Technical, Cultural and Religious: Risks for Children in Minority Religious Communities as Seen in the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Community During COVID-19

Child development research predominantly focuses on Western secular contexts and does not adequately consider non-Western religious contexts. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected children worldwide in various dimensions, with children from minority populations being disproportionately impacted. This qualitative study examines the risks and protective factors for Jewish Ultra-Orthodox children during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of social workers. This community has unique characteristics, including devout religious adherence, segregation from the secular community, close-knit communities, large families and poverty. Fifteen social workers were interviewed about their perceptions of risks and child protection issues pertaining to Ultra-Orthodox children during the pandemic. The analysis revealed four themes: risks related to lockdown, including overcrowding, family stress and domestic violence; religious risks, including school closures and technology use; community risks due to social distancing, which disrupted essential community support systems; and service delivery challenges, including the digital divide and privacy issues that hindered social work interventions. From the analysis, a model emerged that categorizes risks into technical risks arising from situational conditions, such as overcrowding; cultural risks stemming from community-specific manifestations of universal needs, such as collective versus individual support; and religious risks, including issues governed by religious rules, such as technology restrictions. The study concludes that effective child protection in religious minority communities requires interventions tailored to the type of risk, namely, addressing practical needs related to technical risks, culturally appropriate community-based solutions for cultural risks and collaborating with religious leaders to address religious risks. The findings emphasize the critical importance of cultural competence and context-specific approaches in interventions with minority religious communities in crisis situations.