Satisfying the Needs of Children of Unknown Parentage between the Social Responsibility of Charities and the Trends of Saudi Families

Abstract

The issue of children of unknown parentage is one of the social issues known by human societies throughout history. The present study attempted to clarify the participatory responsibility between Al-Wedad Charity organization and Saudi families in caring for children with unknown parents and satisfying their needs in a natural environment. The study draws its importance from the call of the Islamic religion to care for orphans and social solidarity. The Kingdom is interested in providing quality of life opportunities for all citizens in accordance with Vision 2030. The study is based on the theory of symbolic interaction, which is concerned with a social analysis of the interaction that takes place within systems, as well as the integration between the systems that make up a society, and represents the process of communication and interaction that is linked to the self-formation, brain maturity and social consciousness. Trends in an individual's development and maturity are the result of his/her experiences resulting from interaction with the social and physical environment around him/her. This study falls within the descriptive studies and relied on the social survey approach. The questionnaire tool was used to collect data from Saudi families while conducting interviews with experts working at Al-Wedad Charity organization. The number of responses to the questionnaire reached 180 families during the period it was available to collect data. Five experts working at Al-Wedad Charity organization were interviewed, representing the spatial field in the city of Dammam. It reached many results that achieved its goal, the most important of which is the presence of trends, some of which are positive among families about caring for and embracing people of unknown parentage, and others are negative due to the inferiority view of this group among some, which emanates from the lack of recognition by their parents. The study recommends the necessity of each of the orphan care institutions cooperating with Saudi families and sharing the responsibility, to provide a natural environment suitable for the care and upbringing of children of unknown parents.