Michal Shamai

Helping Direct and Indirect Victims of National Terror: Experiences of Israeli Social Workers

In this study we explored the subjective experience and the meaning attached to it by Israeli social workers who provide help to direct and indirect victims of national terror attacks. A qualitative methodology, based on grounded theory tradition, was used to conduct and analyze interviews with 29 social workers from three types of agencies (municipal social services, general hospitals, and the National Insurance Institute) from various parts of the country. Based on the data, three main themes were constructed: (a) professional and personal functioning during intervention, (b) the immediate and long-term impact of intervening with terror attacks, and (c) the meaning attached to the social workers role in intervening with victims. Overall, the findings show that the social workers experienced symptoms similar to those of secondary traumatic stress disorder (STSD) for a few days only, but in the long-term, they perceived their experience of helping victims of terror attacks as leading to personal and professional growth.

Social systems and personal reactions to threats of war and terror

This study examines the impact of social systems (i.e., marital quality, significant others stress and community resilience) on individual reactions to the threat of war and terror resulting from Israels withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000. Quantitative results (N = 992) revealed that proximity to the threat of war influenced marital quality, community resilience, life satisfaction, and stress among significant others. Three social system variables mediate these relationships. Qualitative analysis (N = 50 couples) highlights the role of social variables in personal reaction to stress. Differences emerged, however, in the perceived direction of the causal effects. Similarities and differences between the methodologies are discussed, and theoretical models are suggested to explain the results.

Are women at higher risk than men? Gender differences among teenagers and adults in their response to threat of war and terror

ABSTRACT The present study examined whether women are at higher risk of developing stress reactions in situations of war and terror. The study looked at gender differences within two samples–teenagers (n = 353) and adults (n = 890)–regarding the impact of stress that developed in response to a situation of threat of war and terror as a result of Israels withdrawal from Lebanon. The study tested: (1) gender differences regarding cognitive appraisal of the stressor, coping styles, psychological symptoms, and life satisfaction; (2) whether cognitive appraisal and coping styles mediated gender differences in psychological symptoms and life satisfaction; and (3) whether the two age groups differed regarding the contribution of gender to the studied variables. The results revealed that among the teenagers, gender differences were found only in cognitive appraisal and psychological symptoms, while among adults, gender differences were found in all the studied variables. The results support the mediating hypothesis with regard to psychological symptoms, but not with regard to life satisfaction. The results also show a different contribution of gender in each of the age groups regarding psychological symptoms, but not regarding life satisfaction, which leaves some doubt regarding the assumptions that women tend to be more affected by stress than men.

Control of the Self: Partner-Violent Men’s Experience of Therapy

This study explores the experience of men who participated in programs for partner-violent men by understanding their perceptions of the treatment process, the treatment outcomes, and the meaning they attached to it. The sample included 25 men who completed these programs in agencies that specialized in treating domestic violence in Israel. A qualitative methodology was used to collect and analyze the data. The findings revealed that most of the men experienced therapy as positive and meaningful and underwent personal changes, especially the acquisition of self-control. Deeper analysis of the data, however, shows that the men still used a power scheme in understanding and creating relationships with others, especially with their woman partner. The findings are discussed in light of the complex and contradictory impact of the treatment process as it appears in the participants’ experiences and in the meaning they attached to it.

Teenagers Response to Threat of War and Terror: Gender and the Role of Social Systems

This study focuses on the role of gender and the way social systems (family and friends’ support, stress attributed to parents, friends and others in the community) are perceived in contributing to the reaction to stressors of war and threat of terror among teenagers living in Israel along the Lebanese border. The study was implemented shortly after Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon with a sample of 353 teenagers. The study is based on the teenagers’ self-report. The results reveals the following: (a) gender relates significantly to level of stress but not to general life satisfaction; (b) stress attributed to the parents and to the peers has a greater contribution to the level of stress than the supportive family atmosphere and peer support; (c) stress attributed to the parents and peers was found to be a mediator between gender and level of stress; (d) supportive family atmosphere was found to be a mediator between gender and one measurement of stress, while peer support was not found to have any mediating role. Special attention is given to the finding that stress attributed to parents and friends has greater significance than the support provided by them.

