פרסומים אחרונים . Recent Publications
פרופ' משה בן סימון Prof. Moshe Bensimon
Abstract
Objective: The importance of integration in psychotherapy is a growing area of research, theory, and practice, especially regarding traumatic events. Although research relates to integration in the context of music therapy with trauma survivors, it has rarely been the main focus of research. The current study investigates which principles and techniques guide music therapists to facilitate integration of trauma survivors.
Method: Using the phenomenological approach, analysis of semi-structured interviews with 41 experienced music therapists working with traumatized populations was conducted to identify themes regarding their perception on integration.
Results: The findings yielded three different ways of integration. Body integration entails the ability of active music playing to serve as a sensorial stimulus that bypasses linguistic and logical mediation and enables clients to live in peace with their body and feel whole. Event integration relates to a process by which a repressed traumatic event reemerges into consciousness through music and leads to emotional and cognitive integration of that event. Lastly, life story integration relates to the ability to perceive a life story as a whole. The process includes embedding a trauma into the natural flow of a life story through music and achieving emotional and cognitive integration.
Conclusions: These three ways of integration are conceptualized as a progression of three consecutive levels of integration which may assist music therapists in their work with trauma survivors.
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Abstract
Although group drumming has been found to help improve well-being among marginalized populations, including incarcerated individuals, additional study into the possible benefits of drumming within maximum-security facilities is still required. This phenomenological study examines the experiences of fifteen maximum-security-incarcerated individuals who participated in a twelve-session group drumming and the meaning of this group for them. An analysis of interviews that took place after the sessions revealed three main categories:
(1) perceptions regarding the djembe – describing how participants initially perceived the djembe as insufficiently masculine, but then changed their minds about this;
(2) benevolent relationships – relating to the facilitators’ non-judgemental, non-patronizing and egalitarian approach within a joyful atmosphere, and how this filtered into the mutual relationships among group members;
(3) revealing new possibilities – describing how participants were able to unmask themselves and discover new aspects of their peers, express emotions within a pleasurable and safe space and release aggression. This study suggests that the use of drumming groups as a rehabilitative tool may enable incarcerated individuals to shift from a hegemonic masculinity, that fosters aggression, toughness, boldness, violence and control of others, towards an alternative masculinity that encourages openness, respect, support and the expression of emotions.
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Abstract
Ideological delinquency of animal rights activists has been studied, but there is a lack of research into its impact on family members. The present study examines how 18 family members (nine parents, nine partners) of ideological lawbreaking animal rights activists perceived their relationship with the activists. The analysis of semi-structured interviews describes the reasons the family members joined activism and the differences between those who became law-abiding vs. those who became lawbreaking activists. The familial-ideological spin model explains the process of ‘infection’ by which family members can be drawn into ideological activity; some of them may experience familial-ideological criminal spin.
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Abstract
Many studies discuss the impact of music programs on prison inmates. However, few studies have investigated the impact of music programs on formerly incarcerated individuals (FIIs), and none of them have focused on the programs’ characteristics. This phenomenological study explores the characteristics of a music-based rehabilitation program for FIIs. Five FIIs and three staff members who participated in a group music program were interviewed. The following four themes emerged: Continuity—the importance of the FIIs’ previous positive acquaintance with the program while still being in prison. Egalitarian approach—the importance of the staff treating the FIIs with understanding, tolerance, non-judgmentalism, and the use of an eye-level approach. Cultural sensitivity—the staff members’ sensitivity to the FIIs’ different backgrounds to form a connection. Playfulness—the program’s ability to break free from a “fight-or-flight” mode and experience a counter mode of playfulness. The findings are discussed through the perspective of positive criminology.
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פרופ' יוסי גליקסון Prof. Joseph Glicksohn
Abstract
This research explores the Dark Triad traits in 18 cultures from Europe, America, Africa, and Asia. We examined the relationships among Dark Triad traits, as measured by the SD3, with gender, age, social status, and two personality models, HEXACO and Zuckerman’s alternative five factor model (AFFM). There were 10,298 participants (5,410 women and 4,888 men) with a mean age of 40.31 (SD = 17.32) years old. Between 6% and 16% of the variance in the Dark Triad traits was accounted by culture. Men scored higher than women on all three traits in most cultures, but gender differences were generally larger in European countries. The relationship between the Dark Triad traits dimensions and age is negative, but the largest effect size is small (Psychopathy; η2 = .018). Psychopathy is associated with low Social Position, and Narcissism with high Social Position. In regard to Personality traits, Narcissism is positively related to Extraversion, and Psychopathy is negatively related to Conscientiousness for the HEXACO, and Narcissism is positively related to Activity and Sensation Seeking, and Machiavellianism and Psychopathy are positively related to Aggressiveness and Sensation Seeking for the AFFM.
