Bulletin: Psychology and Psychiatry in Israel

Articles

• O. Avny et al, Psychiatric Collaboration Models in Israel
• Joy Benatov et al, The Association Between Gender, Ethnicity, and Suicidality Among Vocational Students in Israel
• Sharon Dekel et al, Peripartum Depression, Traditional Culture, and Israeli Society
• Yohanan Eshel and Shaul Kimhi, Determinants of Individual Resilience Following Missile Attacks: A New Perspective
• Ravit Raufman, Ronit Nesher, and Haim Weinberg, Group Psychotherapy in Israel: History and Main Trends
• I. Reuveni et al, Cross-Sectional Survey on Defensive Practices and Defensive Behaviours among Israeli Psychiatrists

 

New Article: Lavie-Ajayi, Resilience among Asylum Seekers from Darfur in Israel

Lavie-Ajayi, Maya. “A Qualitative Study of Resilience among Asylum Seekers from Darfur in Israel.” Qualitative Social Work (early view; online first).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1473325016649256

 
Abstract

We know more about the experiences of trauma, despair, and abuse of asylum seekers and refugees than we do of their resilience, strength, and active struggle to survive and succeed. This article explores stories narrated by asylum seekers from Darfur, Sudan, currently residing in Israel, to learn about their forms and sources of strength, resilience, and coping mechanisms. In-depth, semi-structured group interviews were conducted in Hebrew and in English with eight single men, aged between the ages 27 and 38, who had lived in Israel for between four and seven years. The interviews were recorded and transcribed, and the data analyzed by analytic induction and constant comparison strategies. Six factors were identified, from the interviewees’ perspective, as contributing to their resilience: cognitive coping strategies, behavioral coping strategies, the ability to work, the ability to study and educate oneself, the support of family and friends, and social and political activism. This study corroborates existing literature by identifying personal strategies and social support as important to resilience of refugees; however, and unlike other studies, we did not find religion as an important factor from our interviewees’ perspective. We have thus expanded the existing literature by identifying the ability to work and the ability to study as important factors contributing to the resilience of refugees.

 

 

New Article: Lewin, Understanding the Political Psychology of the Israeli 2015 Elections

Lewin, Eyal. “‘It’s the National Ethos, Stupid’! – Understanding the Political Psychology of the Israeli 2015 Elections Using Data from the National Resilience Survey.” International Journal of Social Science Studies 4.7 (2016): 63-74.

 

URL: dx.doi.org/10.11114/ijsss.v4i7.1651

 

Abstract

From a socio-political point of view, the results of the Israeli 2015 elections reflect an ongoing stagnation that is described in detail in this research. This stagnation is often explained by theories of social collective identities. However, none of the theories examines how group identities are created. Consequently, this study explains how different forms of national ethos shape political identities and interweave with them.
Relying on a wide set of data from the National Resilience Survey launched by the National Security Studies Center at Haifa University, this research examines the way Israeli political parties differ according to voters’ attitudes on matters of national ethos. The findings show how opposing parties correspond with the two distinct forms of national ethos. However, the data also reveals that the ethos clash is not necessarily a dichotomy, but rather a continuum where various parties are located along a spectrum between the poles.

 

 

 

New Article: Siman-Tov et al, The Social Impact of Terrorism on Civilian Populations

Siman-Tov, Maya, Moran Bodas, and Kobi Peleg. “The Social Impact of Terrorism on Civilian Populations: Lessons Learned from Decades of Terrorism in Israel and Abroad.” Social Science Quarterly 97.1 (2016): 75-85.
 
URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1111/ssqu.12254
 
Abstract

Objective: This article considers the sociopsychological implications of terrorism, which are sometimes neglected in preparedness plans. Methods: Using Israeli experiences as a case study, this article briefly reviews four points of connection between terrorism and its psychological and social legacies: the sociopolitical aspects of terrorism, the unexpected nature of terrorism, normalization of terrorism and public resilience, and social aspects of medical care for terror-related injuries. Results: The Israeli experience suggests preparedness plans should include planning for the sociopsychological effects of terrorism on targeted populations and may, in certain contexts, use Israeli approaches as a model. Conclusions: Experience gained in Israel and elsewhere can set the stage for an appropriate response plan striving not only for preparedness but also resilience. Efforts should be made to advance local capabilities, response plans, and resilience by drawing on the experience of others in coping with the terror threat.

