Search

This study examined the spousal relationship of 19 courtordered battering husbands as reflected in drawings of themselves and their wives. Two types of drawing characteristics were assessed: (a) graphic indicators of the spousal relationship and (b) graphic indicators of violent or aggressive behavior. Results revealed that the figures drawn by battering husbands tended to be smaller and placed lower on the page relative to the female figure but, nevertheless, resembled the female figures. Male figures also possessed more indicators of violent aggressiveness than did female figures. Findings suggest that battering husbands perceive themselves as being violated by their wives.

This ethnographic study obtains first-hand information on spousal abuse from Ethiopian immigrants in Israel. Data include 23 interviews with male and female immigrants of various ages and 10 professionals who worked with this community as well as observations and documents. The findings, verified by participants, show that during cultural transition, the immigrants' code of honor, traditional conflict-solving institutions, and family role distribution disintegrate. This situation, exacerbated by economic distress, proved conducive to womens abuse. Lack of cultural sensitivity displayed by social services actually encouraged women to behave abusively toward their husbands and destroy their families. Discussion focuses on communication failures in spousal-abuse discourse between immigrants from Ethiopia and absorbing society, originating in differences in values, behavior, social representations, and insensitive culture theories.

This article explores qualitative research issues that arise when researchers engage in study within their own ambiguous, unstable, conflictual, and rapidly changing society. We explore the topics of the relationship between the researcher and the context, the difficulty in choosing relevant research questions under such conditions, and the relevance of generalizing or transferring findings from such contexts to other sites and populations. We present two research cases from the Israeli context: one that demonstrates an external conflict (between Israelis and Palestinians) and one that demonstrates an internal conflict (between Israelis and Israelis), analyzing them according to these three main issues. Our conclusions focus on the methodological implications that researching one's ambiguous and conflictual "backyard" have for qualitative researchers. (Contains 2 footnotes.)

The authors propose an advanced relationships between categories (RBC) model as an expansion of Tutty, Rothery, and Grinnell's (1996) qualitative tool for classifying RBC patterns as contained, temporal, and causal relationships. It is assumed that identification of the relationships obtained among categories of qualitative data paves the way for construction of a theory, even though few tools have been developed for this purpose to date. The advanced RBC model points to three additional relationship patterns: bilateral, trilateral, and quadrilateral relationships. These relationships reveal how the text itself links among its various components. The model serves as an innovative tool for systematic derivation of explanations based on the qualitative raw data, contributing to grounded theory and other interpretive studies. Keywords: qualitative analysis; relationships between categories; grounded theory; axial coding; selective coding DOI: 10.1002/jclp.20693

Growing instability in the labor market has led to an increase in recurrent job loss, which primarily affects women (Tamir, 2007). Numerous studies have shown that job loss is a stressful, traumatic experience that has consequences for the individuals who are laid off. However, few studies have examined how recurrent job loss affects individuals. The present study of 134 Israeli women aged 30-45 years aimed to examine how recurrent job loss affected individual women's perceptions of the event and the extent to which it generated emotional stress and psychiatric symptoms. Most of the women perceived job loss as a challenging event and their assessments of job loss had a stronger impact on the development of mental health consequences than did the number of times they had actually been laid off. The more the women perceived job loss as threatening, the more they reported emotional stress and psychiatric symptoms. Conversely, the more they perceived job loss as challenging, the lower their levels of emotional stress. Never-married women were laid-off more, and they reported more mental health symptoms following recurrent job loss than did married women. The findings suggest that perception of job loss as a threatening event might cause mental health problems as results of lay-off. KEYWORDS job loss, unemployment, trauma, women's employment

Findings on support group research are presented, focusing on the termination of patient participation in the group and the anxiety produced. Conclusions presented include the benefits of identifying behavior patterns, such as ambivalence and resistance, to evaluate the group's effectiveness.

Intergroup bridging is aimed at reducing animosity and tension between groups while increasing their understanding and their ability to survive side by side with mutual respect. The DYNAMIC CIRCLES EXERCISE (DCE) is an elaboration on the FISHBOWL technique, based on theoretical principles from the existentialist theory, the gestalt theory, and the learning theory. Four examples of DCE applications are presented: a case involving drug addicts and third-year social work students, a case adding new volunteers to a group of veteran volunteers, confronting mothers and fathers of handicapped children in couple group intervention, and settling a conflict within an interdisciplinary team of workers. The strengths and dangers of the DCE, as well as the nature of the exercise, are discussed. KEYWORDS: bridging; emphasizing differences; exercise; existential theory; group; 'here and now'; intergroup relationship; intergroup conflict; modeling; personal changes; simulation.

KEYWORDS: bridging; CIRCLES; differences; exercise; FISHBOWL; 'here and now'; inter, group conflict; modeling; personal change. Description of the DYNAMIC CIRCLES EXERCISE (DCE) The DCE is based on the three basic [...]

Support groups are groups of people created by social work for easing emotional problems among people caught in situations of crisis and transition. In Israel, support groups play a critical role in a society that is undergoing a phase of transition from a state of survival and war to security and peace. Families with sons and daughters on active service in the Israeli Defense Froces (IDF) depend much on support groups to alleviate feelings of lethargy and anxiety.

Social workers operating under emergency conditions may feel overwhelmed and incapacitated by their own stress reactions. During the Gulf War, social work faculty in Israel acted as consultants to help hospital social workers manage stress and regain professional efficacy. The Stress Management Consultation (SMC) was a short-term group intervention designed to enable social workers to work through their stress reactions and to model a method the workers could use with their own target populations. Qualitative feedback from both participants and administrators indicated that the SMC model was effective and could be applicable to a large range of settings and treatment populations., A significant portion of the major methods of crisis intervention were developed in the natural laboratory generated by Israel's national catastrophic events, starting with the Holocaust (Ayalon & Lahad, 1990; [...]

The article discusses support groups with regard to a case study of groups for parents of soldiers in Israel. Much has been written about the efficacy of support groups in solving problems and alleviating stress in individuals caught in situations of crisis or transition. It is pointed out that the power of these groups springs in part from the fact that they are able to provide a microcosm. This microcosm allows the individual members of such a group to process, under protected conditions, problems and situations which have given them trouble under their regular social circumstances. Nevertheless and notwithstanding the contribution made by this form of group therapy to the individual, it is also of great use to society in general. It can be used as a tool for socialization, for teaching and learning values and social skills, for reinforcing weaker communities and as a lever for social change. A review of the literature shows that papers usually focus on the contribution made by support groups to the individuals taking part in them, and little or no reference is made to theft contribution to society. It is important to emphasize both tasks of the support groups. This is true especially with regard to the profession of social work, whose central objective is to bridge the gap between the individual and society.

Presents information on a study which compared the group processes' development assessments among group members, direct observers and indirect observers. Concept of group processes; Methodology used to conduct the study; Results obtained in the study.