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Abstract
The present paper tests the cross-national stability of the HEXACO-60 structure across 18 countries from four continents. Gender and age differences across countries will be examined. Finally, this is the first study to explicitly analyze the relationships between the HEXACO and social position. Ten thousand two hundred and ninety eight subjects (5,410 women and 4,888 men) from 18 countries and 13 languages were analyzed. Confirmatory factor analysis techniques were used to test configural, metric and scalar invariance models. Congruence coefficients with the original structure of the HEXACO-60 were computed for every culture. Effect sizes of gender, age, and social position factors across countries were also computed. HEXACO-60 demonstrates configural and metric invariance, but not scalar invariance. Congruence coefficients show a great equivalence in almost all countries and factors. Only Emotionality presents a large gender difference across countries. No relevant effect of age is observed. A profile of high scores on Honesty-Humility, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience, and low scores on Emotionality increases the likelihood of achieving a higher social position, although the effect sizes are small. HEXACO-60 is a useful instrument to conduct personality trait research and practice around the world. Implications of gender, social position, and country differences are discussed.
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Abstract
The Dark Triad traits of Psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and Narcissism should be clearly recognizable within a multidimensional personality space. Two such personality spaces were investigated in this study: HEXACO (Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience); and the Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality Questionnaire (ZKA-PQ) space (Extraversion, Neuroticism, Activity, Sensation Seeking, and Aggressiveness). Our sample comprised 289 participants (137 males, 145 females, 7 unspecified) who completed these three questionnaires: HEXACO–60, ZKA-PQ/SF, and the SD3, assessing the Dark Triad. We reduced the dimensionality of each space to that of a 2D representation using Smallest Space Analysis (SSA). Three research questions guided the data analysis: (a) Do the HEXACO and ZKA-PQ SSA spaces conform to the structure of a radex? (b) Will these spaces remain invariant following the entry of the Dark Triad traits into the analyses? (c) Where will the Dark Triad traits be located in each SSA space? For ZKA-PQ space, the structure was clearly indicative of a radex, both prior to entering the Dark Triad traits into the analysis, and subsequent to this. Psychopathy and Machiavellianism were in close proximity in the Aggressiveness region; Narcissism was positioned at the common origin. In contrast, HEXACO space did not conform to a radex; furthermore, the presence of the Dark Triad traits distorts this 2D SSA space.
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Abstract
If one accepts the notion of an internal clock, then one must further presume that time production (TP) is attuned with the rate of functioning of the clock’s pacemaker. As the level of environmental stimulation increases, TP of the same target durations should decrease; this is particularly the case when one is exposed to flicker. In the present exploratory study, wherein the second author served in an n= 1 experiment, we intensely study TP, using a factorial design that crosses a factor of Flicker with one of Counting Strategy, to create 48 different conditions (sessions). In each session, 6 target intervals are produced a total of 6 times in a counterbalanced manner. Our results indicate that as flicker rate increases, produced duration decreases, as predicted. The main effect for flicker was found for the intercept, but not for the slope of the psychophysical function relating produced duration to target duration. Veridical perception is achieved at a flicker rate of 6 Hz. We uncovered no main effect for counting, suggesting that flicker swamps any impact of chronometric counting.
