Haunting images: stereotypes of Jewishness among Russian Jewish immigrants in Germany

Glancing at the Jewish spaces in contemporary Germany, an occasional observer would probably be startled. Since the Russian Jewish migration of the 1990s, Germany's Jewish community has come to be the third-largest in Europe. Synagogues, Jewish community centres, and Jewish cultural events have burgeoned. There is even talk about a “Jewish renaissance” in Germany. However, many immigrants claim that the resurrection of Jewish life in Germany is “only a myth,” “an illusion.” This paper is part of a project exploring the processes of the reconstruction of Jewish identities and Jewish communal life by Russian Jewish immigrants in Germany. The focus of this paper is on the stereotypes of Jews and Jewishness evident in immigrants' perceptions and imaginings of their physical gathering spaces – the Jewish community centres (Gemeinden). Focusing on the images that haunt a particular place, I seek to shed light upon the difficulties of re/creating Jewish identity and life among the Russian Jewish immigrants in contemporary Germany.     

Traumatic Childhood and Marriage

Abstract

This exploratory, qualitative study of 84 adults who have survived and transcended a traumatic childhood describes the role their spouses played in the process of rising above their difficult childhood experiences. The participants talked about what they were looking for in a spouse, negative marriage experiences, and the positive role spousal support played in transcending the traumatic childhood. The study of their lives reveals important insights into the role of marriage in the process by which people grow into healthy adults. These insights will be useful to people who work with couples in which one person is seeking to leave past difficulties behind.     

Cossack Identities: From Russian Émigrés and Anti-Soviet Collaborators to Displaced Persons*

Abstract

Cossack displaced persons who were re-settled in Australia as part of the post-war International Refugee Organisation scheme had already survived several turbulent eras. Anti-Bolshevik Cossacks refashioned their identities in the post-Civil War period as Russian émigrés and then, during the Second World War, as anti-Soviet collaborators of the Germany Army. At war’s end these Cossacks were rounded up by the British and handed to the Soviets. This paper traces the traumatic (and opportunistic) migration trajectory of one Cossack family, who escaped forced repatriations to become ‘New Australians’.     

Bystander interventions for sexual assault and dating violence on college campuses: Are we putting bystanders in harm's way?

Objective: The present study investigated the well-being of bystanders who witness and intervene in sexual assault and dating violence situations on campus. Participants: Participants were 321 young men and women from a large university in the southeastern United States. Methods: Participants completed a survey at the end of the Spring semester of 2015 about risky situations they had witnessed, with follow-up questions about their responses to the situations (eg, whether they intervened or not) and feelings about their responses. Participants also completed standardized measures of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression. Results: Over 90% of the participants reported witnessing at least 1 of the risky events presented to them, and approximately 50% reported intervening in events. Intervening was associated with positive feelings, but traumatic stress symptoms were related to witnessing events and intervening. Conclusions: Results have direct implications for developing appropriate training programs for bystander intervention programs on college campuses.     

Resiliency in the Aftermath of Repetitious Violence in the Workplace

Summary

The definition and occurrence of traumatic events is expanding and impacts everyone's lives in some way. The degree to which a violent event impacts an individual, a group, a workplace or the community varies. Unfortunately violent events are all too common. Businesses are realizing the significance of violence as a workplace problem and the varying degrees of trauma that has a devastating impact on employee retention, workplace functionality and personal well-being. The events can include industrial or natural disasters; worksite accidents; organizational changes; suicide; homicides; robbery; assault; threats of violence and even terrorism. How prepared an organization is varies and may be correlated with how resilient individuals and the entire workplace are after workplace violence/trauma. This article focuses on what workplace violence and trauma includes, the effects of repeat events, how resilient people are while trying to prevent additional events if possible in the workplace.     

Immigration Policy Changes After 9/11

Abstract

Immigrants to the United States face new and significant challenges since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Within a dramatically short time national immigration policy has become oriented more to protecting Americans than welcoming people from other nations. Creation of the Department of Homeland Security, dismantling the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and tightening the rules and enforcement provisions for immigrants were changes designed, not to facilitate the immigration process, but to counter the threat of terrorism and preventing potential terrorists from entering the country. This article discusses the recent policy changes that have affected the immigrant community and reviews how professionals working with immigrants might address these changes to better help their clients.     

New Directions for Research Examining Sexual Trauma Histories of Gay Men

Summary

Research efforts have been unable to accurately examine the effect of childhood sexual trauma in the adult lives of gay men. Complications stemming from precise definitions of abuse, as well as the subjectivity inherent in the terms, make comprehensive research difficult. As abuse and traumatic events may sometimes be subtle and not involve overt violence, these more delicate events are often overlooked or unaccounted for. Further, because it is a complex endeavor to obtain accurate reporting from children, research efforts rely on the self-reports of adults remembering traumatic events. The symptomatology that results from trauma, including amnesia and dissociation, also affects the reliability of self-report. Additionally, gay men have been notably absent from sexual trauma research efforts for a variety of reasons. A research study which investigates childhood sexual trauma in the histories of adult gay men is discussed. Directions for future research efforts are suggested.     

