Research Interests:
Violence against women; exposure of children and young adults to violence in their families of origin; exposure of children, young adults, and parents to community violence and political violence; child abuse and neglect; school violence; the socio-cultural and socio-political contexts of the education and practice of the mental health professions.
Research Projects:
1. Mental Health Implications of Exposure to Violence: I am currently involved in several research projects on the mental health implications of the exposure of children, young adults, and parents to different patterns of violence, such as: The cumulative exposure of young adults to family violence during the life-span; the exposure of children and young adults to community violence; and the exposure of children and youth and their parents to political violence. I have also examined in some of these studies resilience and protective factors, as buffering and mitigating factors, of the mental health consequences of these exposures, and the intergenerational transmission of those consequences.
2. Wife Abuse and Battering in Arab Societies: I have been conducting research on different dimensions of the problem of wife abuse and battering in the Arab society (mainly in Israel and the Palestinian National Authority), with special interest in the rates, characteristics, correlates, and risk factors of wife abuse and battering. I also have been examining some mental health consequences of the problem and women’s coping strategies and help-seeking behaviors, in light of their experience with intimate partner violence. In some these studies I have been examining the socio-cultural and socio-political context of violence against women.
3. Beliefs about Wife Abuse and Battering: I have conducted several studies about beliefs about wife beating, and in recent years am in the process of carrying-out several other research projects on this topic (e.g., justifying wife abuse, willingness to help abused women, willingness to hold violent and abusive husbands responsible for their behavior, etc.) among health and mental health practitioners, among students of the health and mental health professions, as well as among the general public, in several countries (e.g., Israel, The Palestinian Authority, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Turkey). These studies focus on examining to what extent an integrative theory (composed of patriarchal theory, social learning theory, intra-psychic processes, and more) explain people’s beliefs about wife abuse and battering, and their attitudes toward abused women and abusive husbands.
4. School Violence: I am interested in examining children and youth violence in school, using the social learning theory and the stressful life events perspective. I just completed conducting two studies about the exposure of pupils of elementary and secondary schools (as victims as well as perpetrators) and the relationship of this exposure to their exposure to family violence, school violence, community violence, political violence, and school environment. I also examined in this study the mental health implications of the exposure to these different patterns of violence.
Abstract of Selected List of Current Research Projects:
Wife abuse and battering in Arab societies: Over the past four decades, family violence, in general, and women survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), in particular, have become a major concern throughout the world. However, different factors (e.g., socio-cultural, economic, and religious factors, as well as political circumstances) have precluded comprehensive investigation of this problem in the Arab world. An Instrument Package was constructed in order to measure the following: (1) the prevalence and some risk factors of various types and manifestations of IPV among Palestinian women in Israel; (2) psychological effects of IPV (e.g., stress, low self-esteem, depression, post-traumatic stress symptoms, anxiety, suicide ideation); and (3) strategies and help-seeking behaviors used by women to cope with IPV. The study was conducted among a systematic random sample of about 2410 Arab women from Israel. It is anticipated that the results of the study will have implications for the development of theories for studying more comprehensively risk factors of women's experience with IPV in different Arab communities, for prevention of and intervention in cases of IPV, and for setting policies related to IPV in the Arab societies.
Implications of cumulative life-span exposure to family violence among children, adolescents, and young adults: Despite noteworthy developments in research on the implications of witnessing and experiencing family violence in Western societies, there is a serious dearth of studies on this topic in Arab societies. A study was conducted recently by this researcher, among about 1964 Palestinian young adults, examined the extent to which witnessing and experiencing different patterns of family violence in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood predict manifestations of sibling violence, hopelessness, low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress symptoms, psychological distress, hostility, and other mental health consequences. Participants' perceptions of their parents' psychological adjustment were also examined. It is hoped that the findings will provide a basis for developing theories for studying these topics in different Arab communities, strategies for prevention and intervention in different types and patterns of family violence, and policies for working with abusive families.
The cumulative and prolonged exposure of Palestinian youth and their parents to political violence (EPV) (with Prof. Charles W. Greenbaum; partially funded by Israel Science Foundation): The mental health consequences of living in war zones and exposure to political violence (EPV) have been investigated extensively over the past six decades. However, there is a dearth of research on the consequences of Palestinian children’s and parents' exposure to chronic, cumulative, and prolonged political violence. Furthermore, there is a lack of research on the possible intergenerational transmission of those consequences, on the one hand, and on protective and resiliency factors that buffer the consequences of EPV among children and their parents, on the other. In an attempt to fill this gap, self-administered questionnaires were utilized among a random systematic cluster sample of 2,934 Palestinian adolescents and their parents from the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The study included measures about adolescents' and parents' EPV during the life-span. This time frame of EPV provides a basis for examining the consequences of multiple and cumulative risk factors. Thus, the main objective of this study is to investigate the psychological consequences of adolescents’ and parents’ exposure to prolonged political violence as well as intergenerational transmission of those consequences from the perspectives of parents and their offspring. The study also aimed to examine the contribution of protective and resilience factors among parents (e.g., self-efficacy, family environment, parenting styles, social support, and social capital) and their adolescent offspring (e.g., self-esteem, and support from family and friends) to mitigating the effects of exposure to prolonged and cumulative political violence. The questionnaires also included qualitative, open-ended questions about the participants’ exposure to political violence (other than the acts indicated in the quantitative measure of political violence), as well as questions about their subjective perceptions of the psychological impact of their EPV (other than those examined by the quantitative measures) as well as about their coping strategies and help seeking behavior in light of their EPV.
School violence in the Palestinian authority: Extensive research has been conducted during the last five decades on the problem of school violence and bullying. Nonetheless, there is a real dearth of research on this problem in the Arab world. In recent years I conducted three studies on different topics related to this problem in the Palestinian society in the West Bank. The first study was conducted among a sample of 899 4th-6th graders, where they reported about their exposure to school violence (as victims and as perpetrators), and about their perception of the school environment. More specifically, this research examined the correlation between the experience of pupils with violence committed against them by other pupils and school staff and their use of violence against pupils and school staff. Additionally, this research examined whether this correlation is moderated by pupils' gender and perceptions of school environment. The second study was conducted among a sample of 1183 Palestinian 7th-12th graders. It examined the reported about their exposure to the following patterns of violence, as victims and a perpetrators: School violence, family violence, community violence, and political violence. They also reported about their perceptions of the school environment. The correlations among these patterns of violence are examined. The moderating effects of gender and perceptions of school environment on that correlations were also examined. The third study was conducted among a sample of 392 Palestinian school staff members (administrators, teachers, counselors, etc.) who reported about their exposure to school violence, as perpetrators and victims, and about policies practiced in their schools for coping with violence among their pupils.