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Abstract
Assuming that time perception is, indeed, a form of perception (Glicksohn, 2001)—an area acknowledged as such, now and again, in textbooks on perception (Murch, 1973; Chap. 7; Coren et al., 2004; Chap. 11)—one can address what Gruber et al. (2022) refer to as the “two times problem”, as a problem for perception, and not one whose resolution must necessarily span between psychology and physics. Indeed, in agreement with Smythies (2003, p. 53), who suggests that “if one wants to account for our psychological impression that there is a ‘now’ in time and moreover that time in some way flows, we must look elsewhere than contemporary physics, whether Newtonian or Relativity, to find it”, it would be instructive to return to the Gestalt psychologist Kurt Koffka, who posed the classic question for theorists of perception, namely “why do things look as they do?” (Koffka, 1935; p. 76). In the present context, this can be rephrased as “why do we perceive time the way we do?” While Gruber et al. (2022) draw a distinction between “the veridical and illusory nature of time”, for the Gestalt psychologists, as Epstein and Hatfield (1994, p. 166) stress, “phenomenal experience is real … it is not illusory or suspect in any way.” Hence, even if the flow of time is considered to be illusory (Gruber et al., 2015), while time estimation might well be “real” (Gruber et al., 2020), both need to be addressed by psychology.
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Dr. Keren Gueta ד"ר קרן גואטה
Abstract
Research has shown that incarcerated individuals experience significantly higher rates of trauma prior to and during incarceration, compared with the general population. However, despite the rich evidence regarding traumatic backgrounds, and evidence of a link between trauma and (re)offending, trauma-informed practice among inmates, particularly among men, is still limited. The paucity of trauma-informed services among inmates may be due to the deeply polarized victimization and criminal paradigms, that ignore the empirical overlap between victims and offenders. Given this limitation, the aim of this article is to outline a Trauma-Orientated Recovery Framework (TORF) for offenders, by synergizing positive victimology with a positive criminology perspective. These holistic perspectives highlight the value of promoting personal, interpersonal, and spiritual integration. Accordingly, this practice framework outlines guidelines for formal and informal interventions, to achieve recovery and rehabilitation by promoting positive experiences such as self-compassion, family involvement, forgiveness, service to others, social support, recovery-oriented carceral environments, and spiritual growth. By providing a comprehensive framework, these guidelines target symptoms of multilevel trauma, and encourage the incarcerated individual to living a life worth living, in a bid to help them connect with community, and foster their spiritual growth, thereby making great strides toward addressing recidivism.
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Abstract
Research has shown that male victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) are less likely than women to seek formal and informal help. Studies have identified internal barriers (e.g., shame) and external and structural barriers (e.g., limited availability of services), rooted in hegemonic masculinity norms, that explain this underutilization of help. There is also evidence of recent changes in the cultural understanding of masculinity, but these new insights have yet to be incorporated in theories of male IPV and related help-seeking. The purpose of the present study was to obtain a deeper understanding of the help-seeking decisions, barriers, and facilitators of formal and informal help-seeking among male IPV victims. In-depth interviews were conducted with a community sample of 17 Israeli men who self-identified as having been subjected to IPV. Thematic analysis revealed that help-seeking decisions were shaped by a lack of awareness of the need for help, expected outcomes of help-seeking, and actual help-seeking attempts, which together created both barriers and facilitators. Three barriers were identified; they were related to masculinity ideals, failure to recognize victimization, and family values. In addition, three facilitators of help-seeking were identified; they were related to recognizing victimization, access to online social networks, and the fatherhood role. The findings indicate that the barriers and facilitators were interrelated, reflecting the interlocking changing social constructs of masculinity, victimization, and family values. These research findings may contribute to the development of strategies to encourage help-seeking behaviors, such as gender-inclusive education and training of practitioners in IPV services.
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The present study is designed to improve our understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as collective trauma, on the wellbeing of survivors of sexual violence (SV). The data are based on an online qualitative survey about the experiences of 39 survivors and a thematic analysis of ten in-depth interviews with service providers in Israel. The findings reveal that the pandemic and restrictive measures are associated with increased risk for participants’ wellbeing, caused directly by pandemic characteristics, as well as indirectly through the denial of access to coping resources. Paradoxically, the pandemic also offers relief, given the widespread restrictions imposed on the entire population and the general crisis atmosphere. The service providers’ perspective indicates an increased demand for services as well as for their adjustment. These findings highlight the vulnerability of individuals with a history of SV and the need for accommodation of frontline SV services for health crises.