 

 

 

New Article: Peffley et al, The Impact of Persistent Terrorism on Political Tolerance

Peffley, Mark, Marc L. Hutchison, and Michal Shamir. “The Impact of Persistent Terrorism on Political Tolerance: Israel, 1980 to 2011.” American Political Science Review 109.4 (2015): 817-32.

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URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0003055415000441

 

Abstract

How do persistent terrorist attacks influence political tolerance, a willingness to extend basic liberties to one’s enemies? Studies in the U.S. and elsewhere have produced a number of valuable insights into how citizens respond to singular, massive attacks like 9/11. But they are less useful for evaluating how chronic and persistent terrorist attacks erode support for democratic values over the long haul. Our study focuses on political tolerance levels in Israel across a turbulent 30-year period, from 1980 to 2011, which allows us to distinguish the short-term impact of hundreds of terrorist attacks from the long-term influence of democratic longevity on political tolerance. We find that the corrosive influence of terrorism on political tolerance is much more powerful among Israelis who identify with the Right, who have also become much more sensitive to terrorism over time. We discuss the implications of our findings for other democracies under threat from terrorism.

 

 

 

New Article: Bodas et al, Perception of the Threat of War in Israel

Bodas, Moran, Maya Siman-Tov, Shulamith Kreitler, and Kobi Peleg. “Perception of the Threat of War in Israel – Implications for Future Preparedness Planning.” Israel Journal of Health Policy Research (early view; online first).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/110.1186/s13584-015-0026-7

 

Abstract

Background
It has been recently reported that the preparedness of the Israeli public to a war scenario is mediocre. These findings suggest a need to study the psychosocial mechanisms behind individual motivation to engage in preparedness behavior. One component of these mechanisms is the perception of threat. The purpose of this study is to portray the perception of the threat of war by the Israeli public and to deduce possible implications for resilience-promoting policies.

Methods
Portions of the data accumulated in a telephone-based random sampling of 503 households (representing the Israeli population) performed in October 2013 were utilized to examine the perception of the threat of war by Israelis. The questionnaire was used to examine the level of household preparedness, as well as attitudes toward perception of threat, preparedness responsibility, willingness to search for information, and sense of preparedness. Statistical analysis was performed to determine the correlations between different components of threat perception, and to evaluate the preparedness promoting features of specific perception factors.

Results
The data suggest that the perception of threat is influenced by different socio-demographic factors. In particular, age, religion and education seem to play an important role in the perception of threat. Compared to data collected almost a decade ago, the likelihood perception and threat intrusiveness rates were significantly reduced. The regression analysis suggests that perception of the severity of the impact on a family’s routine and willingness to search for information, two known preparedness promoting factors, can be predicted by various socio-demographic and threat perception components.

Conclusion
The data suggest that the Israeli public, post the Second Lebanon War (2006) and the Gaza conflicts of 2009 and 2012, perceives the probabilities of war and being affected by it as diminished. The Israeli public demonstrates what can be considered as the unique characteristics of a war-victimized population. Implications for a future resilience-promoting policy were discussed.

