Ethos and identity: Expressions and changes in the Israeli Jewish society

Abstract

A fundamental condition for the evolvement of any society is the development of social identity, which confers a sense of belonging and identification. The meaning of social identity is influenced by the ethos that members of a society share. The ethos consists of shared, central societal beliefs that give the society a dominant orientation and characterize it. The societal beliefs that underlie the ethos can change as a result of new, prolonged experiences of the society. Israeli society presents an example of such a process.

During the years of intractable conflict, Israeli society developed societal beliefs of a conflictive ethos that were conducive to successful coping with the conflictive situation. The ethos included beliefs about the justness of the Jews' goals, about security, and about delegitimising the Arabs, together with motifs of positive self-image, patriotism, unity, and peace. These beliefs characterised Israeli Jewish society and contributed meaning to the Israeli social identity. As the peace process developed, the societal beliefs of the conflictive ethos began to change, at least among part of the society members. But as the violent conflict re-erupted in fall 2000, the ethos of conflict is strengthening its standing in the society. The present paper describes the changes in the conflictive ethos with regard to each of the societal beliefs and discusses the implications of these changes for the meaning of the Israeli Jewish identity. Finally, general conclusions regarding the presented conception of social identity are outlined.     

Internalized Classism:

Internalized classism refers to the process by which a personÆs experience as a member of the poor or working classes becomes internalized and influences her self-concept and self-esteem as well as her relationships with others. Internalized classism, often not recognized by clients or by therapists, may be manifested in a variety of ways in psychotherapy. Active clinical attention to internalized classism can carry significant benefits for people with poor or working-class backgrounds.     

Integrating Multiple Intersecting Identities: A Multicultural Conceptualization of the Power and Control Wheel

For the past three decades intimate partner abuse has received growing attention as a major social problem with its roots in socially structured systemic inequalities. However, much of the intimate partner abuse literature lacks adequate attention to issues of diversity, and more specifically fails to address how structural underpinnings beyond gender shape women's experiences of intimate partner abuse. The primary purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of considering how various systems of oppression (e.g., heterosexism, agism, ableism, racism, spirituality/religion, classism, and sexism) shape the experiences of victims of intimate partner abuse. In particular, we address how these personal, cultural, and structural identities may individually or in combination influence women's experiences of intimate partner abuse. The literature on diverse identities and intimate partner abuse is reviewed, and a revised version of the commonly used Power and Control Wheel is presented, called the Multicultural Power and Control Wheel. Directions for future research and implications for practice are proposed with the hopes of initiating a dialogue among researchers and clinicians as to the most effective ways to serve victims of IPA.     

Transforming Women's Body Image

No abstract available for this article.     

Informed Consent: An Ethical Issue in Conducting Research with Male Partner Violent Offenders

Ethical codes help guide the methods of research that involves samples gathered from “at-risk” populations. The current article reviews general as well as specific ethical principles related to gathering informed consent from partner violent offenders mandated to outpatient treatment, a group that may be at increased risk of unintentional coercion in behavioral sciences research due to court mandates that require outpatient treatment without the ethical protections imbued upon prison populations. Recommendations are advanced to improve the process of informed consent within this special population and data supporting the utility of the recommendations in a sample 70 partner violent offenders are provided. Data demonstrate that participants were capable of comprehending all essential elements of consent.     

Murderers and martyrs: Violence,discourse, and the (re)construction of meaning

In recent years, the question of violence has drawn attention from religious studies scholars and public commentators alike. From schoolchildren with guns to terrorists with bombs, the perpetrators of violent acts have forced communities, nations, and even scholars to grapple with the nature and meaning of violence. But although significant attention has been paid to religious groups that foster violence and to those that resist it, the ways in which violence challenges structures of meaning have been addressed primarily by theologians seeking to grapple with overwhelming episodes of violence. This article suggests that certain violent acts can be classed as ‘symbolically disruptive violence'—acts that threaten or shatter a group's symbolic world. Although this analytical concept has broad applicability, the article explores its relevance for one in‐depth case study: reactions to the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming.     

Abuse Committed by Women Against Male Intimates

SUMMARY

A review of the rapidly expanding empirical research exploring the incidence, prevalence and characteristics of domestic violence committed by women against male intimates supports several conclusions: (1) the majority of abuse- in intimate relationships involves mutual aggression; (2) women are as likely to aggress against partners as are men, and men arc as likely as women to be the victims of intimate assaults; (3) women are more likely to be physically injured; and, (4) severe systematic abuse in intimate relationships is rare.     

Is John Henryism a resilience factor in women experiencing intimate partner violence?

Background: Research suggests that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression are two common mental health problems in intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors. Research has found that while Black women consistently report higher rates of victimization than White women, they also report less severe PTSD and depressive symptoms, suggesting that Black IPV survivors might be more resilient to PTSD and depression than are White survivors. Design: We implemented a correlational study with 81 Black and 100 White female survivors of IPV to determine if John Henryism (JH; i.e., a predisposed active coping mechanism) contributes to the resilience observed in Black IPV survivors. Methods: Participants completed the John Henryism Active Coping Scale, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, Davidson Trauma Scale, and the Abusive Behavior Inventory. Results: Results demonstrated that White woman endorsed more severe depressive symptoms as compared to Black women. Severity of PTSD symptoms and JH was not significantly different between races. JH did not moderate the relationship between race and depression; however, for PTSD, JH was found to be protective of PTSD in White women, while demonstrating little impact on Black women. Conclusions: The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the minority stress model.     

Guest referees for 17(4)

Background and objectives: Although intimate partner violence (IPV) has demonstrated strong associations with anxiety and posttraumatic stress, these constructs have rarely been examined simultaneously in IPV research. Gaps in knowledge remain as to their differential associations to substance use problems among IPV-victimized women. Design: A sample of 143 community women self-reported on their current IPV victimization, mental health and substance use problems. Method: Hierarchical entry multiple regressions were used to test for the direct and indirect effects of psychological, physical, and sexual IPV to alcohol and drug problems through anxiety and posttraumatic stress. Results: Higher anxiety symptom severity and higher physical IPV severity were associated with greater alcohol and drug problems. Higher posttraumatic stress symptom severity was associated with greater alcohol and drug problems. Mediation analyses indicated (i) significant indirect pathways of IPV types to alcohol problems through posttraumatic stress symptom severity controlling for anxiety symptom severity and (ii) significant indirect pathways of IPV types to drug problems through anxiety symptom severity controlling for posttraumatic stress symptom severity. Conclusions: In examining the indirect pathways of psychological, physical, and sexual IPV to substance use problems this study highlights that anxiety and posttraumatic stress symptom severity have unique effects on alcohol and drug problems among IPV-victimized women.     

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Adulthood Parenting: The Mediating Role of Intimate Partner Violence

This study examined the role of intimate partner victimization in mediating the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and adulthood parenting in a community sample of mothers reliant on public assistance (N = 483). Baron and Kenny's (1986 Baron, R. M. and Kenny, D. A. 1986. The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51: 1173–1182. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) method for establishing mediation was used to address this question. A recent history of intimate partner violence mediated the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and psychological aggression; however, a lifetime history of intimate partner violence did not. Depressive symptomatology was found to mediate the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and parental warmth. The impact of childhood sexual abuse on corporal punishment was indirect through its association with childhood physical abuse and witnessing domestic violence. Implications for research, theory development, and practice are provided.