Minority Adolescents' Future Orientation: The Case of Arabs Living in Israel

This study examines Arab adolescents' future orientation toward their education, family plans, economic status, and social adjustment. Arab adolescents' future orientation is of interest since, presently, Israel is experiencing major internal and external political changes. The Arabs in Israel are a non-assimilating minority. They differ from the Jewish majority in language, religion, and nationality. Previous research has shown that Arab adolescents express hope for peace and fear of war between the two peoples living in Israel. With the new peace initiatives in Israel, the future is being painted in different colors, and it is interesting to explore how Arab adolescents perceive their future, both as adolescents and as Arabs. The sample consists of 662 twelfth-grade students from seven high schools throughout Israel. The questionnaire used is a version of the Offer Self-image Questionnaire (Offer, Ostrov, & Howard, 1981), but only the findings on future orientation are analyzed in the present study. These findings show significant differences in Arab adolescents' future orientation across gender, family size, level of religiosity, and father's education. The significance of the findings is discussed in relation to the literature pertaining to adolescents' future orientation, particularly among minority groups, as well as the social, cultural, and educational transformation which the Arab population living in Israel is currently undergoing.     

Relationship of Dyadic Closeness With Work‐Related Stress: A Daily Diary Study

We examined the association between work‐related stress of both spouses and daily fluctuations in their affective states and dyadic closeness. Daily diary data from 169 Israeli dual‐earner couples were analyzed using multilevel modeling. The findings indicate that work stress has no direct effect on dyadic closeness but rather is mediated by the spouses’ negative mood. Evidence was found for spillover of stress from work to mood at home, as well as negative crossover among couples with higher marital quality, resulting in greater distance on stressful days. Such increased distance may reflect either a deleterious effect of work stress on marital relationships or a protective mechanism used by couples in times of stress.     

Between the Social and the Personal: Israeli Male Gay Parents,Surrogacy and Socio-Political Concepts of Parenthood and Gender

This work focuses on the effects of dominant concepts of parenthood and gender on gay men who became parents through surrogacy. Based on the analysis of 39 in-depth, semistructured interviews with gay fathers, we show that gay fathers' parenting experiences are shaped by the heteronormative discourse on parenthood, yet they resist its gendered attributes. Gay parenthood is revealed as confronting the social concepts on parenthood, in particular on motherhood, and their socio-political meanings. The tension between the social concepts and the participants' perceptionsy leads them to confront their social environment and to construct alternative discourse to the social discourse of parenthood and gender, suggesting that gay parenthood subverts under existing concepts of parenthood, gender and their meanings within the state.     

From Wallflowers to Lonely Trees: Divorced Ultra-Orthodox Women in Israel

The issue of divorced women in the Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish community represents an important case in the study of divorced women in religious collective cultures. The unique nature of the ultra-Orthodox Israeli community, dealing with questions of segregation and internalization, conservatism and modernity, as well as inequality of women, might contribute to our understanding of divorcees in such cultures. This article sheds light on the internal process that divorced women undergo. Sixty-one phenomenological in-depth interviews were conducted with 4 groups (divorced women, divorced men, daughters of divorced parents, and professionals who deal with divorce with the ultra-Orthodox community). Results show a distinctive process of individuation that these women undertake, reflecting a fundamental tension between their inner individual perceptions and collective cultural norms. Conclusions suggest that divorced women in collective cultures are able to perform antinormative acts and still find a complex, dualistic way to be integral members of their communities.     

