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" Risk and Protective Factors for the Mental Health Consequences of Childhood Political Trauma (Argentina 1976–1983) among Adult Jewish Argentinian Immigrants to Israel "
Gal, Sigalit
Hanley, Jill
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Latin Dissertation
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| Language of Document
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English
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| Record Number
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1112046
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| Doc. No
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TLpq2515049051
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| Main Entry
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Gal, Sigalit
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Hanley, Jill
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| Title & Author
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Risk and Protective Factors for the Mental Health Consequences of Childhood Political Trauma (Argentina 1976–1983) among Adult Jewish Argentinian Immigrants to Israel\ Gal, SigalitHanley, Jill
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| College
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McGill University (Canada)
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| Date
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2019
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| student score
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2019
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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| Page No
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293
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| Abstract
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This doctoral study explores the lives of adult Jewish-Argentinian immigrants to Israel, who as children experienced trauma/stress as a result of the military dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983). My conceptual framework draws upon trauma theory and Simich and Beiser’s (2011) paradigm of “resettlement and mental health”, which takes into account protective and risk factors, and the variety of possible long-term negative and positive mental health outcomes after experiencing childhood traumatic stress. While interviewing 15 participants, I applied the narrative approach method and observations. My thematic textual analysis of these interviews is centered on the behavioral and emotional manifestations of these immigrants’ past experiences in their current lives, as well as on mapping out factors of risk and resilience in relation to participants’ current level of functioning and adaptations as adult immigrants in Israel. Findings revealed that participants’ present-day experiences included a variety of both negative as well as positive long-term emotional and behavioral reactions, which are located between two extreme outcomes. At the negative end of the scale, participants reported symptoms of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, while at the positive end, they showed evidence of Post-Traumatic Growth. The same seemingly contradictory reactions were also illustrated by participants’ present-day reactions toward the unstable political situation in Israel. These results are in parallel with other studies which confirm the coexistence of negative and positive long-term outcomes (such as studies on child Holocaust survivors). The findings of the study demonstrate that some of the negative emotional and behavioral reactions may change over time, and that given the on-going exposure of the public to new testimonies related to the human rights abuses in Argentina during the dictatorship, childhood traumatic memory continues to be reconstructed and “revived” without the possibility of achieving closure. Some of the identified factors of risk and resilience during the post-immigration phase include: immigration circumstances, support from family and society, natal culture, employment and community work, and political activism in Israel. The findings also show more vulnerabilities to particular risk factors in the case of participants who had to escape to Israel as political exiles, compared to ones who chose to immigrate to Israel. This study concludes with suggestions for possible implications related to policy and practice, and with recommendation for future research in this field.
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Anti-Semitism
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Capital punishment
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Ethnic studies
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Jews
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Nazi era
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Violence
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