Long-Term successful Marriages in Israel

Long-Term Marriages (LTM) in Israel is part of a larger on-going international research. Our study focuses on two related questions: Are all long term marriages successful and satisfying? Similar studies have been undertaken in the United States, Sweden, Germany, and Chile. This paper focuses on the Israeli results with a few cross-cultural comparisons. Israel adds several unique features to the research: the people to whom LTM applies have emigrated to Israel from 112 different countries, with different cultures and nationalities; how Holocaust survivors are distributed in comparison to the rest of the population; Israel has the lowest divorce rate in the west; family life being a highly valued norm among Jewish people, it will be interesting to determine what keeps couples together and whether the motives and ingredients for satisfying marriages are similar or different from other countries.     

Narratives of escape: A hermeneutic study of resiliency

This study examines the structure of narratives told by well-functioning adults who were at-risk as children. Participants told stories of their childhood based on pictures they selected from the TAT test (Thematic Apperception Test). Analysis of their narratives resulted in a set of hermeneutic rules which may be useful in interpreting the structure of narratives and in understanding the relationship between internalized images, reality construction, and resiliency. Two types of images were identified: negative images of stress and darkness and more positive images of escape and hope. Implications for helping clients develop images of strength and competence are discussed.The authors wish to thank an anonymous reviewer for his or her very helpful suggestions.     

A validity study of existential/dialectical marital questionnaire [EDMQ]: A psychometric questionnaire for assessing marital interaction

This paper reports the successful development of a psychometric questionnaire for analyzing marital functioning and interaction based on an existential/dialectical model originally presented by Charny as the basis for a clinical model for rating couples,Existential/Dialectical Marital Profile [EDMP]. The clinical model and psychometric questionnaire address five main areas of functioning in marriage: family management, companionship, relationship and communication, attraction and sexuality, and parenting; as well as five main dimensions of marital relationship: competence, commitment, respect, power, and closeness.Presented at the Conference of the International Family Therapy Association, Amsterdam, May, 1993. This study was completed as a master's thesis by Shlomit Asineli in collaboration with and under the supervision of Professor Israel Charny at the Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University.     

The personal well-being of single-parent family heads rearing their children by themselves: A comparative study

This article summarizes a study comparing the sense of well-being of divorced maternal and paternal single parents rearing their children by themselves with that of two-parent family heads. There were differences between the family's sense of well-being only in terms of the two extremes of their economic situation. In a good economic situation, single-parent families have a higher sense of well-being than the two-parent families; in a poor economic situation, the reverse is true. When the economic situation is average, their sense of well-being is similar. The concept of an androgynous sex role and a croblem-focused coping style (in that order) were important. Recommendations for other studies and directions for future thought about therapy procedures are included.This article is based on a doctoral dissertation submitted under the supervision of Professor M. Loewenberg at Bar-Ilan University, Israel, 1992.     

Repeatedly Thinking about a Non-event: Source Misattributions among Preschoolers

In this paper we review the factors alleged to be responsible for the creation of inaccurate reports among preschool-aged children, focusing on so-called "source misattribution errors." We present the first round of results from an ongoing program of research that suggests that source misattributions could be a powerful mechanism underlying children′s false beliefs about having experienced fictitious events. Preliminary findings from this program of research indicate that all children of all ages are equally susceptible to making source misattributions. Data from a follow-up wave of data indicate that very young children may be disproportionately vulnerable to these kinds of errors when the procedure is changed slightly to create mental images more easily. This vulnerability leads younger preschoolers, on occasion, to claim that they actually experienced events that they only thought about. These preliminary findings are discussed in the context of the ongoing debate over the veracity and durability of delayed reports of early memories, repressed memories, dissociative states, and the validity risks posed by therapeutic techniques that entail repeated visually guided imagery inductions.