Divorce is a part of my life… Resilience, Survival, and Vulnerability: Young Adults' Perception of the Implications of Parental Divorce

A qualitative study among 22 young adults (20–25 years old) whose parents divorced during their childhood was conducted in Israel, using semi-structured, in-depth, open-ended interviews. Qualitative data analysis led to identification of three profiles, aiming at a grounded theoretical conceptualization. Three core themes were identified: the centrality of the family; short- and long-term implications of parental divorce and its relations to supportive coping resources; and perspective at young adulthood. Further analysis led to typifying participants by three profiles, which represent the grounded theoretical conceptualizations: resilience, survival, and vulnerability. The most prominent difference among the profiles was the relationships between participants and their parents, and their perception of ongoing parental responsibility. A thorough discussion of the results and their implications for future research, theory development, and practice are presented.     

Money Matters: Young Adults’ Perception of the Economic Consequences of their Parents’ Divorce

A qualitative study examined the perceptions of 22 Israeli young adults (ages 20–25) of childhood parental divorce. Respondents discussed their experiences, including economic consequences of the divorce. Results related to the practical aspect of economic decline, to economic issues as embodiment of parental conflicts, and to children’s emotional and practical roles connected to economic changes. Children’s understanding and coping with financial issues are related to three profiles of overall adjustment identified in this study—resilience, survival, and vulnerability. Resilient young adults interpreted as empowering their understanding and coping; the survivors recognized their efforts as meaningful but burdensome; and vulnerable participants felt that economic changes caused a heavy financial and emotional price. Limitations and implications are discussed.

Pediatric Emergency Department Visits for Mental Health Crisis: Prevalence of Cyber-Bullying in Suicidal Youth

The objective of this work is to (1) study the prevalence of cyber-bullying amongst adolescents referred by Pediatric Emergency Department (PED) for urgent psychiatric assessment and (2) to examine the association between cyber-bullying and suicidal behavior to assist emergency department professionals in screening for risk and triage. This is a retrospective study of patients referred by PED to an urgent psychiatric clinic. Data was extracted for those with bullying victimization. Clinical variables included demographics, reason for referral, type of bullying, substance use, abuse, past psychiatric history, diagnosis and outcome. The cyber-bullying group was compared to those with traditional bullying and a group with no-bullying. Data analysis was conducted using Chi squares, multinomial and bimodal logistic regression. The urgent psychiatric clinic assessed 805 patients in 24 months, the prevalence of bullying was 26.9 % (n = 217). The prevalence of Cyber-bullying was 13.5 % (n = 109) and traditional bullying was 13.4 % (n = 108). Cyber-bullying victims have more suicidal ideation (χ² = 7.82, p = .005; 85.3  vs. 69.4 %), more sexual abuse (χ² = 5.75, p = .02; 29.4  vs. 15.7 %), more emotional abuse (χ² = 10.8, p = .01; 30.3  vs. 12.0 %) and physical abuse (χ² = 6.13, p = .01; 27.5  vs. 13.9 %) and a higher inpatient admission rate. Suicidal ideation is the presenting problem in more than two-thirds of patients, especially females, with history of cyber-bullying who present to the PED. Screening questions about cyber-bullying could assist emergency room professionals in establishing risk and making triage decisions.     

Issues in intervention with battered women in collectivist societies

Over the past three decades, several models for individual and group intervention with battered women have been developed. The common assumption underlying all of these models is that violence and abuse are never appropriate in an intimate relationship, and that battered women have a basic right to safety, which is not negotiable. Because almost all of those models were developed in the individualistic contexts of Western societies, some questions and concerns have been raised as to their suitability for intervention with battered women in collectivist contexts. In this article, we explore the characteristics of collectivist societies based on the conceptual framework of Triandis, Brislin, and Hui, (1988) which focuses on five dimensions: the self, attitudes, values, activities, and behaviors. Furthermore, we explore each of those dimensions and their relevance to various aspects of wife abuse in collectivist societies, such as the way that battered women cope with violence against them, and possibilities for professional intervention.     

Division of Labor and Decision-Making in Arab Families in Israel: Processes of Change and Preservation

The study examines the changes that Arab families in Israel have undergone over three generations. It focuses on change and preservation in the division of labor between spouses, in the attitudes toward it, and оn how decisions are made in the family. It also examines the factors contributing to the preservation of traditional characteristics and those contributing to change. The study included 378 Moslem and Christian Arab women from three generations (grandmothers, mothers, and daughters). The findings indicate significant changes: the younger the generation is, the less traditional are the attitudes it holds and the more egalitarian the life of the couple is. The factors found to promote change were the woman’s education, work outside the home, intensive contacts with the Jewish population, and living near Jewish communities. The factor that was found to contribute most to the preservation of traditional patterns is consensual solidarity with the mother.     

Perception of job satisfaction, service effectiveness and burnout among Arab social workers in Israel

Over the past three decades, the topics of job satisfaction and burnout have become a major focus of interest in research and professional training in the field of social work. However, there is a serious lack of studies focusing on these issues in the context of Arab social workers in Israel. This paper presents the results obtained from a subsample of Arab participants in a national study of Israeli social workers. It focuses on the correlations between several career outcomes and organizational conditions such as role characteristics, work conditions, job mastery, and power. Challenge at work and job mastery were found to be the most significant and consistent predictors of the outcome results. The implications of the results are also discussed.     

The potential role of social and familial networks in shaping the well-being of children in shelters for women survivors of intimate partner violence

Children living in households where severe intimate partner violence (IPV) exists sometimes move with their mothers to shelters for battered women. Although there is an increased interest in research exploring children's exposure to IPV, little is known about children's subjective experiences during their stay in shelters. The present study examines children's views of their disconnection from their social and familial networks during their stay in a shelter. Using qualitative methods, 32 children, ages 7–12 years, who resided in a shelter were interviewed. Thematic analysis was implemented to develop codes and themes. The following five themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) absence of grandparents, (b) worry about older siblings, (c) disconnection from the neighbourhood, (d) missing their house and (e) disconnection from previous school and classmates. Findings suggest that children's disconnection from previous formal and informal networks significantly affected their well-being. The findings are discussed and interpreted in light of selected key concepts of Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model. The limitations of this study are discussed, along with implications for future research, as well as highlights for future intervention.