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Abstract
There is a need for a comprehensive theoretical framework of recovery from sexual violence (SV) that acknowledges different domains of recovery resources, variability among survivors, and multiple recovery pathways. To achieve this aim, the present paper explored the concept of recovery capital. A comprehensive review of the SV recovery literature identified resources that were classified under four domains of recovery capital: individual (e.g., coping strategies, socioemotional skills, embodied resources), tangible (e.g., ownership of financial assets or access to familial financial support), social (e.g., social support; online support; prosocial behaviors, voluntary interaction with the offender; involvement in the criminal justice system), and cultural (e.g., rejection of societal “rape myths,” spirituality). This study extends the recovery literature by presenting an integrative framework to address SV recovery as a multifaceted phenomenon, and it underscores the importance of studying the intersectionality and lack of resources in recovery from SV. This framework also delineates recovery pathways and mechanisms that reside outside of the traditional treatment services, indicating a need to enact and integrate natural recovery resources. Thus, it both suggests new avenues for empirical research concerning recovery and enriches interventions based on strategies that survivors use to recover.
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פרופ' סופי וולש Prof. Sophie Walsh
Abstract
This research note addresses the current and potential future role of psychologists in the study of international migration. We review ways in which psychologists have contributed to the study of migration, as well as ways in which psychological scholarship could be integrated with work from other social science fields. Broadly, we discuss four major contributions that psychology brings to the study of international migration—studying migrants’ internal psychological experiences, incorporating a developmental perspective, conducting experimental studies, and integrating across levels of analysis. Given the position of psychology as a ‘hub science’ connecting more traditional social sciences with health and medical sciences, we argue for a more prominent role for psychologists within the study of international migration. Such a role is intended to complement the roles of other social scientists and to create a more interdisciplinary way forward for the field of migration studies. The research note concludes with an agenda for further scholarship on migration.
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In 2015, a video of policemen beating up an Ethiopian-born first Lieutenant in the Israeli Defense Forces, was published by the Israeli media and triggered a massive protest against police brutality and discrimination of the Ethiopian community. The current study aimed to understand the meaning the members of the Ethiopian community attribute to the protest, and its' relation to their experiences within the Israeli society. The paper is based on data gathered through interviews with 19 young Ethiopian Israeli adults. The analysis revealed that the participants' interaction with Israeli society is characterized by a shared experience of discrimination and racism, which shaped their perception of protest as a means of speaking out, strengthening a collective identity and achieving feelings of empowerment. However, individual differences were found in the way the participants believed their protest should be conducted. Findings suggest that an understanding of protest should take into account not only shared group experience but also illuminate individual differences. Universalist understandings of protest should be widened to include an examination of how protest can inform us about the social and historical process of relations between a minority group and the majority group.
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What can enhance positive inter-group contacts in a world of mass immigration is a subject high on the theoretical and practical agenda. However, there is a lack of research examining how contacts with different immigrant groups are related to characteristics of the group, as perceived by the receiving society. Using Threat-Benefit Theory (Tartakovsky & Walsh, 2016a, 2016b, 2019, 2020), the present study examines how different domains of positive and negative appraisal of a specific immigrant group may relate to contacts with group members. Using a representative sample of 1600 adults in the majority of the Jewish population in Israel, we applied network analysis to examine relationships between threat-benefit appraisal, opportunities for contact and levels of positive and negative contacts with four immigrant groups: diaspora immigrants from Ethiopia, Western countries and the former Soviet Union and asylum seekers. Levels of contact were related to particular domains of appraisal, which differed across immigrant groups. However, opportunities for contact had a stronger association with contact than the appraisal. Results point to a theoretical need to develop nuanced models related to inter-group contact, which consider particular characteristics of the immigrant group as perceived by the local population.
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Art therapists from the Arab society in Israel have to bridge gaps between Arab culture, which is characterised as collective, and Western knowledge, which is characterised as individual, which they acquire in their art therapy training. The current study examines to what extent and how they have been able to integrate between these different cultures, and how such integration manifests in fieldwork with members of their culture.
The findings suggest that there were therapists who were not able to integrate the two cultural worlds, mostly students, while others managed various forms of integration. Most of the experienced therapists managed to bridge the gaps, used artistic materials and tools that were adapted to the client’s culture and found unique ways to integrate art into the therapy. In addition, the experienced therapists viewed the training process as a good and beneficial period, while the students experienced difficulties both in training and in the fieldwork. The research can assist therapists and construct curricula for art therapy tailored to collective culture.
