Protective Paradox: Caregiving in Protracted Crises Across 72 Countries

Millions of children are growing up forcibly displaced in protracted crises lasting years or decades. We conducted the first global systematic review of protective parenting in protracted refugee situations, examining evidence in 22 languages across 10 databases, 16 humanitarian reports, and the top 100 websites from 72 host countries. From 45 studies, we identified three categories of parenting behaviours, the ‘3 Cs’ of parental protection: Control (surveillance or restriction of the child’s behaviour), Conceal (hiding children from threats or hiding threats from children), and Concede (abandoning or separating from the child). Such strategies address immediate risks but may hinder children’s education, social development, independence, and psychological wellbeing – representing a protective paradox. Three empirically informed principles emerge for addressing this paradox: (a) demonstrating rather than prescribing protective alternatives, (b) stratifying rather than simplifying interventions to account for intersecting vulnerabilities that influence families’ risk assessments, and (c) replacing rather than prohibiting existing strategies by providing safer alternatives that address immediate threats while enabling development. These principles may guide practitioners and policymakers in helping refugee families navigate the trade-offs between minimising immediate threats and avoiding delayed development.