Social Work Studies at a Haredi Women's College: Difficulties and Dilemmas

This paper examines the challenges faced by female Ultra-Orthodox students in a social work program designed for the Ultra-Orthodox community in Israel. Findings were obtained from four focus groups with a total of 32 students. The participants reported being exposed to contents that were inconsistent with the perspectives of their community, fieldwork expectations and requirements that violated strict rules of gender separation, and inconvenient scheduling of exams and field trips that did not take their religious observances into consideration. Despite the considerable distress that these matters caused, most of the students made determined efforts to cope, to learn the course material, to carry out their fieldwork assignments, and to reconcile the discrepancies between some of the contents they learned and behaviors that were expected of them and their deeply held values and ways. Implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations made.     

Narratives of aging in intimate partner violence: The double lens of violence and old age

PurposeWith the increase in life expectancy, couples living in intimate partner violence are aging together. The aim of this article is to explore the constructions of aging in intimate partner violence as narratives of couplehood or narratives of old age.Design and methodsThirty individual in-depth interviews with 15 older Israeli couples were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a narrative approach.ResultsThree main domains emerged from the data: health issue narratives, loneliness narratives and relationships with adult offspring narratives. Each of the narratives that emerged from the data analysis consists of a narrative of old age constructing IPV and a narrative of IPV constructing old age.ImplicationsConflictual couplehood dynamics, such as intimate partner violence in old age, is not one-dimensional, but is diverse and complex and this should be taken into consideration.     

Mothers and deployment: Understanding the experiences and support needs of deploying mothers of children birth to five

ABSTRACT

Military deployments can demand long separations of service members and their families. The strain of separation is particularly acute for mothers of very young children. This study aimed to better understand the deployment and reintegration experiences of service members who are mothers of young children. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with 12 service member mothers who deployed to Iraq and/or Afghanistan when one or more of their children was younger than age 6. Discussions explored experiences before, during, and after deployment; needs and challenges at each stage; available support resources and gaps in support. Thematic data analysis was conducted, drawing on principles of grounded theory. Disruption and continuity were central themes as participants illuminated the challenges they faced and their profound dedication to sustaining strong family relationships across the deployment cycle. Relinquishing, reassuming, and balancing multiple roles and responsibilities are additional themes that were frequently evoked. Participants noted a lack of formal resources responsive to their needs and circumstances and highlighted a need for services tailored to mothers who are deploying. Military mothers, particularly mothers of young children, face distinct challenges surrounding deployment. Better understanding their experiences and support needs can inform tailored services to meet their needs.     

Immigrant Therapists’ Unresolved Identity Problems and Countertransference

The difficult task of identify formation is greatly complicated by immigration in childhood or adolescence. This paper shows how the unresolved identity problems stemming from their immigration to Israel in childhood or early adolescence of three young therapists, two from Ethiopia and one from Russia, affected their countertransference in their treatment of their adolescent clients from their own countries of origin. The three examples are based on art works produced by the therapists and their clients in the framework of workshops on the integration of art therapy techniques into verbally based diagnosis and treatment. The paper highlights the need to help immigrant therapists recognize their own identity conflicts and resulting countertransference, as well as the identity issues of their immigrant clients.     

Is Elder Abuse and Neglect a Social Phenomenon? Data from the First National Prevalence Survey in Israel