 

 

New Article: Shalhoub-Kevorkian & Roer-Strier, Counter-Hegemonic Qualitative Research: Insights from an Israeli/Palestinian Research Team

Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Nadera and Dorit Roer-Strier. “Context-Informed, Counter-Hegemonic Qualitative Research: Insights from an Israeli/Palestinian Research Team Studying Loss.” Qualitative Social Work (early view; online first).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1473325015595545

 

Abstract

Theorizing social work qualitative methodologies have always been closely related to the context of the studied subjects. This paper offers the framework of context-informed, counter-hegemonic qualitative research for theorizing research in conflict zones. Based on a case study of a group of Jewish and Palestinian social work researchers who examined together the effect of the loss of home on families during an ongoing political conflict, this paper explores the impact of participating in a research team on the researcher’s perceptions and study of otherness and otherization in the context of asymmetries of power. Analysis of the group dynamics discovered: (1) a growing ability to see and acknowledge the other, accompanied by a growing willingness to be attentive; (2) a growing ability to empathically listen to and hear the experiences of suffering of the other; (3) overcoming silencing by allowing voices of dissent, pain and resilience; and (4) creating a liminal space of “safe haven” for the researchers. The paper explores the development of context-informed group reflexivity leading to emancipatory consciousness and academic activism.

 

 

New Article: Shehadeh, The 2014 War on Gaza: Engineering Trauma

Shehadeh, Said. “The 2014 War on Gaza: Engineering Trauma and Mass Torture to Break Palestinian Resilience.” International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies 12.3 (2015): 278-94.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aps.1457

 

Abstract

This paper discusses the psychological sequelae of the recent Israeli war on Gaza, codenamed Operation Protective Edge, and its detrimental impact on the mental health of its Palestinian population. The author contends that deliberate measures by the Israeli military to induce feelings of helplessness, uncontrollability, horror, persistent life-threatening fear, and sleep deprivation against an entire besieged population for 50-days, constitutes mass torture. This policy of engineering mass trauma and torture through war to achieve political subjugation is framed as a paradigm shift in the Israeli colonial occupation of Palestine. Ramifications of this policy are discussed with regard to its potentially caustic effects on Palestinian resilience, and the serious mental health risks it poses, including complex traumatic reactions, identity distortions, severe psychopathology, and multigenerational transmission of trauma. Recommendations emphasize the need to fortify Palestinian resilience to protect individuals and communities from political violence and further mass trauma.

 

 

 

New Article: Tiargan-Orr & Eran-Jona, Israeli Public’s Perception of the IDF Stability and Change

Tiargan-Orr, Roni, and Meytal Eran-Jona. “The Israeli Public’s Perception of the IDF Stability and Change.” Armed Forces & Society (early view; online first)

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0095327X15592214

 

Abstract
This article attempts to shed light on Israel’s civil–military relations by employing the public’s trust in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as a key parameter. The study is based on a series of public opinion polls conducted between 2001 and 2010, during periods of military confrontation as well as periods of relative quiet. The findings show that despite increased criticism toward the IDF and claims by researchers, the Jewish-Israeli public’s trust in the IDF generally remains very high and stable and strengthens significantly when the cannons start to roar. We also found a fixed pattern of change in public opinion during low-intensity conflicts. In a comparative perspective, the findings suggest that the “rally ’round the flag” effect is relevant in the Israeli case both in conventional war and in limited conflicts. Moreover, the findings indicate that the public’s trust in the army is not a uniform perception but a complex one that may have different and sometimes conflicting facets.

 

New Article: Maor and Cwikel, Mothers’ Strategies to Strengthen Their Daughters’ Body Image

Maor, Maya, and Julie Cwikel. “Mothers’ Strategies to Strengthen Their Daughters’ Body Image.” Feminism & Psychology (early view; online first).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.og/10.1177/0959353515592899

 

Abstract

Existing studies of the mother–daughter relationship have focused mainly on the transfer of negative body image messages or on risk of eating disorders, and have paid little attention to how this relationship might serve as a resource for building body-acceptance or resilience to disordered eating. On the basis of a secondary analysis of four qualitative samples, we examined how mothers and their now-adult daughters reflect on the ways in which the mothers tried to promote positive body image and resilience to body dissatisfaction in their daughters. Using a content analysis, we have identified five strategies: (a) filtering – being cautious and sensitive in communicating about body image issues, (b) transmitting awareness of the dangers of eating disorders, (c) positive reinforcement – providing affirmations in regard to daughters’ bodies; (d) discussion – providing tools for criticism of the dominant body-related social discourse; and (e) positivity – shifting the focus from food, body-size and weight loss to making healthy choices and taking pleasure in food. Identification of these strategies emphasizes the many potential avenues for growth and development inherent in mother–daughter relationships.

