"BAIN
AL-MURR WAL-AMARR" - CHOOSING THE LESS BITTER
SOLUTION:
INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF ARAB CHILDREN WITH
ID
K.
Nasser, D. Sachs, A. Saar
Background: Out of
home placement of children with Intellectual
Disability [ID] is
a decision affected by socio-cultural factors. It is a
dramatic transition
in the life cycle of the families, which affects the
quality of life and
well-being of all family members. Contrary to postindustrial
countries and to
Israeli-Jewish society, institutionalization is
a new phenomenon
among Arabs in Israel
percentage of
people with ID and lack of adequate services within the
community, Arab
parents rarely consider out of home placement for
their children.
Nevertheless, data shows an increase in the number of
Arab children with
ID placed in institutions over the past 35 years. This
calls for further
research. The purpose of the study was to reveal the
perceptions and
experiences of Arab parents in the process of
deciding to
institutionalize their children with ID. Method: In-depth
interviews were
held with 18 families of children with ID living in two
residential
facilities in the Galilee . Results: Two main
interconnected
themes emerged: The
decision to institutionalize was experienced by
the parents as
painful and contradicted their perception of good
parenthood; yet it
was perceived as the less bitter solution considering
the difficulties
they faced raising a child with ID amidst negative social
attitudes towards
disability, and lack of accessible support and
services.
Discussion: We will discuss directions of interventions for
strengthening
family involvement following institutionalization, which
are sensitive to
the socio-cultural context of Arab society in Israel
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