Dan Bar-On

The World Health Organization Quality of Life assessment (WHOQOL) : Development and general psychometric properties

This paper reports on the field testing, empirical derivation and psychometric properties of the World Health Organisation Quality of Life assessment (the WHOQOL). The steps are presented from the development of the initial pilot version of the instrument to the field trial version, the so-called WHOQOL-100. The instrument has been developed collaboratively in a number of centres in diverse cultural settings over several years; data are presented on the performance of the instrument in 15 different settings worldwide.

Multigenerational Perspectives on Coping with the Holocaust Experience: An Attachment Perspective for Understanding the Developmental Sequelae of Trauma across Generations

In this paper, we advance a new approach to the intergenerational transmission of Holocaust experiences, by focusing on attachment theory. The approach is used as a framework for interpretation of the results of three studies on Holocaust survivors and their offspring, from different countries (The Netherlands, Canada, and Israel), and based on different conceptual approaches and methods of data collection (quantitative as well as qualitative). The literature is divided with regard to the extent and depth of long-term effects of the Holocaust. Attachment theory allows the integration of the phenomena of attachment, separation, and loss, which appear to be core concepts in the three studies presented here. The notion of insecure-ambivalent attachment sheds some light on the observed preoccupation with issues of attachment and separation in the second generation. Furthermore, the theme of “the conspiracy of silence” is discussed in the context of attachment disorganisation. Attachment theory transcends the traditional boundaries between clinical and nonclinical interpretations, in stressing the continuous and cumulative nature of favourable and unfavourable child-rearing circumstances. In this context, insecure attachment should be regarded as coping with suboptimal child-rearing environments.

Individualism and Collectivism in Two Conflicted Societies Comparing Israeli-Jewish and Palestinian-Arab High School Students

A theoretical framework concerning cultural patterns labeled individualism and collectivism is probed with regard to two conflicted societies, Israeli-Jewish and Palestinian-Arab societies. The following three methods were used to examine collectivism/individualism constructs among 1,190 Palestinian and 1,144 Israeli high school students: items that tap values, interest in different domains of history, and attitudes toward conflict resolution. Both groups were found to be more collectivistic than individualistic oriented. However, as predicted, the Palestinians scored higher than the Israeli students on items emphasizing in-group collectivist orientation (my nationality, my country, etc.). The differences between the two groups tended to reflect some subdistinctions such as different elements of individualism and collectivism. Moreover, they reflected the historical context and contemporary influences, such as the stage where each society is at in the nation-making process.

The Dialogue between the ‘Self’ and the ‘Other’: A Process Analysis of Palestinian-Jewish Encounters in Israel

This study assumes that the collective identities of both Jews and Palestinians in Israel have long been constructed around the Jewish-Palestinian conflict, a major focus of social and historical reality in the Middle East region. Monolithic in their early stages, these constructions of identity underwent a process of deconstruction and reconstruction, primarily due to changes in the political reality (the peace process), globalization, and the surfacing of conflicts that were hidden within the monolithic construction. The deconstruction process, though painful and problematic, creates new opportunities for a dialogue that engages elements of identity, which no longer ‘fit’ the contenders. Such a dialogue took place in ‘laboratory’ form at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev from October 1996 and June 1997 between two leading participants in an ongoing workshop for Jewish and Palestinian Israeli students. Most conflict group encounters are measured by outcomes, not by process. We identified problems when the method common for these groups was used at Jewish-Palestinian encounters and this led us to try another way. This study employs a qualitative methodology to analyse the process of groups in conflict. It looks into how the process of questioning one’s own self and the other’s perception takes place in this context. In describing the dialogue that evolved between a Jew, Avner and a Palestinian, Nasser (both pseudonyms), the tension between the individual and collective identity levels, between the internal group process and the asymmetric social and political reality, is revealed. We suggest that the confrontation and friendship between Avner and Nasser created a new quality of dialogue, enabling a more complex identity construction to emerge on both the Jewish and the Palestinian sides.

Learning about ‘good enough’ through ‘bad enough’: A story of a planned dialogue between israeli jews and palestinians

This study analyzes a dialogue process aimed at building relationships between Jews and Palestinians in Israel using an innovative research approach of following the story of the encounter. It attempts to explore whether such dialogue groups are able, in practice, to actually get away from the unbalanced political–structural conditions of the conflict between them. Usually we try to learn about such processes through successful ‘good enough’ encounters. This study takes the opposite position of looking at what we can learn from an unsuccessful encounter: A ‘bad enough’ one. Analysis of the dynamics that evolved in this dialogue shows the different tactics that were used by two Jewish-Israeli students to control the dialogue and emphasize themes of ‘togetherness’, ‘we want quiet’ and ‘we are all human beings’. We follow the futile attempts made by both other Jewish and Palestinian participants to counter these control attempts and to center the discussion on national identity and conflict. Finally, we discuss ways in which such a dialogue process could have been improved and could have served as a learning experience for its participants.

