New Article: Manor-Binyamini, Mothers of Adolescent Children with Disabilities in the Druze Community in Israel

Manor-Binyamini, Iris. “Positive Aspects of Coping among Mothers of Adolescent Children with Developmental Disability in the Druze Community in Israel.” Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability (early view; online first).

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URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/13668250.2015.1129665

 

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare perceptions of coping as experienced by 240 mothers of adolescents with and without developmental disability in the Druze community in Israel. Method: The mothers completed the Sociodemographic Questionnaire, Grandparents Functional Support Assessment, Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales, and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. Results: Both groups were found to be similar in their perception of family cohesion and emotional support. However, mothers of adolescents with a developmental disability reported higher rates of both adaptability to change and personal growth. Moreover, associations were found between family cohesion and adaptability to change and support, and between adaptability to change and social support and personal growth. Conclusion: Druze mothers of adolescents with developmental disability reveal important information regarding positive coping strategies.

 

 

 

New Article: Koren et al, Jewish Life on Campus

Koren, Annette, Leonard Saxe, and Eric Fleisch. “Jewish Life on Campus: From Backwater to Battleground.” American Jewish Year Book 115 (2015):45-88.

 

URL: dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24505-8_2

 

Abstract

The past two decades have witnessed a dramatic shift in the extent and focus of concerns about Jewish life on campus. The Jewish community is increasingly occupied with the education of the next generation and the rise of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment on campus. Outreach to Jewish students—from the expansion of Hillel and Chabad to the flourishing of Birthright Israel, as well as the growth of Jewish and Israel Studies—have engaged formerly uninvolved students with Jewish education and Jewish life. This article describes the situation on campus: the proportion of Jewish students, Israel-related activity, and perceptions of anti-Semitism. It discusses academic programs such as Jewish and Israel Studies and informal programs, such as Hillel and Chabad, that engage students in Jewish life. It also describes organizations and programs, both experiential and advocacy-oriented, that help students identify and combat attempts to delegitimize Israel and intimidate Jewish expression.

 

 

New Article: Schonmann, Drama and Theatre Experiences with Young People in the Israeli Context

Schonmann, Shifra. “Drama and Theatre Experiences with Young People in the Israeli Context.” In Drama and Theatre with Children. International Perspectives (ed. Charru Sharma; London and New York: Routledge, 2016): 179-89.

 

 

 

 

New Article: Krumer-Nevo et al, Exclusion and Double Exclusion in the Lives of Drug Traders in Israel

Krumer-Nevo, Michal, Yamit Elfassi, Shifra Sagy, and Maya Lavie-Ajayi. “Neither Seeing Nor Seen. Exclusion and Double Exclusion in the Lives of Young People Involved in the Drug Trade in Israel.” Young 24.1 (2016): 36-52.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1103308815613683

 

Abstract

Social exclusion has been identified as a prominent factor informing our understanding of young people involvement in gang life, violence and crime. While the literature on social exclusion focuses on the education and employment systems, there is a limited literature regarding the role played by correctional institutions in exacerbating social exclusion. This article explores the reciprocal relationships between young people involved in the drug trade in Israel and various educational and correctional services in their community. It focuses on a term commonly articulated by the youth, ‘not seeing with the eyes’, which they use to describe themselves as consciously, purposefully and openly ignoring and flouting societal norms. However, the educational and correctional services present a similar attitude, manifesting institutional blindness in connection with the youth and hence contributing to the double exclusion of young men. The article exposes the practices and processes through which this double exclusion takes place.

 

 

New Article: Sansanwal et al, What Mental Health Professionals in Israel Know and Think about Adolescent Problem Gambling

Sansanwal, Rayna M., Jeffrey L. Derevensky, and Belle Gavriel-Fried. “What Mental Health Professionals in Israel Know and Think about Adolescent Problem Gambling.” International Gambling Studies (early view, online first).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2016.1139159

 

Abstract

Mental health professionals are well versed in addressing multiple adolescent risky behaviours and play a primary role in the identification of and referral process and service provision for young people who engage in such behaviours. Given their ‘person-in-environment’ approach, training in multi-sectoral collaboration, and awareness of social policies, social workers are especially equipped to provide needed mental health services to young people. The aim of the current study was to examine Israeli mental health professionals’ awareness of and attitudes towards adolescent high-risk behaviours, including gambling. Child psychologists, social workers and school counsellors (N = 273) completed an online survey addressing concerns related to high-risk behaviours. Findings revealed that social workers perceived gambling as being among one of the least concerning adolescent mental health issues and reported feeling the least confident in their abilities to provide services to young people with gambling problems. The results suggest the importance of youth gambling addictions being incorporated into social work training curricula.

