MHPSS INTERVENTIONS IN ADDRESSING THE NEEDS AND ASPIRATIONS OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN IN SCHOOLS: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This dissertation explored the psychosocial needs and mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) interventions of a group of Palestinian children living in the context of armed conflict and political violence. This conventional perspective has also influenced research studies of Palestinian youths. In many countries, for example, popular narratives suggest that children are unable to engage in crucial decisions that impact them. However, we must examine these prevalent narratives and seek alternative qualitative information that challenges preconceived notions about children’s abilities from an empowerment viewpoint (Langhout, 2010). With the present work, we attempted to fill this gap in literature, which has recurrently depicted and assessed children’s psychosocial needs from different perspectives, and focused on the gaps in the MHPSS interventions implemented. Community psychologists have identified numerous stakeholders that influence children’s thinking and behavior, including parents and extended family members, family advocates, teachers, mental health experts, and other adults in children’s lives. These adults are most often questioned in interviews or focus groups, and their responses are usually in response to the researcher’s conceptualization of the problem. On the other hand, children rarely participate in the interview and are not asked to assist in the formulation of the problem definition or near solution. Children’s research is usually done for them, but not with them. (Hart 2013; Langhout & Thomas, 2010). In order to challenge the traditional way of assessing the efficacy of MHPSS interventions in addressing the needs and aspirations of the Palestinian children, this research was designed to provide a more comprehensive and nuanced perspective on the MHPSS interventions in adverse contexts. More specifically, this work has aimed to outline the psychosocial needs of the children and the gaps in the MHPSS interventions that were implemented based on these needs. Within a critical framework, our research design was a qualitative study, with a sample of 131 people, including 60 children; 13 parents; 24 teachers; and 34 school counselors, principles, NGOs & INGOs workers, decision makers, expert researchers, expert in the field of mental health. The different qualitative methods adopted have allowed us to approach and explore the phenomena in two different aspects, reaching a more comprehensive understanding to the MHPSS interventions in addressing the needs and aspirations of the Palestinian children. Through the first part of exploration, we assessed the children’s psychosocial needs of the Palestinian children from different perspectives. This analysis confirmed that children’s needs must be assessed by different influences in children’s lives to have a comprehensive perspective on the psychosocial needs of the Palestinian children. Secondly, the efficacy of MHPSS interventions on children’s needs were explored in two ways. The first method included interviews with school staff, expert researchers, experts in the fields of mental health, service providers, workers in NGOs and INGOs, and decision makers. The second method included critically analyzing relevant guidance from 9 annual reports, 11 strategical plans, and 3 guidelines. The resources of the documents came from several local NGOs, INGOs, and ministries. Collectively, this exploration revealed various kinds of interventions, the most recommended interventions, why children need interventions, and gaps in MHPSS interventions. The conceptual network built from our data highlighted gaps between the different perspectives of the children’s needs. Also, gaps in MHPSS interventions were pointed out by the field workers, and there seem to be gaps in these interventions for meeting the needs and aspirations of the Palestinian children.