Gideon Fishman

The Incarceration of Minority Youth

Minority youth are being incarcerated in public juvenile correctional facilities at rates three to four times that of whites. Their numbers are growing even though overall rates of serious youth crime are declining. FBI data and self-report data indicate that minority youth are somewhat more likely than white youngsters to be involved in serious crime but not to the extent that generally has been assumed. Recent research suggests that minority youth are more likely to be arrested and charged with serious crimes than comparably delinquent white youth. Although further research on these issues is imperative, it is also crucial that public officials begin testing out new strategies to reduce the tragic trend of ever more minority children growing up behind bars.

The First Israeli National Survey on Domestic Violence

The aim of the survey reported in this article was to assess the frequency and severity of violence against women in Israel and to identify some major risk factors associated with that violence. During 2000 and 2001, a structured self-report questionnaire was administered to a stratified probability sample drawn from the general population in Israel including 2,544 households, of which 2,092 included only women respondents and 452 included both men and women (904 respondents in total). When compared to those of other Western countries, the rates of psychological aggression in Israel are slightly higher, although the rates of physical aggression are lower.

Reexamining Adolescent Suicidal Ideation: A Developmental Perspective Applied to a Diverse Population

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that suicidal ideation is a common experience in a general population of African American, Hispanic, and White urban high school students residing in low-income neighborhoods. Based upon a developmental framework, it was hypothesized that once attitudes toward suicide were controlled, ideation would not vary significantly by ethnicity, gender, or psychosocial variables usually associated with ideation. The multivariate analysis revealed that ideation did not vary by ethnicity however, females, substance users, and those with greater tolerance toward suicide, higher family coping, and lower self-esteem were more likely to report ideation. A series of ideator profiles, calculated from the probability estimates, showed that an increase in tolerance substantially raises the likelihood of ideation. The results taken together raise the question of whether it is time to reconceptualize the relationship between ideation and normal adolescent development.

The effect of acculturation on depressive moods: Immigrant boys and girls during their transition from late adolescence to early adulthood

Using data (N = 773) from a longitudinal study of former Soviet Union immigrants to Israel, this study aimed to identify the psychosocial correlates of depressive mood among immigrant adolescents and differences by age and gender. OLS regression results suggest acculturative and social factors as useful variables in predicting depression. Adolescents with a high probability of assimilating (simultaneous strengthening of Israeli identity and weakening of Russian identity) proved more likely to report low levels of depression. Consistent with the literature, girls were more depressed than boys and age was positively related to depressive moods. As expected, different factors explain the psychological well-being of adolescents of different age groups and sex: in boys, depression was found mainly related to acculturation difficulties; in girls it was related more to their social support. As for age, more independent variables were statistically significant in accounting for depression in the older than in the younger group, which suggests that depression is age-related. The study results should be understood in connection with socialization processes to sex roles and the impact immigration has on this process.

Suicide and self‐inflicted injuries

The present study addressed itself to the problem of self-inflicted injuries (SII) in the Israeli army, and to the wider question whether non-fatal self injuries and suicide are part of the same phenomenon. The findings show that in some cases SII is an unsucessful suicide while in others SII is anything but a reflection of a death wish. It appears that the modus operandi is a major indication as to the intentions of the actor. The study also demonstrates the difference between the population of the suiciders and that of the SII victims. While suiciders seem to score higher on the Performance Prediction Score (PPS) and Combat Suitability Scale, the SII population seems to be overly represented in the lower parts of the PPS and the Combat Suitability Scale. The study used a data set that represents a 5 year period, and followed the consequences of the SII in terms of medical status and occupational assignment of the actors. The findings yielded some possible policy implications, in terms of a better classification of the relevant populations, and a possible attribution of a more refined meaning to the behavior.

Juvenile detention: The hidden closets revisited

This is the first national study of juvenile detention in more than a decade. The findings indicate that these facilities are undergoing a fundamental and substantial change. The consensus of professional opinion as well as recommendations from national standard-setting bodies indicate that juvenile detention centers should be reserved for those youth who present a clear and substantial threat to the community and who need to be confined until they appear in court. Now these facilities are assuming an added function by serving as short-term commitment options for juvenile court judges. In addition, the study found that the excessive use of detention continues to be a major problem.

Towards the Development of a Conflict Escalation Model: The Case of Israeli Youth.

The aim of this study was to present and initially test a model of escalation to verbal and physical aggression among Israeli youths. Stratified sampling was used to obtain data from 799 students in the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades of junior high schools in a northern Israeli city and its suburbs. A structural equation model (SEM) analysis confirmed that there is a significant positive correlation between the constructs of the so-called escalation preference and capability, and showed that both significantly influenced the escalation pattern. In addition, boys and younger students appeared to demonstrate a higher escalatory tendency than girls and older students. Theoretical and practical implications for professional intervention are discussed.

Reconstructing Suicide: Reporting Suicide in the Israeli Press

Researchers have not found consistent relationships between suicide stories and suicide. Through a content analysis of suicide stories in the Israeli press (1955–1990) and measures of real suicide events, this study highlights the selective, distorted, and reconstructed nature of reporting suicide. Such reporting may account for at least some of the contradictory findings of studies on the impact of publicized suicide stories on imitative behavior.

Attitudes Supporting Violence and Aggressive Behavior among Adolescents in Israel The Role of Family and Peers

A secondary analysis of data obtained from a national representative sample of the adolescent population in Israel was conducted to explore the association between the quality of social relationships of adolescents and aggressive behavior. The quality of parent-adolescent relations and the quality of peer relations were not directly related to aggressive behavior. Adolescents who were close to their parents and their peers were less likely to report exposure to negative relations with other adolescents. Adolescents who reported being insulted held attitudes favoring the use of aggressive behavior, associated more with delinquent adolescents, and reported a high level of aggression toward others. Adolescents who did not share intimate communication with significant others tended to be more exposed to unpleasant behavior, to associate with delinquent peers, and to adopt aggressive attitudes and behaviors. The results suggest that experiencing negative relations during adolescence might be a risk factor predicting aggressive conduct.

Motives to commit suicide: Statistical versus mass-mediated reality

This study, conducted in Israel, compares suicide motives as reported in the press with the official statistics. The analysis is based on two sets of data: the first includes all suicides (n = 4164) recorded from 1972–1988 by Israels Ministry of Health, and the other contains all press reports n = 1885) relating to suicide over the same period in Israels two daily newspapers. The news reports were subjected to systematic content analysis. The analysis indicates that press reports over-emphasize certain types of suicide while underplaying others. The effects of independent variables (age, gender, marital status and nationality) on the ascription of motives were different for the press and for the official statistics. Our findings show that the attribution of motives to suicides is socially reconstructed by the press.