Knowledge and attitudes towards AIDS: a comparison between Arab and Jewish professionals living in Israel

This paper investigates similarities and differences between Arab and Jewish professionals living in Israel regarding their knowledge and attitudes about AIDS. Although AIDS in Israel is not considered to be a pressing crisis, the aim of the research is to document and analyse what professionals in the helping professions – Arabs and Jews alike – know and how they feel about AIDS. The study also explores thoughts and feelings concerning AIDS–related education and training. This is the first scholarly attempt to compare Israeli and Arab professionals' attitudes and knowledge about such a stigmatised topic as the AIDS epidemic. The study sample consists of 350 professionals, including 218 Jews and 132 Arabs, working in various social and health–care agencies providing services to the Arab population. Professionals include social workers, nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists, and special education teachers and counsellors. Results indicate that Jewish professionals scored significantly higher on both knowledge and attitude scales than did their Arab counterparts. Two regression models predicting both knowledge and attitudes are presented, and their implications are discussed using several frameworks: the status of the disease, including perception of the threat; perception of adequacy of training; educational environment; and the socialisation process of Arab professionals in Israel     

Traditional Support Systems: Are They Sufficient in a Culturally Diverse Academic Environment?

Correspondence to Dr Adital Ben-Ari School of Social Work, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Studies, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel 31905. Summary The present study explores the relationship between perceivedsocial support and well-being among students of the three mainpopulations living in Israel: Israeli-born Jews, Israeli-bornArabs and Russian immigrants. More specifically, it comparesthe well-being of these three groups and examines to what extentperceived social support actually contributes to their well-being.The sample comprised 278 undergradute students in the schoolsof social work and nursing at one of the major universitiesin Israel. Three instruments were used. Well-being was measuredby both the Brief Symptoms Inventory Scale (Derogatis, 1979)and the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck and Steer, 1987). Perceivedsocial support was assessed by the Multidimensional Scale ofPerceived Social Support (Zimet et al., 1988). The findingsshow that the Arab students are significantly more distressedthan their Jewish and Russian counterparts on all measures ofwell-being. At the same time, their perceived social supportis significantly higher than that of the Jewish students (bothIsraeli-born Jews and Russian immigrants). Stepwise linear regressionanalysis revealed that while perceived social support was amajor contributor to the explanation of well-being among theIsraeli students, it did not surface as a significant explanatorypredictor of well-being among either Arabs or Russian immigrants.The significance of the findings is discussed within the theoreticalframeworks of stress and social support theories as well asmodernization and immigration processes.     

“How We Stay Together Without Going Crazy:” Reconstruction of Reality Among Women of Mixed-Orientation Relationships

Until recently, the literature that addressed the phenomenon of mixed-orientation relationships, in which the female partner is straight and the male partner is non-straight, has focused mainly on the men’s perspective. Most of the studies have employed a pessimistic tone, underscoring the obstacles faced by each of the partners. This study was designed to understand how women of mixed-orientation relationships construct their reality within such a relationship, focusing on elements that assist them in maintaining those relationships. Based on the phenomenological paradigm, in-depth interviews with eight women in mixed-orientation relationships were conducted. The findings indicate that in order to adapt to their newly constructed reality, women reframe various individual, marital, and social aspects in their lives. Those reframing processes constituted a point of departure to developing a conceptual model, which outlines the journey to reality reconstruction among women in mixed-orientation relationships.     

The Myth of Openness and Secrecy in Intimate Relationships: The Case of Spouses of Mixed-Orientation Marriage

The phenomenon of mixed-orientation marriages, in which one of the partners is straight and the other is non-straight, is invisible, yet not insignificant. Focusing on gay and bisexual men who are married to straight women, this article was designed to explore one of the essential themes in their relationship: the dynamics between secrecy and openness regarding the men’s sexual orientation and gay practices. Based on the phenomenological paradigm, 38 men and eight women of mixed-orientation marriages in Israel were interviewed and shared their subjective life reality. Six patterns of secrecy and openness were identified, including complete secrecy, conspiracy of silence, initiated concealment (of the husband and wife), disloyalty/violation of the agreement, selective sharing, and complete openness. The findings challenge the idea that secrecy is detrimental and openness is beneficial in the context of mixed-orientation marriages. Findings are discussed within the framework of the dialectical approach.