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Abstract
Background Strong variations in injury rates have been documented cross-nationally. Historically, these have been attributed to contextual determinants, both social and physical. We explored an alternative, yet understudied, explanation for variations in adolescent injury reporting—that varying access to medical care is, in part, responsible for cross-national differences.
Methods Age-specific and gender-specific rates of medically treated injury (any, serious, by type) were estimated by country using the 2013/2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study (n=209 223). Available indicators of access to medical care included: (1) the Healthcare Access and Quality Index (HAQ; 39 countries); (2) the Universal Health Service Coverage Index (UHC; 37 countries) and (3) hospitals per 100 000 (30 countries) then physicians per 100 000 (36 countries). Ecological analyses were used to relate injury rates and indicators of access to medical care, and the proportion of between-country variation in reported injuries attributable to each indicator.
Results Adolescent injury risks were substantial and varied by country and sociodemographically. There was little correlation observed between national level injury rates and the HAQ and UHC indices, but modest associations between serious injury and physicians and hospitals per 100 000. Individual indicators explained up to 9.1% of the total intercountry variation in medically treated injuries and 24.6% of the variation in serious injuries.
Conclusions Cross-national variations in reported adolescent serious injury may, in part, be attributable to national differences in access to healthcare services. Interpretation of cross-national patterns of injury and their potential aetiology should therefore consider access to medical care as a plausible explanation.
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Abstract
Purpose: Social patterns in bullying show consistent gender differences in adolescent perpetration and victimization with large cross-national variations. Previous research shows associations between societal gender inequality and gender differences in some violent behaviors in adolescents. Therefore, there is a need to go beyond individual associations and use a more social ecological perspective when examining gender differences in bullying behaviors. The aim of the present study was twofold: (1) to explore cross-national gender differences in bullying behaviors and (2) to examine whether national-level gender inequality relates to gender differences in adolescent bullying behaviors.
Methods: Traditional bullying and cyberbullying were measured in 11-year-olds to 15-year-olds in the 2017/18 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study (n = 200,423). We linked individual data to national gender inequality (Gender Inequality Index, 2018) in 46 countries and tested their association using mixed-effects (multilevel) logistic regression models.
Results: Large cross-national variations were observed in gender differences in bullying. Boys had higher odds of perpetrating both traditional and cyberbullying and victimization by traditional bullying than girls. Greater gender inequality at country level was associated with heightened gender differences in traditional bullying. In contrast, lower gender inequality was associated with larger gender differences for cyber victimization.
Discussion: Societal gender inequality relates to adolescents' involvement in bullying and gendered patterns in bullying. Public health policy should target societal factors that have an impact on young people's behavior.
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דר' רותם לשם Dr. Rotem Leshem
Abstract
Patients with schizophrenia (PwS) typically demonstrate deficits in visual processing of emotions. Less is known about auditory processing of spoken-emotions, as conveyed by the prosodic (tone) and semantics (words) channels. In a previous study, forensic PwS (who committed violent offenses) identified spoken-emotions and integrated the emotional information from both channels similarly to controls. However, their performance indicated larger failures of selective-attention, and lower discrimination between spoken-emotions, than controls. Given that forensic schizophrenia represents a special subgroup, the current study compared forensic and non-forensic PwS. Forty-five PwS listened to sentences conveying four basic emotions presented in semantic or prosodic channels, in different combinations. They were asked to rate how much they agreed that the sentences conveyed a predefined emotion, focusing on one channel or on the sentence as a whole. Their performance was compared to that of 21 forensic PwS (previous study). The two groups did not differ in selective-attention. However, better emotional identification and discrimination, as well as better channel integration were found for the forensic PwS. Results have several clinical implications: difficulties in spoken-emotions processing might not necessarily relate to schizophrenia; attentional deficits might not be a risk factor for aggression in schizophrenia; and forensic schizophrenia might have unique characteristics as related to spoken-emotions processing (motivation, stimulation).
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Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a spike in the prevalence of stress and anxiety (Yao et al., 2020). Globally, between January 2020 and January 2021, depressive disorders increased by 27% while anxiety disorders increased by 25% (Santomauro et al., 2021). Despite attempts to promote mental health practices through digital resources (Arenliu et al., 2020), the pandemic massively impacted adolescents and young adults as it doubled the prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among youths (Racine et al., 2021).
