continue to grow. Following the establishment of the NFSP in 2005, we begin to see systematic collection of data related to child abuse and neglect in Saudi Arabia. A joint report undertaken by the Council of Health Services (CHS) and NFSP (2013: 12) recorded 212 instances of child abuse in major hospitals across Saudi Arabia, including neglect (46.2%), physical abuse (34.9%), sexual abuse (13.2%), and emotional abuse (5.7%). In 66.5 percent of the reported cases, perpetrators were identified (CHS and NFSP, 2013: 18). Parents were most commonly the perpetrators (72.5%), followed by other caregivers (15.6%), and other relatives (6.4%) or stepparents (5.7%) (CHS and NFSP, 2013: 19). The CHS and NFSP (2013: 31) report concluded that subsequent notifications by hospital CPCs to other agencies varied greatly, for instance, 49.4 percent of cases were referred to SPCs, 42.4 percent of cases to the police, 5.3 percent to other agencies, and 2.9 percent to the regional principality. A more recent study of adolescent maltreatment in Saudi Arabia undertaken in 2012 found that there were variations in types of abuse among gender and age groups. According to Al Eissa et al. (2016), the risk of being exposed to violence and psychological abuse and neglect was higher for teenage girls, while sexual abuse was more common among adolescent boys. Furthermore, while the risk for physical abuse increased as girls aged, rates of physical abuse for male adolescents decreased as they aged. Overall, adolescents in Saudi Arabia were more likely to experience psychological abuse (65%), with sexual abuse being the least common form of maltreatment (10%) in the study sample (n = 16,939).

Method

Research design

This study focused on the experiences of practitioners working in child protection in NFSP and the General Administration of Social Protection (GASP) at Riyadh. In an attempt to understand the experiences of child protection workers, the research adopted a phenomenological approach that placed the ‘lived experience of the everyday world’ as understood by research participants as the entry point for data analysis (Pascal, 2010: 6). Utilizing a phenomenological approach allowed for an understanding of the lived experiences of everyday practice in the child protection field for practitioners in Riyadh between 2009 and 2014.

There were three stages of data collection, beginning with a review of government documents to identify policies and processes of child protection practice. The second stage engaged with child protection workers who were directly involved with child abuse cases in Riyadh, under the auspices of GASP and the NFSP. The third stage of data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews with managers in GASP and the NFSP who were responsible for supervising practitioners and implementing policy. The purpose of these interviews was to explore the manager’s role in child protection services and examine how child protection policy and procedures were being implemented. Ethics approval was obtained from La Trobe University. Permission was obtained from the relevant ministries in Saudi Arabia, and all participants gave their informed consent to participate.

Sample

This study focused on the lived experiences of 24 front-line child protection workers in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and of six managers or senior staff employed at the MLSD (n = 3) and the NFSP (n = 3). All participants had been working within the field of child protection for a minimum of 12 months. At the time of the study, the total child protection staff in GASP was 41 practitioners and 11 at the NFSP. The total number of staff participating in interviews in this study was 28 from GASP and 3 from the NFSP. All child protection workers were invited to participate by way of an invitation distributed via email to all staff. Two focus groups were held with the child protection workers and individual interviews were held with managers. Gender distribution was equal within and between the groups of participants.

Data collection

Interviews and focus groups were held at the participants’ place of work in Riyadh between 2009 and 2014. Each child protection worker participated in one focus group, which sought to explore their experiences of implementing policies, their perceptions of the work they undertook, and the factors which supported or were obstacles to obtaining safety for children. Managers participated in individual semi-structured interviews that explored their perceptions and experiences of the impact of child protection processes and programs.

Data analysis

The data arising from the experiences of managers and workers were analyzed for common themes. The analysis utilized the approach to data analysis of Miles and Huberman (1994). Themes reported in this article included the following: the barriers to implementation of child protection services, administrative and policy conflicts, legislation and guidelines, resources and organizational capacity, culture, gender factors, and education of workers.

Limitations

This study is limited to an exploration of the child protection practices in Riyadh. Each city and region operates differently and as such caution should be exercised in generalizing the findings to other regions in the Kingdom and across the Middle East. Furthermore, as discussed later in this article, staff turnover within child protection is quite high, thus it is possible that individuals currently working in the field have significantly different experiences from those represented within this research. Finally, the lack of current data presented a challenge in the research process. The literature review for this article explores both English and Arabic language articles but does not provide a systematic overview of the available literature on child protection practices in Saudi Arabia.