 

 

 

New Book: Bekerman, The Promise of Integrated Multicultural and Bilingual Education

Bekerman, Zvi. The Promise of Integrated Multicultural and Bilingual Education. Inclusive Palestinian-Arab and Jewish Schools in Israel. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.

 

 

The Promise of Integrated and Multicultural Bilingual Education presents the results of a long-term ethnographic study of the integrated bilingual Palestinian-Jewish schools in Israel that offer a new educational option to two groups of Israelis–Palestinians and Jews–who have been in conflict for the last one hundred years. Their goal is to create egalitarian bilingual multicultural environments to facilitate the growth of youth who can acknowledge and respect “others” while maintaining loyalty to their respective cultural traditions. In this book, Bekerman reveals the complex school practices implemented while negotiating identity and culture in contexts of enduring conflict. Data gathered from interviews with teachers, students, parents, and state officials are presented and analyzed to explore the potential and limitations of peace education given the cultural resources, ethnic-religious affiliations, political beliefs, and historical narratives of the various interactants. The book concludes with critique of Western positivist paradigmatic perspectives that currently guide peace education, maintaining that one of the primary weaknesses of current bilingual and multicultural approaches to peace education is their failure to account for the primacy of the political framework of the nation state and the psychologized educational perspectives that guide their educational work. Change, it is argued, will only occur after these perspectives are abandoned, which entails critically reviewing present understandings of the individual, of identity and culture, and of the learning process.

 
Table of contents

• Introduction
• Part 1
• 1. Positioning the Author
• 2. Theoretical Perspectives
• 3. Methodology: From Theory to Implementation
• 4. Schools in Their Contexts
• Part 2
• 5. The Parents
• 6. Teachers at Their Work
• 7. The Children
• Part 3
• 8. School Routines: Culture, Religion, and Politics in the Classroom
• 9. Ceremonial Events
• 10. Conflicting National Narratives
• Part 4
• 11. The Graduates
• 12. Conclusions
• Author Index
• Subject Index

 

ZVI BEKERMAN teaches anthropology of education at the School of Education and The Melton Center, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His main interests are in the study of cultural, ethnic, and national identity, including identity processes and negotiation during intercultural encounters and in formal/informal learning contexts. He is particularly interested in how concepts such as culture and identity intersect with issues of social justice, intercultural and peace education, and citizenship education.

 

 

 

New Article: Goren & Neter, Stereotypical Thinking and PTSD Symptoms among Israeli Youth

Goren, Chen, and Efrat Neter. “Stereotypical Thinking as a Mediating Factor in the Association between Exposure to Terror and PTSD Symptoms among Israeli Youth.” Anxiety, Stress & Coping (early view; online first).

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URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2016.1138288

 

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The negative impact of exposure to terror on mental health, as well as on the perceptions of each side of the conflict toward the other, is well-documented. However, the association between stereotyping, concomitant with perceived threat, and anxiety, was rarely investigated. The current study examined information processing attributes and exposure to terror as predictors of PTSD symptoms among youth at inter-group conflict, with stereotypical thinking toward a threatening out-group as a possible mediator. Design: Cross-sectional, with exposure to terror, need for cognitive structure (NCS), efficacy at fulfilling the need for closure (EFNC) and self-esteem, predicting stereotypical thinking and PTSD symptoms. Method: Ninth graders (N = 263) from two residential areas in Israel, varying in their degree of exposure to terror, responded to a self-report questionnaire tapping the above variables. Results: Stereotypical thinking was found to mediate the association between exposure to terror and PTSD symptoms, but not the association between the NCS and EFNC interaction and PTSD symptoms. Conclusions: The findings support Terror Management Theory, so that a negative and rigid perception makes it difficult to construct coherent world-view, thus contributing to aggregation of existential anxiety and PTSD symptoms.

