The article presents results from a larger survey, which examined the attitudes and perceptions of Palestinian physicians (N = 396) toward wife abuse. The instrument was a self-administered questionnaire, with open-ended questions in which participants expressed their definitions of wife abuse, their perceptions of the causes of wife abuse, and their perceptions of appropriate interventions with wife abuse. The relevance of the sociocultural contexts of Palestinian society in particular and Arab societies in general to the participants' responses is highlighted in the article. The limitations of the study as well as implications for theory development, future research, and professional training are discussed.

Research has documented a link between political violence and the functioning of individuals and communities. Yet, despite the hardships that political violence creates, evidence suggests remarkable fortitude and resilience within both individuals and communities. Individual characteristics that appear to build resilience against political violence include demographic factors such as gender and age, and internal resources, such as hope, optimism, determination, and religious convictions. Research has also documented the protective influence of individuals' connection to community and their involvement in work, school, or political action. Additionally, research on political violence and resilience has increasingly focused on communities themselves as a unit of analysis. Community resilience, like individual resilience, is a process supported by various traits, capacities, and emotional orientations toward hardship. This review addresses various findings related to both individual and community resilience within political violence and offers recommendations for research, practice, and policy.

This paper presents results from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of married women (N = 3,500) in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Interviews assessed the 12-month prevalence of participants' exposure to psychological, physical, and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) and risk factors including: demographic characteristics, several factors of marital relations, stressful life events, political violence, status inconsistency, family size, locality, region, help resources in the community, and locality-level acceptance of wife abuse. The prevalence estimates of IPV were: psychological aggression, 50 % minor and 12 % severe; physical assault, 17 % minor and 6 % severe; and sexual coercion, 4 % minor and 6 % severe. Results revealed that stressful life events, husbands' controlling behavior, and marital conflicts were related to all forms of IPV (all p-values < 0.05). Greater locality-level acceptance of wife abuse was statistically associated with greater odds of each type of violence except sexual violence. The limitations and implications of the study for future research are discussed.

The article presents the results of a study that explored the rates and characteristics of exposure to community violence (CV) and its relevance to several sociodemographic factors among a sample of 1,930 Palestinian youth (1,018 girls and 912 boys), aged 12 to 19 years residing in diverse residential areas in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire. The frequency of boys' exposure to CV during the previous 12 months was significantly higher than among girls. The frequency of witnessing CV during that period was higher than the frequency of personally experiencing CV, and exposure to mild CV incidents during that period was higher than the frequency of exposure to severe CV incidents during the same period, with no significant relationship to sociodemographic factors. Participants reported higher rates of witnessing most CV incidents outside of the neighborhood. Nonetheless, they reported higher rates of experiencing most incidents of CV inside the participants' neighborhood. The implications of the results for theory development and future research are discussed.

שיטת המחקר: מחקר איכותני, ראיונות עומק פתוחים וחצי מובנים מחקר זה נועד ללמוד על תפיסתן הסובייקטיבית של נשים מוכות את חוויית השהות במקלט לנשים. המחקר נעשה בשיטה האיכותנית, והוא כלל ניתוח תוכן של ראיונות עומק חצי מובנים עם 18 נשים מוכות ממקלטים שונים בארץ. ממצאי המחקר מלמדים על ארבע תמות מרכזיות אשר מעצבות את חוויית השהות של הנשים במקלט: תפיסת האישה את התנסותה במקלט כארגון, חוויית האישה את עצמה ואת ניסיון חייה, חוויית האישה את קשריה עם נשים אחרות במקלט וחוויית האישה את קשריה עם הצוות המקצועי במקלט. חותם את המאמר דיון במגבלות המחקר והשלכות על פיתוח תיאוריה, על המחקר ועל טיפול בבעיית האלימות נגד נשים. (מתוך המאמר)

ביקשנו לראיין את פרופ' צבי איזיקוביץ' מבית הספר לעבודה סוציאלית וראש המרכז לחקר החברה באוניברסיטת חיפה. אנו רואים בצבי דמות מפתח בחקר האלימות במשפחה בישראל. לאורך שלושים השנים שבהן הוא חוקר, מלמד וכותב בתחום, היה פרופ' איזיקוביץ חלוץ ומוביל דרך, תוך שהוא מעמיד דורות של תלמידים באקדמיה ובשדה, ותורם לעיצוב המדיניות הממשלתית בתחום האלימות במשפחה. הראיון התקיים במשרדו של פרופ' איזיקוביץ, במרכז לחקר החברה, ב-5 ביולי 2012. בשל אורכו של הריאיון אנו מביאים את תמצית דבריו של פרופ' איזיקוביץ על סוגיות מרכזיות בתחום. (מתוך המאמר)

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of Palestinian adults toward different dimensions of wife abuse. A cross-sectional survey, using a combination of self-administered questionnaires and interviews, was conducted among a systematic random sample of 624 adult Palestinian men and women from the West Bank and Gaza Strip (18 years or older). Study results indicated a strong tendency to justify wife beating in different situations, such as when the wife is perceived as having an affair with another man or as physically attacking her husband. Participants considered the following acts of husband's violence against wife as most severe: using a weapon (86%), having sex with the wife against her will (67%), and hitting her with his fist (57%). The majority of participants thought that wife beating should be considered a crime (82.3%). Traditional marital role expectations was the main significant predictor for all of the study criterion variables. Gender, place of residence, age, and marital status were significant predictors of some of the criterion variables.