Characteristics of child protection workers in Riyadh

Table 1 presents the educational and training background of staff working in child protection in Saudi Arabia who participated in this study. While the majority of managers held Master’s degree qualifications, none held advanced social work qualifications. For child protection workers, the majority had a social work qualification but only a few held an advanced degree in the field. Four of six managers held Master’s degrees in disciplines other than social work, among them psychology, educational management, and domestic violence, while one senior staff member was in the process of completing a Master of Social Work degree (MSW). All had undertaken additional in-service training related to child protection, in areas such as family violence and child neglect. The senior staff who participated in this study had been working in child protection for a minimum of 2 years, and the majority had previous experience in related fields including welfare, education, and health.

Table 1.

Overview of staff characteristics.

	Senior staff (n = 6), %	Front-line staff (n = 35), %
Gender
Male	50	43
Female	50	57
Highest level of education completed
Doctor of Social Work	0	0
Doctorate (other)	0	3
Master of Social Work	0	6
Master’s degree (other discipline)	67	14
Bachelor of Social Work	17	43
Bachelor’s degree (other discipline)	17	31
None reported	0	3
Years of experience in current position
0–5	100	N/A
6–10	0	N/A
11–16	0	N/A
Years of prior experience in child protection
0–5	67	N/A
6–10	17	N/A
11–16	17	N/A

The senior staff provided information related to the qualifications and experience of 35 front-line workers at NFSP and MLSD. All the child protection workers at NFSP held Bachelor’s degrees in social work (n = 6), psychology (n = 3), or sociology (n = 1), while one legal counselor was reported as having no educational qualifications. One NFSP worker had a Master’s degree in sociology, while another was in the process of completing hers. Out of the 11 front-line workers at NFSP, 10 were women. According to one participant, there was no difference in task allocation between those who held Bachelor of Social Work or Sociology degrees, or among those with Master’s degrees. Of the 24 staff involved in child protection at MLSD: nine workers had a Bachelor of Social Work degree (BSW); three had or were in the process of completing an MSW; one held a BSW and a Master’s degree in psychology; six held a Bachelor’s degree in sociology or psychology; one staff member had a Bachelor of laws degree; and three held Masters’ degrees in the social sciences or psychology. One staff member had completed a doctorate in family counseling. There were 24 MLSD staff members in total; 14 were men, while 10 were women.

Findings and discussion: Barriers to effective child protection practice in Saudi Arabia

Theme 1: Cultural factors

Saudi Arabian culture regards the family as the fundamental social institution and high value is placed upon interconnectedness and harmony (Al Baker, 2002; Al Tuwaijri, 2001; Barakat, 1993). In particular, child protection practices must be understood in the context of contemporary issues facing Saudi Arabian society. Given that individual identity and status are primarily derived from the reputation of the family, threats to familial cohesion are seen as particularly egregious in Saudi Arabian society (Al Tuwaijri, 2001). At the same time, profound changes in Saudi Arabian culture, particularly the number of youth who are moving outside of its borders to pursue education, are leading to changes in the way in which the role of family is understood within society (Niblock, 2015). Furthermore, the changing role of women in Saudi Arabia represents a challenge to familial cohesion. The high rates of child and female homelessness found within some Saudi Arabian communities have been attributed to increased attempts by women to publicly assert independence, such as through divorce (Zuhur, 2011).

Although public condemnation of child maltreatment is becoming more prevalent, research suggests that abuse is still commonly ignored or tolerated in countries in the Arab Peninsula as an accepted form of child discipline (Al Mahroos, 2007; Kazarian, 2015). Child protection work is a relatively new practice in Islamic countries and there is still little engagement between allied health professionals and many communities (Al Krenawi and Kimberley, 2013). Despite attempts to indigenize child protection practice, mistrust of outsiders is still a significant barrier for child protection workers within Islamic contexts (Hutchinson et al., 2015). Indeed, research has demonstrated that social workers have faced difficulties in building successful working relationships with Islamic families (Al Krenawi and Graham, 2001). Al Krenawi and Graham (2001) attributed this reluctance to cultural norms that discourage outside influences from participating in family-related matters. In this study, social workers stated that community relations were often difficult, with one participant noting that ‘the lack of community respect is a major problem’.