 

 

 

New Article: Slone and Mayer, Gender Differences in Mental Health Consequences of Exposure to Political Violence

Slone, Michelle, and Yael Mayer. “Gender Differences in Mental Health Consequences of Exposure to Political Violence among Israeli Adolescents.” Children and Youth Services Review 58 (2015): 170-178.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.09.013

 

Abstract

This study examined the role played by gender differences in the relation between political violence exposure and mental health during adolescence. Understanding these differences is particularly pertinent during the period of adolescence characterized as it is by processes of identity formation and gender role consolidation. Participants were 154 high school students recruited from two high schools in central Israel (78 males, 76 females; average age 16.54), who completed the Political Life Events Scale for measurement of political violence exposure, the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 for assessment of psychological symptoms and disorders, a risk-taking behavior scale, and the Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Scale — Interview (PSS-I) for assessment of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Results reflected high levels on many psychological indicators. The dose–response hypothesis was partially confirmed with adolescents’ higher reported political violence exposure related only to higher levels of somatization and greater severity of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Contrary to the literature, only a few gender differences emerged and these showed mixed patterns. Females showed higher levels of anxiety than males, and males showed higher levels of risk-taking behavior. Females exposed to low political violence exposure showed significantly less substance abuse than males but those with high exposure reported significantly higher levels of substance abuse, equivalent to those of males. Findings show a complex constellation of gender effects on relations between political violence exposure and different psychopathological outcomes. Findings of this study indicate the necessity for more refined examination of gender differences in psychological processes in reaction to living in conditions of protracted conflict and war.

 

 

New Article: Magid et al, Increased Inequality in Mortality From Road Crashes Among Arabs and Jews in Israel

Magid, Avi, Shalhevet Leibovitch-Zur, and Orna Baron-Epel. “Increased Inequality in Mortality From Road Crashes Among Arabs and Jews in Israel.” Traffic Injury Prevention 16.1 (2015): 42-47.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15389588.2014.908289

 

Abstract

Objective: Previous studies in several countries have shown that the economically disadvantaged seem to have a greater risk of being involved in a car crash. The aim of the present study was to compare rates and trends in mortality and injury from road crashes by age among the Arab and Jewish populations in Israel.

Methods: Data on road crashes with casualties (2003–2011) from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics were analyzed. Age-adjusted road crash injury rates and mortality rates for 2003 to 2011 were calculated and time trends for each age group and population group are presented. Time trend significance was evaluated by linear regression models.

Results: Arabs in Israel are at increased risk of injury and mortality from road crashes compared to Jews. Road crash injury rates have significantly decreased in both populations over the last decade, although the rates have been persistently higher among Arabs. Road crash mortality rates have also decreased significantly in the Jewish population but not in the Arab population. This implies an increase in the disparity in mortality between Jews and Arabs. The most prominent differences in road crash injury and mortality rates between Arabs and Jews can be observed in young adults and young children.

Conclusions: The reduction in road crashes in the last decade is a positive achievement. However, the reductions are not equal among Arabs and Jews in Israel. Therefore, an increase in the disparities in mortality from road crashes is apparent. Public health efforts need to focus specifically on decreasing road crashes in the Arab community.

New Article: Dan et al, Differences in State Anxiety Responses to Combat Pictures between Young Adult Israeli Jews and Israeli Palestinian Arabs

Dan, Orrie,  Yona Moshe David, Michal Abraham, and Dorit Hadar Souval. “Differences in State Anxiety Responses to Combat Pictures between Young Adult Israeli Jews and Israeli Palestinian Arabs.” Psychology 6 (2015): 1136-43.

 

URL: http://www.scirp.org/Journal/PaperInformation.aspx?paperID=58194
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/psych.2015.69111 (PDF)

 

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether the different political realities of Israeli Jewish citizens and of Israeli Palestinian Arab citizens had differential impacts on the situational anxiety elicited by video clips of military operations. The pictures were taken during the November 2012 Pillar of Defense military operation in Gaza and southern Israel. Participants included 75 (49 female) students at an Israeli college. Of these, 39 were Israeli Jews and 36 were Israeli Arabs. Participants completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, 1983) and then watched a video clip containing combat pictures. After that they completed the State Anxiety Inventory again. The results showed no differences between Israeli Jewish participants and Israeli Palestinian Arab participants on trait anxiety. Analysis revealed a significant group (Israeli Jews/ Israeli Palestinian Arabs) X condition (before/after watching the video clip pictures) interaction effect. Before watching the video clip, the groups exhibited no difference in state anxiety. After watching the clip, the Israeli Palestinian Arab participants showed greater state anxiety compared with the Israeli Jews.

