Children’s spatial agency is important for restoring hope and enabling healthy psychological functioning in environments harmed by war and violenceThe lives of Palestinian children residing in military-occupied refugee camps are framed by violence, oppression, and suffering. This study is based on an understanding that children in such contexts “engage in various forms of resistance as they strive to maintain good psychological and emotional functioning.” Agency, as an expression of both resistance and resilience, is a way that children can express power over the spaces they inhabit amidst ongoing trauma. This study explored Palestinian children’s sources of spatial agency by examining how they engage with “domestic and social spaces to actively maintain positive functioning and subjective well-being, despite an environmental backdrop of military violence.”
Twenty-nine Palestinian children (ages 7-13) residing in the Dheisheh refugee camp, West Bank (Israel) participated in the study. The children, who were attending a UN-run primary school within the camp, were asked to draw, and later describe, a map of the camp to show the places they perceived as safe and unsafe. Additionally, ten children (seven girls, three boys) were randomly selected to participate in walk-along interviews during which children guided the researcher around their familiar places and described their experiences in these places. Analysis focused on identifying the main themes from drawings and interviews.
Results point to five themes that demonstrate how children established spatial agency. The first four themes are largely focused on indoor spaces. The themes “the mosque as a place of spiritual resistance<em>”</em> and “school as a source of happiness and personal improvement<em>”</em> revealed children’s perspectives that spiritual and educational sites provided emotional and psychological safety, hope for the future, and improved their overall well-being. The theme “internal spaces as a safe place for growing and developing<em>”</em> referred to children’s homes where family relations established feelings of protection and security, even while they experienced fear and sorrow for traumatic events that occurred near or within their homes. “Community spaces as places where children have fun and play an active role” included indoor places, such as a cultural center, which children viewed as protected social sites that provided a sense of unity. Children perceived community spaces to be central to opportunities for play, since there were no playgrounds or protected green spaces within the camp. However, other community spaces, such as alleyways, “tended to reactivate the children’s traumatic memories,” and girls often felt excluded from or unsafe in some spaces.
The final theme, “inhabiting the outdoor spaces in the camp despite environmental dangers and the occupation,” revealed how children used spaces for play, which enabled a sense of ownership and control over their lives, even amidst the presence of Israeli military. Children’s maps commonly depicted outdoor spaces that included a “strictly delineated territory of place that is happy and calm” which was “juxtaposed against another area that only symbolizes threat and fear.” A park located outside of the camp was described as providing a space for peace and joy in nature. On the other hand, children experienced negative emotions in response to degraded, unsafe, and unpredictable outdoor spaces within the camp. Further, girls felt they were unfairly restricted from outdoor spaces.
Overall, children’s depictions of outdoor spaces demonstrated an ongoing struggle between feeling a sense of control and ownership of the places used for play and the constraints of their reality. While outdoor spaces consistently reminded children of the presence of an oppressive power, children’s depictions also highlighted the spatial practices that enabled them to “mark out spaces of freedom and normality” that supported their well-being. The study highlights the importance of children’s spatial agency in restoring hope and enabling healthy psychological functioning in environments harmed by war and violence.
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