The patriarchal organization of many Islamic societies was also seen as a hindrance to building positive relationships between female child protection workers and families. Saudi men commonly refuse to interact with female social workers (Irani, 1999). Given that the father is viewed as the central authority of most Saudi families (Zuhur, 2011), the intervention of female child protection workers might be interpreted as a threat to traditional gender roles. This has had negative repercussions for the acceptance of the role of child protection in the community. To date, attempts to provide public education campaigns around child protection have largely failed. According to practitioners interviewed for this study, education sessions organized by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) but delivered through the MLSD were largely perceived as incongruent with Islamic teachings. According to one focus group participant, community members viewed the sessions as ‘increasing rebellion of children against their family . . . and [that they] led to conflict between family members’. This quote provides insight into the conflict between traditional Saudi Arabian values concerning the family and Western understandings of children’s rights.

Theme 2: Lack of resources and organizational capacity

In addition to cultural barriers, the organizational context of child protection work in Saudi Arabia presented significant challenges to professionals in the field. Indeed, research has suggested that there is a lack of consistency in awareness and responses across public and private institutions, which is further exacerbated by the absence of a penal code dedicated to child protection issues (Alsehaimi and Alanazi, 2015). Given that the resolution of familial conflict has often been viewed as a private matter within Saudi Arabian society, it is unsurprising that child protection regulations are still lacking (Niblock, 2015). In this study, the patchwork nature of child protection law was noted as being particularly difficult for workers to navigate and follow in practice.

The establishment of CRCs and the fact that the Saudi Arabian government commissioned a study into domestic violence and child maltreatment suggests that there is mounting political will among state actors to address issues of abuse and establish procedures to protect children against maltreatment (Almuneef, 2012). However, legislative and policy measures are still in their infancy, and only 41.9 percent of respondents in a study conducted by the NFSP (2012: 6) felt that there were sufficient institutional resources available to ensure that vulnerable children in Saudi Arabia were protected. Research undertaken by Mikton et al. (2013: 1244) with 41 key informants working in child protection in Saudi Arabia found that 85.4 percent of respondents felt that the governmental response to child maltreatment was inadequate. Mikton et al. (2013) made a series of recommendations that were aimed at improving the response to child maltreatment in Saudi Arabia. The recommendations included the following: the implementation of pilot project prevention programs, increasing material and human resources, an awareness campaign to build capacity among the public and professionals, and the establishment of a child advocacy position (Mikton et al., 2013: 1249). Both managers and child protection workers in the study reported on in this paper highlighted the lack of resources available for staff members to pursue professional development.

Theme 3: Lack of professional awareness

Another important factor identified by study participants was the awareness of child maltreatment among professionals who interacted regularly with children. The lack of capacity among organizations involved in child protection is particularly worrisome, given that–as one participant stated–in the current system ‘intervention requires cooperation between many agencies’. Respondents noted that police often did not understand or respect the role of child protection workers and questioned their authority to intervene in familial matters. The lack of clarity surrounding child protection procedures continued despite the Saudi Arabian Council of Ministers passing a law in 2013 requiring professionals and the public to report suspected cases of child maltreatment to the police (Regulation on Protection from Abuse 2013: Article 3). However, the legal definition of abuse remains ambiguous, and legal scholars have argued that the Regulation on Protection from Abuse ‘fails to identify what behaviour rises to the level of abuse’ (Butler, 2015: 1251). As noted by Human Rights Watch (2013, para. 1), ‘the law, however does not detail specific enforcement mechanisms to ensure prompt investigations of abuse allegations or prosecution of those who commit abuses’. The Enforcement Mechanism of Protection Regulation, published by MLSD (2014), includes 17 principles of which 9 are related to family protection. Although the document outlines processes of coordination, it does not appear to provide clear guidelines for workers practicing with vulnerable children and their families.

The literature further supports respondent claims that many individuals who work with children have little awareness of child maltreatment issues. For example, in a survey of 3777 school professionals undertaken by Al Buhairan et al. (2011: 1032), only 22 percent were aware of policies and procedures or the resources available for cases of child maltreatment. Furthermore, only 1.9 percent had received specific educational training in the area of child abuse (2011: 1032). An NFSP (2012) study also explored awareness among 5075 professionals working in schools, hospitals, legal settings, police, and non-governmental organizations. The NFSP (2012: 7) study found that court workers, employees at male schools, and police had the lowest levels of awareness of child maltreatment (23%, 30.4%, and 30%, respectively).