New Article: Pförtner et al, Family Affluence and Smoking among 15-year-old Adolescents

Pförtner, Timo-Kolja, Irene Moor, Katharina Rathmann, Anne Hublet, Michal Molcho, Anton E. Kunst, and Matthias Richter. “The Association between Family Affluence and Smoking among 15-year-old Adolescents in 33 European Countries, Israel and Canada: The Role of National Wealth.” Addiction 110.1 (2015): 162-73.

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/add.12741

 

Abstract

Aims

To examine the role of national wealth in the association between family affluence and adolescent weekly smoking, early smoking behaviour and weekly smoking among former experimenters.

Design and Participants

Data were used from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study conducted in 2005/2006 in 35 countries from Europe and North America that comprises 60 490 students aged 15 years. Multi-level logistic regression was conducted using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods (MCMC) to explore whether associations between family affluence and smoking outcomes were dependent upon national wealth.

Measurement

Family Affluence Scale (FAS) as an indicator for the socio-economic position of students. Current weekly smoking behaviour is defined as at least weekly smoking (dichotomous). Early smoking behaviour is measured by smoking more than a first puff before age 13 years (dichotomous). Weekly smoking among former experimenters is restricted to those who had tried a first puff in the past.

Findings

The logistic multi-level models indicated an association of family affluence with current weekly smoking [odds ratio (OR) = 1.088; 95% credible interval (CrI) = 1.055–1.121, P < 0.001], early smoking behaviour (OR = 1.066; CrI = 1.028–1.104, P < 0.001) and smoking among former experimenters (OR = 1.100; CrI = 1.071–1.130; P < 0.001). Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was associated positively and significantly with the relationship between family affluence and current weekly smoking (OR = 1.005; CrI = 1.003–1.007; P < 0.001), early smoking behaviour (OR = 1.003; CrI = 1.000–1.005; P = 0.012) and smoking among former experimenters (OR = 1.004; CrI = 1.002–1.006; P < 0.001). The association of family affluence and smoking outcomes was significantly stronger for girls.

Conclusions

The difference in smoking prevalence between rich and poor is greater in more affluent countries.

New Article: Prashizky & Remennick, Young Russian-Speaking Adults in Tel-Aviv

Prashizky, Anna, and Larissa Remennick. “Cultural Capital in Migration: Fishka Association of Young Russian-Speaking Adults in Tel-Aviv, Israel.” Journal of Intercultural Studies 36.1 (2015): 17-34.

 
 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2014.990364

 

Abstract

Migration scholars are increasingly interested in the integration experiences and identity dilemmas of the 1.5 immigrant generation. This article examines the activities of Fishka, an association of young Russian Israelis living in Tel-Aviv and vicinity, who immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union as older children or adolescents. Our empirical analysis draws upon the concepts of social and cultural capital in immigration and explores how the hybrid forms of cultural production emerge at the intersection between various tiers of Russian culture and Israeli realities that surround them. The article explores the acts of cultural translation of various activities and genres from Russian to Hebrew and vice versa. By introducing these hybrid forms of cultural capital to their native peers, the 1.5-ers take pride in their heritage, elevate the prestige of Russian culture in Israel and ultimately reinforce their feelings of belonging to the new country. Our findings highlight ethnic hierarchies (imported from the country of origin or created in Israel) that shape the practices of distinction and boundary building among young Russian Israelis.

 
 
 

New Article: Walsh et al, Discrimination and Delinquency Among Immigrant Adolescents

Walsh, Sophie D., Haya Fogel-Grinvald, and Sabrina Shneider. “Discrimination and Ethnic Identity as Predictors of Substance Use and Delinquency Among Immigrant Adolescents From the FSU and Ethiopia in Israel.” Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology (early view; online first).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022022115588951

 

Abstract

The current study explores perceived discrimination and ethnic identity as predictors of delinquency and substance use among adolescent immigrants in Israel. Theoretically, the study draws from strain theory, immigration-related theories of ethnic identity formation in adolescence, bi-dimensional theories of acculturation, and the rejection-identification model. The study involved 250 adolescents, 140 from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and 110 from Ethiopia, aged 15 to 18 years (M = 16.7 years). Adolescents were assessed on substance use (cigarettes, marijuana, binge drinking, drunkenness), delinquent behavior, parental relationships (support, limit setting), perceived discrimination, host identity (Jewish Israeli), and ethnic identity (Russian/Ethiopian). Results from structural equation modeling showed that delinquency was predicted directly by greater discrimination, a weaker ethnic (Russian/Ethiopian) identity, and greater substance (alcohol and cigarette) use. Higher levels of parental limit setting and lower levels of parental support predicted higher levels of substance use, but only predicted delinquency indirectly through their impact on substance use. Findings support the hypotheses that perceived discrimination and a weaker ethnic identity predict involvement in delinquency and partially support a hypothesis that higher levels of a positive host identity are related to lower levels of substance use and delinquency among immigrant adolescents. A perceived lack of equal opportunities may lead to stress, anger, and frustration toward society leading to delinquent behavior, whereas difficulties in consolidating a positive cultural identity may lead the young adolescent to fill a void through substance use.