 
 
 
 

New Article: Shilo et al, Individual and Community Resilience Factors Among LGBQ in Israel

Shilo, Guy, Nadav Antebi, and Zohar Mor. “Individual and Community Resilience Factors Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer and Questioning Youth and Adults in Israel.” American Journal of Community Psychology 55.1-2 (2015): 215-27.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10464-014-9693-8

 

Abstract

Drawing on resilience theories, this study examined the individual and community factors of Israeli lesbians, gays, bisexuals, queers, and questioning (LGBQs) that contribute to positive mental health and the degree to which individual and community protective factors mitigate the adverse effect of risk factors for poor mental health. Differences in resilience factors between LGBQ youth and adults were explored. Data were collected on 890 LGBQ youth and adults. Findings emphasize the role of community-level resilience factors in the lives of LGBQs, and that these support systems differ slightly between the two age groups. Among youth, family support was both a strong predictor for well-being and a protective factor for mental distress. Although family support was found as a resilience factor among adults as well, other community-level factors (friends’ support, LGBT connectedness and having steady partner) were found as protective factors for poorer mental health. These findings suggest for efforts on fostering familial support for LGBQ youth and a multi-level system that offers support at the familial, peer, relationship and community levels for both LGBQ youth and adults.

New Article: O’Rourke et al, Reminiscence Functions and the Health of Israeli Holocaust Survivors

O’Rourke, Norm, Yaacov G. Bachner, Philippe Cappeliez, Habib Chaudhury, and Sara Carmel. “Reminiscence Functions and the Health of Israeli Holocaust Survivors as Compared to Other Older Israelis and Older Canadians.” Aging & Mental Health 19.4 (2015): 335-46.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2014.938607

 

Abstract

Objectives: Existing research with English-speaking samples indicates that various ways in which older adults recall their past affect both their physical and mental health. Self-positive reminiscence functions (i.e. identity, problem-solving, death preparation) correlate and predict mental health in later life whereas self-negative functions (i.e. bitterness revival, boredom reduction, intimacy maintenance) correlate and predict the physical health of older adults.

Method: For this study, we recruited 295 Israeli Holocaust survivors to ascertain if early life trauma affects these associations between reminiscence and health. In order to distinguish cross-national differences from survivor-specific effects, we also recruited two comparative samples of other older Israelis (not Holocaust survivors; n = 205) and a second comparative sample of 335 older Canadians. Three separate structural equation models were computed to replicate this tripartite reminiscence and health model.

Results: Coefficients for self-negative functions significantly differed between survivors and both Canadians and other older Israelis, and between Canadians and both Israeli samples. However, no differences were found between prosocial and self-positive functions. Moreover, the higher order structure of reminiscence and health appears largely indistinguishable across these three groups.

Conclusion: Early life trauma does not appear to fundamentally affect associations between reminiscence and health. These findings underscore the resilience of Holocaust survivors.

New Book: Safir et al., Future Directions in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Safir, Marilyn P., Helene S. Wallach, and Albert Rizzo, eds. Future Directions in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment. New York: Springer, 2015.

 

 

Ours is an era of increasing tension, both global and local. And not surprisingly, PTSD is recognized not only in combat veterans and active military personnel, but also disaster and assault survivors across the demographic spectrum. As current events from mass shootings to the debate over trigger warnings keep the issue in the public eye, the disorder remains a steady concern among researchers and practitioners.