Several models and modalities of intervention with battered women have been developed over the past three decades. The common assumptions underlying these interventions include: violence and abuse are never appropriate in intimate relationships; battered women have a non-negotiable right to safety; the women's strengths and competencies should be emphasized rather than their weaknesses and problems; and battered women should be helped to understand how the social and familial contexts in which they are considered inferior citizens and family members contribute to violence against them. These interventions, as well as the principles and philosophies that underlie them, have been developed and implemented in individualistic, Western, and post-industrial societies. Hence, their suitability for implementation among battered women from collectivist and less developed societies has been called into question. In this article, the conceptual framework proposed by Triandis, Brislin, and Hui (1988) is used as the basis for exploring the characteristics of collectivist societies and their relevance to interventions with battered women. In addition, some issues, controversies, and dilemmas that can arise in those interventions are discussed. The article concludes with an epilogue that provides suggestions for further research on these issues and controversies.

The research explored the rates and characteristics of exposure to community violence (CV) and its relevance to several sociodemographic factors among a sample of 833 Arab youth aged 14-18 years residing in diverse residential areas in Israel. Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire. The frequency of exposure to CV during the past 12 months correlated significantly with the children's gender. The frequency of witnessing CV during that period was higher than the frequency of personally experiencing CV, and exposure to mild CV incidents during that period was higher than the frequency of exposure to severe CV incidents during the same period, with no significant relationship to sociodemographic factors. Participants reported higher rates of exposure to most CV incidents outside of the neighborhood; however, exposure to beating was higher inside the participants' neighborhood. Moreover, the highest overall rate of exposure to CV was at school.

In this study, we examined what contextual factors influence adolescents' judgments and reasoning about spousal retribution. Adolescents were drawn from Central and Northern Israel and consisted of 2,324 Arab and Jewish students (Grades 7-11). The study was set up in a 2 (Arab/Jewish respondent) × 2 (spousal retribution scenarios) factorial design. Our findings suggest that societal and cultural norms may be more powerful contextual variables than group stereotypes in influencing Arab and Jewish adolescents' evaluations of spousal retribution. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

An integrative theoretical framework was tested as the basis for explaining beliefs about wife beating among Turkish nursing students. Based on a survey design, 406 nursing students (404 females) in all 4 years of undergraduate studies completed a self-administered questionnaire. Questionnaires were distributed and collected from the participants during their attendance of core courses. The results revealed that between 8% and 27% of the students expressed some level of willingness to justify wife beating, between 8% and 11% showed a tendency to believe that battered women benefit from beating, and between 10% and about 29% indicated that battered women are responsible for their beating. However, more than 88% of the students expressed willingness to help battered women, more than 63% of them indicated that violent husbands are responsible for their behavior, and about 28% or more showed a tendency to support punishing violent husbands. The results also indicated that significant amounts of the variance in the students' beliefs about wife beating can be attributed to their patriarchal ideology, to their exposure to family violence during childhood and adolescence, and to their traumatic symptoms. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the results for future research on the topic. Emphasis is placed on developing a more integrative theoretical approach for explaining beliefs about wife beating, and on the professional socialization of nursing students.

המאמר מציג ממצאי מחקר שבדק את הממדים ואת המאפיינים של חשיפת בני נוער בישראל לאלימות בקהילה, וזיקתם למשתנים דמוגרפיים ולמשתני תמיכה שונים. המחקר בדק את השאלות הבאות: מהם הממדים והמאפיינים של חשיפה (התנסות אישית ועדות) של בני נוער יהודים בישראל לדפוסים שונים של אלימות בקהילה, ומהי זיקתה של חשיפה זו לגיל ולמגדר. האם יש קשר בין מידת התמיכה שבני הנוער מקבלים מהוריהם וממוריהם לבין מידת חשיפתם לאלימות בקהילה? מרבית הנבדקים (%97) דיווחו על חשיפה לאלימות בקהילה במהלך חייהם. נמצא כי בנים נחשפים לאלימות בקהילה יותר מבנות. תדירות העדות לאלימות בקהילה נמצאה גבוהה מתדירות ההתנסות האישית. תדירות החשיפה לאירועי אלימות קלים נמצאה גבוהה מתדירות החשיפה לאירועי אלימות חמורים. לא נמצאו קשרים מובהקים בין חשיפה והתנסות באלימות בקהילה למאפיינים דמוגרפיים וחברתיים-כלכליים של המשתתפים. נמצא כי בכל הסוגים והעוצמות של אלימות היתה רמת החשיפה הגבוהה ביותר מחוץ לשכונה, למעט רמת החשיפה למכות, שהיתה גבוהה יותר בבתי הספר. בניתוח רב-משתני נמצא כי בנות צעירות שנהנו יותר מתמיכה משפחתית ומתמיכת מורים, דיווחו על רמות נמוכות יותר של חשיפה לאלימות בקהילה. במאמר נדונות ההשלכות של ממצאי המחקר על מחקרים עתידיים, ועל פיתוח תיאוריה בתחום חשיפת בני נוער לאלימות בקהילה. (מתוך המאמר)