 

New Article: Guy; Young Israeli Jewish and Arab Adults’ Notion of the Adaptive Adult

Guy, Anat. “The Impact of Cultural Orientation and Higher Education on Young Israeli Jewish and Arab Adults’ Notion of the Adaptive Adult.” Children & Society (online first, early view).

 

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/chso.12124

 

 

Abstract

This quantitative study compares young adults’ notions of the adaptive adult prior to becoming parents in Israel together with the moderating effect of academic education and culture on these notions. Participants were drawn from Israel’s two largest ethnic groups: Jews and Muslims. The research findings indicate that each group’s ideal image of the adaptive adult is constructed prior to parenthood. The findings may also indicate acculturation process among Muslim Arabs in Israel who are exposed to individualistic values (Israeli Jewish society). This process may modify personal values and preference regarding the ideal adaptive adult in order to integrate themselves and their future offspring into that society. This trend was found to be more common among highly educated members of the collectivist society.

 

ToC: Israel Studies Review 28,2 (2013)

Guest Editors’ Introduction: Rethinking the Family in Israel

pp. vii-xii(6)
Authors: Fogiel-Bijaoui, Sylvie; Rutlinger-Reiner, Reina

Articles: The Transformation of Intimacies

Religious Zionist Singles and Late-Modern Youth Culture

pp. 1-17(17)
Author: Engelberg, Ari

Israeli-Palestinian Women and Their Reasons for Divorce: A Comparative Perspective

pp. 18-40(23)
Author: Meler, Tal

Midlife Women in Second Partnerships Choosing Living Apart Together: An Israeli Case Study

pp. 41-60(20)
Author: Or, Ofra

Articles: Families in Transition

‘The Art of the Deal’: Preferences in Spouse Selection among Parents in a Hasidic Community

pp. 61-82(22)
Author: Block, Sima Zalcberg

Crises in Orthodox Israeli Family Life Onstage

pp. 83-101(19)
Author: Rutlinger-Reiner, Reina

Aging, Family, and Preferences for Care among Older Jews and Arabs

pp. 102-121(20)
Author: Halperin, Dafna

Articles: The Boundaries of Family Life

Hybridization and Purification: The Experiences of Mizrachi Middle-Class Adolescents in Israel

pp. 122-139(18)
Author: Selinger, Guy Abutbul

Conceiving Judaism: The Challenges of Same-Sex Parenthood

pp. 140-156(17)
Author: Lustenberger, Sibylle

Israeli ‘Mixed Families’ with Members of Ethiopian Origin: Encounters in the Public Space

pp. 157-173(17)
Author: Benezer, Gadi

“I Earn, Therefore I Exist”: Impoverished Bedouin Mothers Who Become Entrepreneurs

pp. 174-191(18)
Author: Alhuzail, Nuzha Allassad

Migrant Care Workers in Israel: Between Family, Market, and State

pp. 192-209(18)
Author: Shamir, Hila

Articles: Legal Discourse, Private Life

The Spousal Covenant (Brit Hazugiut), or the Covenant with the Status Quo

pp. 210-227(18)
Author: Fogiel-Bijaoui, Sylvie

Articles: Articles: Legal Discourse, Private Life

The Legitimacy of Single Mothers in Israel Examined through Five Circles of Discourse

pp. 228-246(19)
Author: Herbst, Anat

The Anomaly of Custody in Israeli Family Law

pp. 247-263(17)
Author: Mazeh, Yoav

The Child’s Worst Interests: Socio-legal Taboos on Same-Sex Parenting and Their Impact on Children’s Well-Being

pp. 264-281(18)
Author: Triger, Zvi

Children’s Rights in Israeli Case Law: A Spiral Progression

pp. 282-299(18)
Author: Morag, Tamar

Succession Law in Israel: Individualism and the Family

pp. 300-313(14)
Author: Kreiczer-Levy, Shelly

Book Reviews

Book Reviews

pp. 314-324(11)