Future Directions in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder presents findings and ideas with the potential to influence both our conceptualization of the condition and the techniques used to address it. A multidisciplinary panel of experts offers new analyses of risk and resilience factors, individual and group approaches to prevention, the evolving process of diagnosis, and effective treatment and delivery. Chapters on treatment allow readers to compare widely-used prolonged exposure and VR methods with innovative applications of cognitive processing therapy and interpersonal therapy. And an especially compelling contribution surveys empirically-based programs relating to what for many is the emblematic trauma of our time, the events of September 11, 2001. Included in the coverage:

• Predictors of vulnerability to PTSD: neurobiological and genetic risk factors.
• Early intervention: is prevention better than cure?
• The functional neuroanatomy of PTSD.
• The development of evidence-based treatment for PTSD.
• Enhancing exposure therapy using D-Cycloserine (DCS).
• PLUS: a case example as seen through five therapeutic perspectives.

While millions experience trauma, relatively few develop chronic PTSD. Future Directions in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a practical and proactive reference for the health and clinical psychologists, sociologists, psychiatrists, and primary care physicians dedicated to further decreasing those numbers.

 

Table of contents

• Vulnerability to PTSD: Psychosocial and Demographic Risk and Resilience Factors

  Bar-Shai, Marina (et al.)

  Pages 3-30

• Neurobiological Risk Factors and Predictors of Vulnerability and Resilience to PTSD

  Bar-Shai, Marina (et al.)

  Pages 31-63

• The Early Adolescent or “Juvenile Stress” Translational Animal Model of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

  Richter-Levin, Gal (et al.)

  Pages 65-77

• An Attachment Perspective on Traumatic and Posttraumatic Reactions

  Mikulincer, Mario (et al.)

  Pages 79-96 

• Delayed-Onset PTSD in Israeli Combat Veterans: Correlates, Clinical Picture, and Controversy

  Horesh, Danny (et al.)

  Cutting Edge Research on Prevention of PTSD

  Kearns, Megan C. (et al.)

  Pages 133-153

• Systems of Care for Traumatized Children: The Example of a School-Based Intervention Model

  Brom, Danny (et al.)

  Pages 155-169

• Is Prevention Better than Cure? How Early Interventions Can Prevent PTSD

  Freedman, Sara A. (et al.)

  Pages 171-186

• Evolution of PTSD Diagnosis in the

  Echterling, Lennis G. (et al.)

  Pages 189-212

• Functional Neuroanatomy of PTSD: Developmental Cytoarchitectonic Trends, Memory Systems, and Control Processes

  Gilboa, Asaf

  Pages 213-241

• Prolonged Exposure Treatment

  Nacasch, Nitsa (et al.)

  Pages 245-251

• Cognitive Processing Therapy: Beyond the Basics

  Chard, Kathleen M. (et al.)

  Pages 253-262

• Interpersonal Psychotherapy for PTSD

  Rafaeli, Alexandra Klein (et al.)

  Pages 263-272

• Inclusion of Virtual Reality: A Rationale for the Use of VR in the Treatment of PTSD

  García-Palacios, Azucena (et al.)

  Pages 275-287

  
  

• Initial Development and Dissemination of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Combat-Related PTSD

  Reger, Greg M. (et al.)

  Pages 289-302

• Update and Expansion of the Virtual Iraq/Afghanistan PTSD Exposure Therapy System

  Rizzo, Albert (et al.)

  Pages 303-328

• Mental Health Problems and Treatment Utilization of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Enrolled in Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care

  Seal, Karen H. (et al.)

  Pages 329-345

• Enhancing Exposure Therapy for PTSD Using

  Burton, Mark S. (et al.)

  Pages 347-365

• Implementation of Evidence-Based Assessment, Treatment, and Research Programs Following the World Trade Center Disaster on September 11, 2001

  Olden, Megan (et al.)

  Pages 367-387

• Case Presentation of a Chronic Combat PTSD Veteran

  Nacasch, Nitsa (et al.)

  Pages 391-409

• Matching Treatment to Patients Suffering from PTSD: What We Know and Especially What We Don’t Know

  Wallach, Helene S.

  Pages 411-415

• Erratum to: Case Presentation of a Chronic Combat PTSD Veteran

 

Dissertation: Cohen, Israeli State Violence/Mizrahi Resilience: An Ethnography of Mizrahi Experiences of War and Eviction and Their Intersection with Palestinian Experiences

Cohen, Ilise Benshushan. Israeli State Violence/Mizrahi Resilience: An Ethnography of Mizrahi Experiences of War and Eviction and Their Intersection with Palestinian Experiences. California Institute of Integral Studies, 2013.