Recollection and Relocation in Immigration: Russian‐Jewish Immigrants “Normalize” Their Anti‐Semitic Experiences

This study conceptualizes the relationship between recollection of the past and relocation in the context of immigration. Combining symbolic interactionist and narrative paradigms, it explores how immigrants'representations of past experiences inform their identity construction and the process of entering the host society. Our interpretive analysis of personal narratives related spontaneously by eighty‐nine Russian‐Jewish immigrants in Israel and Germany reveals that they choose to “normalize” their anti‐Semitic experiences by representing them as secondary, expected, and “normal.” They do so via four narrating tactics of normalization: obscuring, self‐exclusion, vindication, and essentializing stigma. Each tactic devalues the cultural depiction (grand narrative) of anti‐Semitic experiences as transformative and traumatic. By normalizing their past, the immigrants deconstruct and resist the authority and moral commands of the national narrative they encounter in both societies. Putting forward normalization as an alternative interpretation, the immigrants claim ownership of their biography and cultural identity.     

Exhibiting Russia: The Two London Russian Exhibitions of 1917 and 1935

Abstract

In 1915, during the First World War, and in 1935, in the second decade of Soviet rule, two remarkable exhibitions were opened in London. They were devoted to wide-ranging displays of Russian culture and gathered for reasons not least of the historical moment exhibits almost exclusively from British and foreign owners and collectors. The content and significance of these virtually forgotten exhibitions are examined from two angles. Firstly, the exhibitions are sited in the context of Russian and Anglo-Russian exhibitions that occurred both during the period from the Great Exhibition of 1851 and subsequent to them, principally the Great Britain-USSR exhibition of 1967. Secondly, the exhibitions, their settings and the events and personalities connected with them are examined on the basis of their catalogues and press reports.     

The Power of Peer Support: The Development of the Empowerment Center

ABSTRACT

This article discusses the events and influences that led to the author’s contribution to the development of a mental health consumer-run organization, The Empowerment Center in Mount Vernon, NY. The author traces some events that influenced him personally and the evolution of the Empowerment Center from an organization that provided advocacy services (to those with mental health problems who were hospitalized) and community-based support services to people in mental health recovery, to an organization focusing on economic empowerment and economic development for the community of those in recovery. The transition of the Empowerment Center into an organization focused on economic empowerment underscores the importance of economic independence for people in recovery and the consumer-run organizations that support them. The Empowerment Center endeavors to demonstrate that mental health consumer-survivors can take control of their economic health as well as their physical and mental health.     

Foster parents exposed to political violence: The role of social support in addressing emotional and functional difficulties

BackgroundBeing a foster parent is stressful. It becomes even more stressful when foster parents face major threats to their own families and to the foster children in their care, such as during war situations. This study focuses on foster parents' reactions to the war with Gaza in southern Israel that took place in 2014. The first goal of this study was to describe posttraumatic symptoms (PTS) and problems in functioning among foster parents following their exposure to the war. The second goal was to identify background and social support predictors of PTS and functioning problems among these parents. The third goal was to examine the role of formal and informal support received by the parents as a moderator of the association between exposure to war events and PTS and problems in functioning.MethodsParticipants were 354 Israeli foster parents who were exposed to the war. Participants completed structured instruments of exposure to war events, PTS, functioning, and social support.ResultsExposure to war events was associated with PTS and related functioning problems. Education and religiosity were correlated with PTS and problems in functioning. Contrary to our hypothesis, more formal social support was associated with more PTS. Social support did not moderate the association between exposure to war events and PTS.DiscussionThe unexpected positive correlation between support and PTS was interpreted as either reflecting the fact that foster care agencies targeted foster parents who were most in need, or as a reflection of the inadequacy of the support they received. The findings indicate that foster parents need support during times of major stressful events such as natural disasters and wars, so that they will be able to help the children in their care. Specialized professional training for foster care workers needs to be implemented. Future longitudinal and mix-methods studies are suggested to help address the limitations of the present study.     

The Act of Reading as a Rite of Passage: Iurii Andrukhovych’s Rekreatsii

The paper uses the massive records of the Russian imperial consulates in Canada (known as the Li-Ra-Ma Collection) as well as other Russian and Canadian sources to demonstrate the role played by the tsarist diplomats in early twentieth-century immigration from the Russian Empire to Canada. It argues that while the functions of administrative and political surveillance were always a priority for the consuls, they also served as intermediaries between the immigrants and Canadian authorities and a medium of maintaining their links with the homeland. The majority of the consuls’ clientele were temporary labour migrants of Slavic origin, who resorted to the authority of the old state in resolving their problems in the host country, usually after alternative methods such as appeal to Canadian law or private agents did not bring results. Viewing all immigrants from Russia as subject to the tsar and Russian law, the consuls assumed the dual role of guardians of the immigrants’ interests and monitors of their political orientations.     

