|
Holocaust survivors in Israel cope better with the traumatic effects of the genocide than those living in the U.S. and Australia, according to mega-analysis of prior studies performed by researchers from the University of Haifa.
The analysis, carried out at the university's Center for the Study of Child Development, encompasses results from dozens of research works on some 12,000 Holocaust survivors living in the three countries.
The research found that living in Israel played a role in moderating the long-term effects of the Holocaust on survivors.
"The results of the research clearly suggest that Holocaust survivors in Israel have higher functionality than elsewhere, and are in general coping better with the trauma," Dr. Efrat Barel, who performed the study, told Haaretz. She added that alongside this resilience there is also considerable vulnerability in Israeli Holocaust survivors. "It comes out less in their [everyday] lives, but in nightmares and sentiments and in their emotional existence," she said.
Barel, a developmental psychologist, says there is no definite scientific way of interpreting the results, but notes a few conjectures. "We were groping in the dark when we first started this research. We were dealing with a few conflicting ideas. On the one hand, the difficulties connected to life in Israel through wars and problematic financial situations would intuitively mean a less supportive environment for coping with trauma." The statistical analysis of the 59 previous studies, however, seems to support an opposing view, which argued that the "national sense of purpose" in Israel and "togetherness" offer a more supportive environment than elsewhere, she says. "The fact that the troubles of war and pressures that come with it are shared by everyone could help reduce trauma and isolation rather than augment it," Barel adds.
Read the entire article: http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1079396.html
|