 

URL: http://search.proquest.com/docview/1461742758

 

Abstract

Mizrahi Jews have historically been marginalized in Israeli society despite the fact that they make up the majority of Israel’s Jewish population. Through ethnographic research, this study highlights the experiences of Mizrahi Jews around two Mizrahi communities that continue to experience marginalization: Kfar Shalem, a neighborhood in south Tel Aviv that was the site of evictions without compensation in 2007, and Kiryat Shemona, a development town on Israel’s northern border that was directly affected by the second Lebanon war in 2006. Areas of focus of the research include the process of eviction without compensation for Kfar Shalem, the lasting effects of cross-border military conflict in Kiryat Shemona, and the violence produced by these experiences. The research methods utilized included ethnographic interviews, participant observation, archival research, and advocacy. The research participants in Kfar Shalem included Mizrahi families evicted from their homes, lawyers who represented the residents, and Mizrahi activists involved with the community. The research participants in Kiryat Shemona consisted of Mizrahi families who maintained a presence during the war and those who were displaced, and mental health professionals dealing with the effects of the war on residents. I also interviewed two Palestinian citizens of Israel who were able to speak to complex issues of displacement and citizenship. The dissertation frames the ethnographic research in a historical context that includes the U.N. partition of Palestine, Palestinian expulsion/ethnic cleansing, Mizrahi immigration to Israel, and the instrumentalization of Mizrahi Jews being settled in former Palestinian areas. It draws on comparisons between the struggles and ongoing activism of Mizrahi Jews and Palestinians in Israel/Palestine. The findings reveal the complex struggles of Mizrahi identity, discourses of discrimination and internalized oppression, and Mizrahi exposure to physical violence, loss of economic status, and instrumentalization by the state. The findings also highlight meaningful similarities and differences between Mizrahi and Palestinian experiences of state violence and about Mizrahi resilience and agency.

Subject: Cultural anthropology; Middle Eastern Studies; Judaic studies

Classification: 0326: Cultural anthropology; 0555: Middle Eastern Studies; 0751: Judaic studies

Identifier / keyword: Social sciences, State violence, Israel, Discrimination, Mizrahim, Mizrahi-Palestinian alliance, Mizrahi resistance

Number of pages: 567

Publication year: 2013

Degree date: 2013

School code: 0392

Source: DAI-A 75/02(E), Aug 2014

Place of publication: Ann Arbor

Country of publication: United States

ISBN: 9781303480928

Advisor: M’Panya, Mutombo

Committee member: Simons, Shoshana; Shubeli, Rafi

University/institution: California Institute of Integral Studies

Department: Social and Cultural Anthropology

University location: United States — California

Degree: Ph.D.

Source type: Dissertations & Theses

Language: English

Document type: Dissertation/Thesis

Dissertation/thesis number: 3598997

ProQuest document ID: 1461742758

New Article: Gal, Social Resilience in Times of Protracted Crises. An Israeli Case Study

Gal, Reuven. “Social Resilience in Times of Protracted Crises. An Israeli Case Study.” Armed Forces & Society 40.3 (2014): 452-75.

 

URL: http://afs.sagepub.com/content/40/3/452.abstract

 

Abstract

This article starts with a broad discussion related to theoretical and conceptual aspects comprising the concept Social Resilience at the national level, as well as its multiple definitions, dimensions and measurements. This is followed by a unique case study – a longitudinal study conducted in Israel, during the critical period (with over 1000 terrorism-related deaths) of the Second/ Al-Aqsa Intifada (2000-2004), showing some unexpected findings related to community resilience, at the national, mass-behavioral level. These findings comprise both public behavioral indices as well as attitudinal measures. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time such measures are used to assess social resilience. A critical discussion follows, in which the author presents several theoretical and practical challenges to students of the Social Resilience paradigm.