This article discusses findings from the First National Survey on Elder Abuse and Neglect in Israel, conducted during 2004–2005 under the sponsorship of The Association for Planning and Development of Services for the Aged in Israel (ESHEL) and the National Insurance Institute. The goals were to examine the prevalence and severity of various forms of abuse and neglect from the victims' perspective, to examine correlates and predictors, and to develop profiles of elders at risk. Data were collected through personal interviews from a national representative sample of community urban dwellers age 65 and older, using cluster sampling techniques and sampling proportionately both Arab and Jewish elders. The sample was composed of 392 males and 650 females, 89% were Jews and 11% were non-Jews. The instrument included sociodemographic data, health and activities of daily living (ADL), a measure of safety, and a battery to examine seven types of abuse (physical, emotional, verbal, limitation of freedom, financial exploitation, sexual, and neglect). Findings indicate that 18.4% of the respondents were exposed to at least one type of abuse during the 12 months preceding the interview, the highest form being verbal abuse followed by financial exploitation. The rates were quite similar between Jews and Arabs. Women were more exposed to physical violence and Arab women were the most vulnerable. Physical, emotional, verbal, limitation of freedom, and sexual abuse occurred mostly among partners. The rates of physical, sexual, and limitation of freedom abuse, however, were relatively low. Financial exploitation was mostly inflicted by adult children. Partners as perpetrators had more chronic health problems and physical and mental disabilities. Children as perpetrators were unemployed, had various mental health problems, and were substance abusers, often in a process of separation or divorce and tended to live with the victims. Neglect in answering primary needs was found among 20% of the sample, regarding the 3 months preceding the interview. This high rate might be related to elders tending to avoid seeking help or sharing their needs with their families. When victims sought help it was mostly from medical and health services. The findings thus corroborate that elder abuse and neglect is a social problem in Israeli society and has to be addressed in policy discourse and service developments.     

Visualising traditional performance: ‘co-directed observation’ as an ethnographic tool

‘Co-directed observation’ is a methodology in photography in which a cultural performer is interviewed while co-directing his/her performance for the camera. This method, discovered in research on ritual wailing of Yemenite-Jewish women in Israel in 2001–2005, tackles the fact of the decline of this cultural phenomenon, its stereotyped social images and, above all, the character of the women performers who identify with and are immensely knowledgeable about it. Co-directed observation (CDO) makes its main contribution by adding a dynamic dimension to the documentation in a way that applies the photo-voice orientation in visual anthropology. CDO proves to be an especially effective ethnographic tool for the collection of data in situations where performers find it difficult to explain their performative knowledge. This article describes the CDO method as discovered in and applied to the research topic – characteristics of the Yemenite-Jewish wailing culture – and reports the specific findings that this method elicited. It also discusses main characteristics and advantages of the method.     

Sources of parenting support in early fatherhood: Perspectives of United States Air Force members

We conducted semi-structured focus groups with men in the United States Air Force (N = 39) to examine fathers' access to parenting information during the transition to parenthood, and to determine methods for engaging fathers in intervention. Results of content analysis highlight fathers' motivation to develop and maintain positive relationships with their partners and children despite substantial challenges, including multiple deployments, family moves, and demanding work responsibilities. Fathers emphasize the importance of information in facilitating the transition to parenthood, especially in the key domains of effective co-parenting and communication, children's developmental milestones, and appropriate use of discipline. Results underscore that men tend to rely more on informal sources of parenting information (e.g., spouse/partner, family members, friends) than on formal sources of information (e.g., pediatricians, social workers).     

Women Pursuing Higher Education in Ultra-Orthodox Society

The study reported in this article concerns the beginnings of higher education for women in the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) enclave in Israel. Haredi Jews are a self-secluded fundamentalist group committed to particularly strict interpretation of Jewish religious law. In recent years, they have been compelled by poverty and other factors to allow academic education, hitherto considered out of bounds, especially for women. Focus groups with 32 Haredi women enrolled in the social work program at the Haredi College in Jerusalem reveal the obstacles the women encountered both from conservative forces in the community and from within themselves as well as the means that they used to cope with them.     

Elder self neglect: A geriatric syndrome or a life course story?

AimsTo explore the unique aspects of the elder self-neglect phenomenon and to achieve phenomenological understanding of self-neglect through the eyes of self-neglecting elders.MethodA qualitative study based on a sample of 16 self-neglecting elders. Data collection was performed through in-depth semi-structured interviews, followed by content analysis.FindingsFour major themes emerged from the older participants: “I was unlucky:” a life course of suffering; “That's the way it is:” self-neglect as a routine of life; “They tell me that I'm disabled:” old age as exposing situations of self-neglect; “My empire:” how do I perceive my old age.ConclusionsSelf-neglect is not necessarily an issue of old age, but is related to the person's life history. Self-neglect as a way of life accompanied the participants into old age, but it was not originated or created there. The overall message of the self-neglecting elders was to see them as human beings and not as old neglected people; not to label them as an “age syndrome” but to perceive them in a holistic and humanistic manner.