A “new normality” has changed our everyday life (Bozkurt and Sharma, 2020) and social norms (Andriani, 2020). Previous research on natural disaster preparedness (Kostouros and Warthe, 2020; Warthe et al., 2022; Di Giuseppe et al., 2023 (In Press)) does not suggest how to deal with a long-term phenomenon such as a pandemic that has caught global communities unprepared. COVID-19 and its effects have highlighted the urgency for individuals and societies to fortify themselves at a psychosocial level.
A key construct to address this need is resilience, defined as the ability to adaptively cope with adversity (Luthar et al., 2000), resulting from the dynamic interaction among genetic, biological, and environmental factors (Herrman et al., 2011). In this paper, we refer to resilience as the process that allows the individual, group, and community to cope with, overcome, and emerge strengthened from negative experiences (Grotberg, 1995; Hamby et al., 2018). To date, most studies on the effects of the pandemic primarily examine the risk factors for individuals' health, while studies that explore resources and assets that promote positive coping with the adverse effects of the pandemic are still scarce.
Starting from this premise, the following paper is the result of a collective reflection shared by resilience researchers across the globe (Fondazione Patrizio Paoletti, 2022), inquiring about how the pandemic can be considered a catalyst for change for building more resilient communities and social structures. As a contribution to facing the current emergency, resilience researchers share four interdisciplinary insights that are presented in the current paper
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Abstract
In the current hypothesis paper, we propose a novel examination of consciousness and self-awareness through the neuro-phenomenological theoretical model known as the Sphere Model of Consciousness (SMC). Our aim is to create a practical instrument to address several methodological issues in consciousness research. We present a preliminary attempt to validate the SMC via a simplified electrophysiological topographic map of the Self. This map depicts the gradual shift from faster to slower frequency bands that appears to mirror the dynamic between the various SMC states of Self. In order to explore our hypothesis that the SMC’s different states of Self correspond to specific frequency bands, we present a mini-review of studies examining the electrophysiological activity that occurs within the different states of Self and in the context of specific meditation types. The theoretical argument presented here is that the SMC’s hierarchical organization of three states of the Self mirrors the hierarchical organization of Focused Attention, Open Monitoring, and Non-Dual meditation types. This is followed by testable predictions and potential applications of the SMC and the hypotheses derived from it. To our knowledge, this is the first integrated electrophysiological account that combines types of Self and meditation practices. We suggest this electro-topographic framework of the Selves enables easier, clearer conceptualization of the connections between meditation types as well as increased understanding of wakefulness states and altered states of consciousness.
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Prof. Galit Nahari פרופ' גלית נהרי
Credibility assessments of alibi accounts: The role of cultural intergroup bias
Research has shown that judges and jurors are influenced by suspect ethnicity and that they might discriminate against out-group suspects in making decisions. This study examined the tendency to favor in-group members, as predicted by social identity theory, in assessing alibi credibility. Forty Israeli-Jewish and 40 Israeli-Arab participants assessed the credibility of an alibi statement provided by a suspect who was either Israeli-Jewish or Israeli-Arab. Findings show that participants were more likely to believe the alibi when it was provided by an in-group suspect than by an out-group suspect, supporting intergroup bias in alibi credibility assessments. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.
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Credibility assessment in context: the influence of intergroup bias and the context of the crime
The current study examined how the context of the crime and the ethnic affiliations of the suspects and participants influenced credibility assessments with respect to in- and out-group suspects. The 200 participants, half Israeli-Jewish and half Israeli-Arab, assessed the credibility of an alibi statement provided be either an Israeli-Jewish or an Israeli-Arab suspect accused of vandalism in either an ethnic-based or neutral-based context. The results indicate that the context of the crime moderated the effect of intergroup bias on credibility assessment among Israeli-Arab participants (out-group members). Under both crime contexts, Israeli-Jewish suspects were perceived as less credible than Israeli-Arab suspects. However, for Israeli-Arab, the effect of intergroup bias was stronger in the ethnic-based context than in the neutral-based context. Overall, the results suggest that Israeli-Arab group might have felt threatened by the ethnic-based context, which could have increased the group bias in their judgments, as compared to the Israeli-Jewish group.
