Carmit Rapaport

Conflict will Harden your Heart: Exposure to Violence, Psychological Distress, and Peace Barriers in Israel and Palestine

Does exposure to political violence prompt civilians to support peace? We investigate the determinants of civilian attitudes toward peace during ongoing conflict using two original panel datasets representing Israelis (n=996) and Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza (n=631) (149 communities in total). A multi-group estimation analysis shows that individual-level exposure to terrorism and political violence makes the subject populations less likely to support peace efforts. The findings also confirm psychological distress and threat perceptions as the mechanism that bridges exposure to violence and greater militancy over time. The study breaks ground in showing that individual-level exposure – necessarily accompanied by psychological distress and threat perceptions – is key to understanding civilians’ refusal to compromise in prolonged conflict.

What Does National Resilience Mean in a Democracy? Evidence from the United States and Israel

Given various challenges to national security in democracies, such as terrorism and political violence, a growing need for reconceptualization of the term “resilience” emerges. The interface between national security and resilience is rooted in individuals’ perceptions and attitudes toward institutions and leadership. Therefore, in this article, we suggest that political–psychological features form the basis of citizens’ perceived definitions of national resilience. By comparing national resilience definitions composed by citizens of two democratic countries facing national threats of war and terrorism, the United States and Israel, we found that perceived threats, optimism, and public attitudes such as patriotism and trust in governmental institutions, are the most frequent components of the perceived national resilience. On the basis of these results, a reconceptualization of the term “national resilience” is presented. This can lead to validation of how resilience is measured and provide grounds for further examination of this concept in other democratic countries.

Regular drinking may strengthen the beneficial influence of social support on depression: Findings from a representative Israeli sample during a period of war and terrorism

BACKGROUND Social support is consistently associated with reduced risk of depression. Few studies have investigated how this relationship may be modified by alcohol use, the effects of which may be particularly relevant in traumatized populations in which rates of alcohol use are known to be high. METHODS In 2008 a representative sample of 1622 Jewish and Palestinian citizens in Israel were interviewed by phone at two time points during a period of ongoing terrorism and war threat. Two multivariable mixed effects regression models were estimated to measure the longitudinal association of social support from family and friends on depression symptoms. Three-way interaction terms between social support, alcohol use and time were entered into the models to test for effect modification. RESULTS Findings indicated that increased family social support was associated with less depression symptomatology (p=<.01); this relationship was modified by alcohol use and time (p=<.01). Social support from friends was also associated with fewer depression symptoms (p=<.01) and this relationship was modified by alcohol use and time as well (p=<.01). Stratified analyses in both models revealed that the effect of social support was stronger for those who drank alcohol regularly than those who did not drink or drank rarely. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that social support is a more important protective factor for depression among regular drinkers than among those who do not drink or drink rarely in the context of political violence. Additional research is warranted to determine whether these findings are stable in other populations and settings.

Organizations Under Siege: Innovative Adaptive Behaviors in Work Organizations

By examining the actual behavior of both managers and employees in work organizations during a crisis, we were able to better understand conditions facilitating an organization’s ability to maintain operational continuity. Building on theories of organizational and disaster behavior, a working model was developed and tested from evidence acquired from work organizations that were subjected to massive Katyusha rocket bombardment of Northern Israel in 2006. The results support the notion that organizational response to a disaster includes a social process of innovative behavioral adaptation to changing and threatening conditions. Based on both perceived and actual financial performance levels during the crisis, we discerned that on the one hand, the organization’s managers react within the administrative constraints of their organizations according to their perception of its performance. The day-to-day operations, however, are maintained as employees’ adapt their own behavior to the changing demands of the situation. The analysis further shows that although plans, drills and emergency regulations are important for performance behaviors during the emergency, it was employees’ innovative adaptive behaviors that contributed to maintaining actual organizational performance. These adaptive work behaviors depended on a series of social process predictors such as the levels of emergent and prosocial behaviors as well as the densities of social networks at the workplace. The findings both support and focus on the role that external organizational disruption can have on innovative organizational adaptation and change.

Informal social networks as generic contingency plans

Emergency contingency plans are conceived as an alternative rational‐logical set of actions when a formal emergency plan may be inadequate during an actual crisis. Most, like the official plan, are based on protocols inherent in the formal administrative structure of the organization with little attention paid to pervasive informal social networks found in the organization. We argue that a perspective focusing on informal social networks within organizations may provide a viable solution to supplement the formal plan. This approach integrates the power of informal social networks within and across organizations through the social context of transferring information and adaptive behaviours that have proven vital for organizational continuity. Special attention is paid to how a social network approach, as the basis for its integration into a viable contingency plan, is feasible for a variety of organizations.

Psychological Barriers to a Peaceful Resolution: Longitudinal Evidence from the Middle East and Northern Ireland

ABSTRACT Does individual-level exposure to political violence prompt conciliatory attitudes? Does the answer vary by phase of conflict? The study uses longitudinal primary datasets to test the hypothesis that conflict-related experiences impact conciliation. Data were collected from Israeli Jews, Palestinians, and Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland. Across both contexts, and among both parties to each conflict, psychological distress and threat perceptions had a polarizing effect on conciliatory preferences. The study highlights that experiences of political violence are potentially a crucial source of psychological distress, and consequently, a continuing barrier to peace. This has implications in peacemaking, implying that alongside removing the real threat of violence, peacemakers must also work toward the social and political inclusion of those most affected by previous violence.