The Bystander in Relation to the Victim and the Perpetrator: Today and During the Holocaust

Most of the social-psychological literature assumes that prosocial behavior is part of the basic human repertoire and only when certain conditions become unfavorable, will the natural prosocial tendency fail (Latane & Darley, 1970). Only few researchers have addressed the general tendency toward bystanding behavior,2 its relation to perpetrating behavior, trying to overcome it in victimizing scenes by activating the bystander and thereby reducing the potential for victimization (Staub, 1996). The present analysis suggests several psychosocial constructs that can account for bystanding behavior. Several factors (such as length of exposure, fragmentation of the planning and execution of the crime) are highlighted—in order to differentiate between low, middle range and high-level bystanding behavior. Finally, ten examples of bystanding behavior during the Holocaust are presented, suggesting that only a careful analysis of the context and its interaction with the persons involved may help us work through and perhaps prevent the potential negative aspects of bystanding behavior in future criminal acts.

Whose House is This? Dilemmas of Identity Construction in the Israeli-Palestinian Context

This article examines the ways in which ones perception of the other contributes to processes involved in the construction of collective identity. This study presents analyses and comparisons of semi-structured interviews using a dilemma concerning ownership of a house that was undertaken with 20 Jewish and Palestinian university students, citizens of Israel, who participated in a 1-year seminar that dealt with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Analyses of the entire sample showed that, during the year, all of the participants enhanced their self-awareness of the complexity of the conflict. Each group emphasized the processes that reflect the role of the conflict in the construction of its collective identity. The Palestinians appeared to be in the process of constructing their identity and the Jews in the process of deconstructing theirs while trying to cope with their need for security during the on-going conflict. In-depth analyses of interviews with 2 women students highlighted the processes of ident...

Determinants of Lifestyle Changes after a First Myocardial Infarction

Ninety-eight men aged <60 years with a first myocardial infarction were followed for 6 months. The aim was to characterize patients who succeeded in changing their lifestyles by modifying risk factors and to correlate them to subjective and objective outcome. We focused on the interplay between the patients causal attribution of the infarction and compared this with the influence of background factors. The patient attribution most often predicted positive objective outcome and subjective functioning. This study shows that background factors are of prognostic value, but the patients attribution and his own ideas about coping add information on the outcome of the rehabilitation as evaluated by more specific outcome measures.

EMOTIONAL MEMORIES OF FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS DURING THE HOLOCAUST

This article examines psychosocial aspects of family/parent-child relationships during the Holocaust by focusing on the emotional memories of such relationships. Global and thematic analyses were undertaken on 93 life story interviews and testimonies with Holocaust survivors. Results showed that survivors who lived through most of the war with parents/family and those who had lived approximately an equal time with loved ones and without them were able to recall and narrate more emotional memories, both positive and negative, than people who had experienced the traumatic period mostly on their own. However, going through the war with family did not guarantee the narration of emotional memories; close to half of these victims could not recall/narrate such memories. In general, when the survivor recalled relative emotional security, she or he felt safe, even when physical danger was imminent. However, this feeling did not always continue when the physical situation worsened or when the survivor was separated from loved ones. It was suggested that the ability to recall and narrate emotional memories highlights the heterogeneity in family relationships that existed during the Holocaust and the kinds of family relationships that developed after the Holocaust.

Cultural Identity and Demonization of the Relevant Other

Trauma in the Middle East is deeply associated with the bitter struggle during the last hundred years between Arabs and Jews. We will concentrate in this paper on the trauma associated with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The Jewish population immigrated to Palestine (after 1948—Israel) from all over the world but mainly from Europe and from the Arab countries in Asia and Africa. Most of the Palestinians* had lived in Palestine whereas some immigrated to it from neighboring countries.† The Jews viewed their immigration (named Aliya in Hebrew, which means “going up”) as an act of reviving their national home destroyed two thousand years ago by the Romans. The Palestinians viewed the Jewish immigration as an intrusion by an alien group, similar to previous intrusions of conquerors or colonialists (Crusaders, Mamelukes, British, and French).