Background: Intimate-partner violence might increase during and after exposure to collective violence. We assessed whether political violence was associated with male-to-female intimate-partner violence in the occupied Palestinian territory. Methods: A nationally representative, cross-sectional survey was done between Dec 18, 2005, and Jan 18, 2006, by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. 4156 households were randomly selected with a multistage random cluster design, from which 3815 ever-married women aged 15-64 years were identified. We restricted our analysis to presently married women (n=3510, 92% participation rate), who completed a short version of the revised conflict tactics scales and exposure to political violence inventory. Exposure to political violence was characterised as the husband's direct exposure, his indirect exposure via his family's experiences, and economic effects of exposure on the household. We used adjusted multinomial logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (ORs) for association between political violence and intimate-partner violence. Findings: Political violence was significantly related to higher odds of intimate-partner violence. ORs were 1·89 (95% CI 1·29-2·76) for physical and 2·23 (1·49-3·35) for sexual intimate-partner violence in respondents whose husbands were directly exposed to political violence compared with those whose husbands were not directly exposed. For women whose husbands were indirectly exposed, ORs were 1·61 (1·25-2·07) for physical and 1·97 (1·49-2-60) for sexual violence, compared with those whose husbands were not indirectly exposed. Economic effects of exposure were associated with increased odds of intimate-partner violence in the Gaza Strip only. Interpretation: Because exposure to political violence is associated with increased odds of intimate-partner violence, and exposure to many traumas is associated with poor health, a range of violent exposures should be assessed when establishing the need for psychosocial interventions in conflict settings. Funding: Palestinian National Authority, Core Funding Group, Program in Health Disparities Research at the University of Minnesota.

We examined help-seeking and internal obstacles to receiving psychosocial support in the wake of community violence exposure in a sample of 1,835 Arab and Jewish adolescents living in Israel. Paper and pencil surveys conducted in schools examined adolescents' personal victimization and witnessing of community violence in the past year, and then queried adolescents about their help-seeking after violence exposure. Our findings indicated widespread exposure to community violence, particularly for the Arab respondents. Only one in three Arab and one in four Jewish adolescents reported seeking help from anyone to cope with such experiences following their violence exposure, and only rarely did adolescents seek help from a mental health professional (one in twenty for Jewish and one in nine for Arab adolescents). Adolescents across both samples indicated a variety of internal obstacles that might explain their lack of seeking help to cope with violence exposure, including cognitive minimization of the event, deliberately maintaining the secrecy of the event, wishing to maintain their autonomy, and failing to believe in the efficacy of seeking help from others. Such findings shed light on the difficult challenges to providing professional support to adolescents when they are exposed to community violence, and suggest that such challenges, while varying to a degree across cultures, are also prevalent across cultures.

This research investigated the learning and supervisory styles among a population of supervisors (N = 133) and social work trainees (N = 333). Using Kolb's Learning Style Index, the study looked at the ways learning styles change over the course of a three-year BSW program, distribution of supervisory styles among the fieldwork supervisors, and similarities and differences in styles between the two respective groups. The approaches used by supervisors to adjust their style to accommodate the learning needs of individual supervisees were also investigated. The findings allow us to infer that the learning styles of the students are more varied among themselves upon the commencement of studies than upon completion of the social work degree. The supervisees tend to move toward the styles that are prevalent among social workers. Almost all of the supervisors exhibit styles congruent with the styles typically found among social workers. In addition, supervisors tend to stick to their "natural" supervision style irregardless of the learning style of the specific supervisee. However, in the instances in which adjustments were made, the supervisors favored a certain degree of contrast between their supervisory style and the learning style of the supervisee in the supervisory dyad. The limitations of the study as well as the implications of its results for future research are discussed.

The article presents the results of a study that examined Palestinian physicians' misconceptions about abused wives and abusive husbands and the extent to which Palestinian physicians approve of wife abuse. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 396 physicians. The results revealed that between 10% and 49% of the Palestinian physicians held misconceptions about abused wives and between 15% and 63% held misconceptions about abusive husbands. The findings also revealed that substantial percentages of physicians tended to approve of moderate and severe violence against wives. Significant amounts of the variance in the physicians' approval of moderate and severe wife abuse can be attributed to their exposure to family violence and to their patriarchal ideology-variance over and above that which can be explained by the physicians' sociodemographic characteristics. The limitations of the study are discussed, as are the implications of the results for future research and theory development on the approaches of professionals toward wife abuse.