Prevalence of Traumatic Events and PTSD Symptomatology Among a Selected Sample of Undergraduate Students

Abstract

University faculty and mental health counselors often work with students in distress which may be related to their experiences with traumatic accidents, interpersonal violence, or natural disaster. Traumatic events can have long-lasting effects, which include somatic complaints, substance abuse, “flashbacks,” and a reduction in memory and recall. The purpose of this study is to identify the number, types and severity of traumatic events that occur among a student sample from three academic departments (Sociology and Criminal Justice, Social Work, and Human Development) at a rural southern university. The sample of 234 undergraduate students confirmed previous research regarding the high number of self-reported traumas among college students. The study found that college-aged women are much more likely than men to report trauma and to seek counseling and treatment for its effects. Significant differences were noted in distributional patterns for men and women when reporting exposure to stressful events. The study's findings serve as an important indicator of the need for prevention, early recognition, and treatment for trauma victims. Suggestions are also provided to assist administrators in implementing the appropriate workplace and academic accommodations for PTSD victims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504).     

The effects of familial acculturative stress and hopelessness on suicidal ideation by immigration status among college students

Objectives: Based on acculturative family distancing theory, we examined whether familial acculturative stress interacted with hopelessness to predict suicidal ideation differentially among emerging adult immigrant versus nonimmigrant college students. Participants: We recruited 152 generationally and racially/ethnically diverse college students (42 immigrants) from 2012 to 2013. Methods: Participants completed measures of hopelessness, depressive symptoms, ethnic identity, familial acculturative stress, and suicidal ideation. Results: Immigrant status interacted with hopelessness and familial acculturative stress. Hopelessness was associated with less suicidal ideation among immigrants than among nonimmigrants at a familial acculturative stress score below the 11th percentile, but greater suicidal ideation among immigrants than among nonimmigrants at a familial acculturative stress score above the 72nd percentile. Conclusions: Familial acculturative stress may exacerbate the effect of hopelessness on suicidal ideation among immigrant college students, and should be monitored during suicide risk assessment and treatment.     

Disgust,Delight, and In-Between

ABSTRACT

Muriel Dimen showed us how disgust and delight live around the corner from each other. Disgust is a central affect that powerfully determines human behavior, often unconsciously. Politicians have evoked the power of disgust to unite people irrationally against a purported common enemy. Disgust for bitter and sour taste is inborn. Disgust with excreta is acquired by acculturation. Many forms of disgust are overcome and transformed by sexual desire during puberty. Psychotherapists need to monitor their own disgust reactions and differentiate between their reactions of disgust and erotic fascination as well as those of their patients.     

“It is just SICKENING”: Emotions and discourse in an anti-immigrant discussion forum

ABSTRACT

Following 9/11, organizations advocating for stricter immigration policy grew across the United States. This study examines the Web site and online discussion forum of Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee (ALIPAC), a group identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as nativist extremist. While forum participants are geographically dispersed, social media provide them a space to interact with like-minded people. Results show that ALIPAC members provide shared accounts that construct positive moral identities. Forum participants promise positive emotions of pride and power for joining the group, despite the perception that outsiders perceive them as racists. Drawing from tenets of patriotism, participants construct virtual identities and reject the racist stigma by turning them on immigrants, civil rights organizations, and politicians. Participants claim their emotional responses are rational and morally superior to those of the perceived opposition. Failing to share their anger, sense of injustice, and disgust is framed as irrational.     

Retired and Making a Fresh Start: Older Russian Immigrants Discuss their Adjustment in Israel

Social research on immigrants has usually centred on working age groups or youth, while studies on retired immigrants were typically driven by the social work, geriatric, or nursing agendas, centring on the issues of health, stress, social, and medical services. Trying to explore migration in old age from a broader sociological perspective, this qualitative study addressed different aspects of the socio‐cultural adjustment of older Russian immigrants of the 1990s in Israel. Drawing on group discussions and in‐depth interviews conducted in two major urban centres, the study covers senior immigrants' attitudes toward the host Israeli society; material privations and coping tools; intergenerational families; patterns of social organization, communication, and cultural consumption; ties with places of origin in the former Soviet Union (FSU); and the perceived sum total of losses and gains from migration. The findings indicate that older immigrants have developed multiple ways for meaningful identification with Israel and generally perceived their resettlement experience as difficult but positive. As their social networks were limited to the Russian immigrant community, most elders did not see their poor knowledge of Hebrew as a major integration obstacle. The main reported difficulties were in the areas of housing, low income, and weakening ties with younger family members.     

Hidden trauma victims: Understanding and preventing traumatic stress in mental health professionals

Mental health professionals, including social workers, are often exposed to the traumatic experiences of clients in their work with victims of violence, crime, and disaster. Given their empathetic engagement with traumatized victims, they may experience severe emotional reactions such as terror, grief, and rage. Empirical evidence identifies these emotional reactions as “traumatic stress” including burnout, Traumatic Countertransference (TC), Vicarious Trauma (VT), and Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS)/Compassion Fatigue (CF). In this study, the history and definition of each traumatic stress are examined, and differences among them are explored. Preventive strategies for reducing traumatic stress in mental health professionals are discussed.