Parents' Perceptions of Their Children in a Context of Shared Political Uncertainty: The Case of Jewish Settlers in the West Bank Before and After the Oslo Peace Agreement

This study describes the effect of a politically uncertain situation on the parents experience and on the way they appraise their childrens experience. The study focuses on Israeli families living in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) during two periods: the Intifada (the indigenous Arab populations civil uprising) and the years following the Oslo peace agreements. The results of this study indicate the importance of the specific political situation and the particular context that is created for those who experience it. The supportive context of the Israeli population created by the right-wing government affected the parents ability to withhold their feelings during the Intifada, while the lack of support of the left-wing government increased the expression of emergency feelings by parents. The children, according to the parents appraisal, expressed more emergency feelings than their parents did during the Intifada. The number of feelings and their intensity diminished after the Oslo Agreements. The discussion focuses on the effect of family role and its interaction with the political uncertainty on the psychological well-being of parents and children.

Living Under the Threat of Relocation: Spouses' Perceptions of the Threat and Coping Resources

This study examined the contribution of couples, shared perceptions of the threat of relocation, and the buffering effect of personal and marital resources in coping with stress. The study was conducted with a random sample of 95 couples in the Golan Heights region in Israel, where a unique situation exists in which families live under a threat of relocation, due to the peace negotiations between Israel and Syria. Two resources were examined: potency and marital quality Results showed that potency made the greatest contribution to coping either with demands or stress, both in couples who had similar or different future scenarios, while marital quality was found to relieve the stress only in couples who shared the same future scenarios. The average level of stress was found to be higher but not significant among couples with different future scenarios.

Parents' experience and meaning construction of the loss of a child in a national terror attack.

This paper describes a qualitative study aimed at exploring the meanings that are given by parents to the loss of their children in terror attacks in Israel and examining how specific aspects of these meanings help or hinder them in coping with the loss. This paper focuses the collective context of loss, a theme that emerged from in-depth interviews with 16 bereaved parents who lost their children in different terror attacks. The collective context of loss includes three subthemes: (a) the loss in the context of Jewish and Israeli history; (b) assigning responsibility for the loss; and (c) using the collective meaning in the process of coping. Overall, the findings highlight the role of the sociocultural context in the bereavement process. The discussion raises possible explanations for the significance of this role, focusing on the reciprocal processes between the bereaved parents and society, which are functional and effective for both.

The Myth of Creating an Integrative Story: The Therapeutic Experience of Holocaust Survivors

In this article, the authors explore how Holocaust survivors experience therapy. The qualitative method by which the authors illuminate the therapeutic experience is in-depth interviews with 11 survivors. They base their analysis on the phenomenological tradition and use psychodynamic perspective as a heuristic device, generating five main themes: (a) knowing and not knowing the story of the trauma, (b) therapy as a reproduction of the trauma and its aftermath, (c) the fight to keep the therapist as a split object, (d) the perception of therapy as interminable, and (e) creating alternative narratives. Overall, the findings contradict the traditional perception, in which the goal of therapy is defined as one of integrating the traumatic narrative with the entire life story. Successful therapy, as was found in the present study, is often experienced when the traumatic narrative is put into a capsule separated from other parts of the life story.

The Impact of Ongoing National Terror on the Community of Hospital Nurses in Israel

The main goal of this study was to explore the connections between the exposure of nurses in Israel to national terror and the levels of distress experienced due to ongoing terror attacks. The data were collected from 214 nurses from various parts of Israel who work in three types of heath services (mainly hospital departments) and provide help to victims of terror. The nurses reported very high levels of burnout, high levels of stress and medium-to high levels of intrusive memories. Levels of exposure were associated with burnout, intrusive memories and level of stress. More professional attention should be given to hospital nurses who provide care for trauma patients.