Theme 4: Implementation issues

Translating policy into practice

Given the recent development of child protection work in Saudi Arabia, the majority of policies and guidelines have yet to be formalized or fully implemented at the practice level. At the time of this study, there were still very few written procedures and guidelines available for staff operating in front-line child protection practice. Senior participants from MLSD and NFSP acknowledged that there was some confusion regarding roles and responsibilities among the various agencies involved in child protection. Managers and workers in this study stated that ‘we suffer from lack of law and working without a formal system to follow’. Lack of policies in child protection affected the workers’ understanding of their role; they reported that ‘we feel confused because we do not have a clear vision in policy and procedure’. Despite the ambiguity expressed among participants, all senior staff and managers described aspects of notification, investigation, and intervention procedures followed in cases. The perspectives of front-line workers, however, spoke to a greater ambivalence regarding appropriate practice procedures among staff. The experiences of front-line workers suggest that the policies of senior staff and managers were not always effectively translated at the practice level. Indeed, numerous child protection staff members indicated that current policy had no clear direction or purpose. Furthermore, according to one participant, although the department produced a series of guidelines, ‘they made a few different versions and we do not know which one we can follow’. In focus groups for this research, child protection workers expressed a desire for further guidance to assist them in their practice. Participants wanted clear and direct rules to support them in protecting Saudi Arabian children.

Inadequacy of training

Both managers and front-line workers felt that placing greater emphasis on training for staff was vital for improving child protection practice. Senior staff reported that there was a high level of variation in the quality of skills and capacity among front-line staff. The varied skill sets of staff contributed to inconsistencies in practice, and one senior SPC staff member indicated that ‘whilst some social workers do their tasks, others were not able to’. Participants reported that these inconsistencies were most likely attributable to the fact that some social work programs that had been studied by participants taught child protection issues while others did not. This led to participants highlighting the need for specialist child protection knowledge. Moreover, it was noted by participants that many managers did not have specialist knowledge and this meant they could not provide adequate supervision. Although managers at NFSP believed that workers were entering the field with at least some knowledge in child protection, many of the front-line child protection workers who participated in this study expressed that they had no prior knowledge in the area upon entering the field, and felt that their education had not adequately prepared them. The majority of front-line workers had participated in some training since beginning their careers, including courses on family violence, family therapy, intervention practices, and child protection. However, one participant reported that these educational sessions still left staff with ‘a general lack of social worker knowledge about children’s rights and needs’.

Even among child protection workers who had specialized training in the area, the current policies significantly impeded the capabilities of individual practitioners to utilize the skills they had acquired. Although workers were expected to participate in diagnosing and referring families to community services, even senior workers with advanced training in child protection were not authorized to develop and monitor treatment or therapy services for their clients. The workforce structure did not recognize the value of individual worker experience or level of training and there were no opportunities for promotion or salary increases within MLSD. Many staff members came to view child protection work as a stepping stone and sought employment outside the field of practice after completing training offered through the Ministry.

Powerlessness

Powerlessness was an important issue identified by respondents in this study. Managers and senior staff felt that their professional capacity was significantly impacted by a lack of authority to intervene in child protection issues. One participant expressed feelings of ineffectiveness by stating, ‘we feel handcuffed, but without authority’. The participant’s understanding of his or her role speaks to the difficulties of engaging in front-line child protection intervention while also working within a system that grants little substantive decision-making power to workers. In the majority of cases, child protection matters are still decided upon by the Administrative Judge of the Territory, known as the Emarah. The Emarah has the authority to enforce a guardian to submit a child for medical evaluation and to issue temporary removal orders, powers which child protection workers did not have. According to one senior staff member, the bureaucratic hoop jumps significantly increased the amount of time between referral and investigation:

I visited previously a case whose father refused to give us the permission to visit which forced us to go to the police. The police then called the [Emarah] to get an order which took nearly 48 hours. However, the family left the place, and though we searched for [it] them, the intervention could end at this level.

Like supervisors and senior staff, front-line workers were also concerned about the lack of legal authority available to them when implementing interventions. For them, the lack of authority exacerbated risks of harm to children and ultimately led to a system unable to achieve its goal of protecting them:

I could not make a home visit until there was cooperation from police, without getting an order from the Emarah … the child was attacked again prior to our visit, whereas if we had more support it was possible to protect the child and prevent this attack if the police had moved after the first contact.

This study found that the lack of power held by child protection workers and their managers meant that children who were vulnerable to abuse were at further risk of harm. Whereas managerial staff were more likely to describe their lack of authority in terms of its impact on organizational capacity, front-line workers expressed concern that their relative powerlessness placed already vulnerable children at risk. In particular, front-line workers thought that the child protection system should place greater emphasis on the rights of children. Both senior staff and front-line workers desired more responsibility and decision-making authority.

Theme 5: Working conditions of front-line staff

Senior staff and front-line workers reported that the safety of child protection workers was an area of concern and that abuse of staff was a common occurrence. According to one senior staff member, there was a mechanism for addressing abuse against child protection workers: front-line workers would first report abuse to their department who would then notify the police or the regional authority. Front-line workers, however, felt that this mechanism was inadequate, and cited the recent experience of one worker who was subjected to physical and psychological harm during a home visit and received no support from MLSD.

Both senior staff and front-line workers acknowledged that a lack of clearly defined policies placed child protection workers at a greater risk of harm. Respondents reported that officers failed to prevent physical and verbal harm being perpetrated against workers on home visits. Police are required to remain outside of homes during visits because they are male, which means they are unable to protect the worker in the home. This example provides further insight into the complicated gender dynamics at play in child protection practice in Saudi Arabia. Front-line child protection workers faced significant stress, and in this study participants expressed a desire to access psychological supports.

Conclusion

Implications for the Saudi Arabian child protection system: Practice, policy, and research

This study provides an important glimpse into the experiences of child protection workers in Saudi Arabia. The research demonstrated that, despite significant changes in relation to matters of child maltreatment, there continues to be a great deal of ambiguity regarding child protection policy and practice both within the institutions responsible for delivering services and among mainstream Saudi Arabian society. While managers and senior staff described a series of procedures and mechanisms for child protection practice, the experiences of study participants demonstrated that recent attempts to legitimate the child protection system have not effectively translated at the practice level for front-line workers. The context of uncertainty and lack of authority in which child protection workers practice placed staff at risk for abuse in the field, negatively impacted their emotional and mental health, and ultimately inhibited their ability to protect children from harm.

Policy changes aimed at providing child protection workers with greater authority is required in order for staff members to effectively intervene in cases of child maltreatment. In particular, this requires greater collaboration between the Ministry of Education, criminal justice system staff, and the Emarah in order to refine the current patchwork approach to child protection.

In addition to significant policy changes, training and education is critical to the improvement of child protection practice in Saudi Arabia. Many of the respondents in this study noted that they were not adequately prepared to deliver interventions. Greater authority for child protection staff must occur alongside capacity building for front-line workers and other relevant stakeholders in order to ensure better outcomes for Saudi Arabian children. In particular, undergraduate and graduate-level curricula should be offered within Islamic law schools, police academies, and relevant university programs to ensure that child protection best practices reach across disciplines. Such education can be offered in collaboration with relevant government authorities, thus providing legitimacy to the practice of child protection work in the highly centralized political system in Saudi Arabia.

In addition, there is a need for further research, particularly in order to explore how Saudi Arabian cultural and societal norms inform community understandings of child protection practice. Although we have offered an overview of issues related to the intersection of Saudi Arabian values, Islamic law, and child maltreatment, differences between communities, classes, and genders are still not well understood. Given that previous public education programs have been met with animosity, a better understanding of the cultural and societal values that inform understandings of children’s rights in the Saudi Arabian context will provide insight into mechanisms for improving community awareness.

Implications for international social work

This research has broader implications regarding how we think about child protection reforms at international and state levels. All child protection systems are faced with gaps in service delivery, a lack of resources, and the supremacy of economic rationalism in policy making. At the same time, many countries have undergone or are in the process of undergoing reform within their child welfare systems (Ainsworth and Hansen, 2011). We believe that social work has a critical voice to contribute to these reforms. Social work is arguably recognized as the discipline most commonly associated with child protection, and social work research in the area has greatly contributed to the field of practice (Australian Association of Social Workers, 2013). This highlights the importance of supporting child protection workers to receive social work training in order to further develop their knowledge and skills.

Effective systems that support child safety and well-being require more than formal government institutions (Lonne, 2009). According to Waterhouse and McGhee (2015), effective state oversight and the ability to develop positive relationships with communities and individuals all contribute to the capacity for child protection systems to meet the needs of children and families. The Saudi Arabian experience of child welfare provides further evidence of the importance of a holistic response that incorporates education for the public and professionals, strengthened prevention and intervention services, and integrated service delivery. Reform efforts that address all these components will be more effective at supporting the health and well-being of children (Munro, 2011).

Footnotes

Ethical approval

Ethical approval for the research was obtained from La Trobe University Human Research Ethics Committee (No. 11-107).

Funding

Nawaf Al Faryan was funded by a Saudi Arabia Cultural Mission Higher Degree Scholarship.

Notes

Author biographies

Nawaf Al Faryan, PhD La Trobe University, Manager of Assets and Resources Development, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia.

Margarita Frederico, Professor, Discipline of Social Work and Social Policy, La Trobe University, Bundoora Australia.

Janelle Young, MSW La Trobe University, Research Assistant, La Trobe University Bundoora Australia.

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