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Prof. Tomer Einat פרופ' תומר עינת
Abstract
This study examines the attitudes of 15 male ex-inmates toward heterosexual romantic relationships during imprisonment as viewed retrospectively. The interviewees expressed ambivalence regarding these intimate partnerships, which were a source of difficulty in prison and upon reentry into society. We conclude that prison services could better help inmates to improve these relationships, thus reducing the pains of imprisonment and enhancing their successful social reintegration.
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This qualitative study analyzes the attitudes of 11 women who work as club strippers in an attempt to discern the characteristics of the subculture of Israeli strip clubs as viewed in real time. A thematic analysis of individual interviews indicated the existence of a women’s strip club subculture in Israel. This is typified by ongoing efforts to reduce mental and emotional stress, deceit, ambivalence, and power struggles, as articulated in the intense consumption of alcohol, relationships between strippers and their peers, and strippers’ sexual and non-sexual relations with club owners and clients. The study concludes that this subculture serves as a platform for generating and designing social systems and achieving various needs and desires unfulfilled in general society; however, it simultaneously weakens the woman stripper who lacks the necessary pragmatic instruments to preserve her fundamental human and occupational rights.
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Abstract
The literature on white-collar crimes committed by women is sparse, dealing mostly with their motivations, the incidence of the phenomenon, and differences between the women who commit them and those who commit other types of offenses. This qualitative study maps factors leading women to commit such crimes, with particular focus on their family and personal histories, and on the various roles they played as children and adults, which prepared and “trained” them for future illegal behavior. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with 18 women convicted and imprisoned for white-collar crimes. A relationship was found between problematic family background and difficulty in help seeking and a nearly obsessive need for love in adulthood, and between the latter and white-collar crime. Theoretical and practical conclusions are discussed and future directions proposed.
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דר' נטלי קליין סלה Dr. Nathalie klein Selle
Abstract
When trying to conceal one's knowledge, various ocular changes occur. However, which cognitive mechanisms drive these changes? Do orienting or inhibition—two processes previously associated with autonomic changes—play a role? To answer this question, we used a Concealed Information Test (CIT) in which participants were either motivated to conceal (orienting + inhibition) or reveal (orienting only) their knowledge. While pupil size increased in both motivational conditions, the fixation and blink CIT effects were confined to the conceal condition. These results were mirrored in autonomic changes, with skin conductance increasing in both conditions while heart rate decreased solely under motivation to conceal. Thus, different cognitive mechanisms seem to drive ocular responses. Pupil size appears to be linked to the orienting of attention (akin to skin conductance changes), while fixations and blinks rather seem to reflect arousal inhibition (comparable to heart rate changes). This knowledge strengthens CIT theory and illuminates the relationship between ocular and autonomic activity.
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Abstract
The decision with whom to form a romantic bond is of great importance, yet the biological or behavioral mechanisms underlying this selective process in humans are largely unknown. Classic evolutionary theories of mate selection emphasize immediate and static features such as physical appearance and fertility. However, they do not explain how initial attraction temporally unfolds during an interaction, nor account for mutual physiological or behavioral adaptations that take place when two people become attracted. Instead, recent theories on social bonding emphasize the importance of co-regulation during social interactions (i.e., the social coordination of physiology and behavior between partners), and predict that co-regulation plays a role in bonding with others. In a speed-date experiment of forty-six heterosexual dates, we recorded the naturally occurring patterns of electrodermal activity and behavioral motion in men and women, and calculated their co-regulation during the date. We demonstrate that co-regulation of behavior and physiology is associated with the date outcome: when a man and a woman synchronize their electrodermal activity and dynamically tune their behavior to one another, they are more likely to be romantically and sexually attracted to one another. This study supports the hypothesis that co-regulation of sympathetic and behavioral rhythms between a man and a woman serves as a mechanism that promotes attraction.
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פרופ' נתי רונאל Prof. Natti Ronel
Abstract
Spiritual criminology (SC) is an umbrella term for various criminological theories, models and practices that share reference to the spiritual dimension of human existence. Informed by a growing body of research that applies spiritual approaches to various aspects of criminology, SC attempts to provide a common thread shared by most approaches to spirituality: a voluntary self-journey that begins with an elevated level of self-centeredness and is aimed at self-transformation. Based on an extensive review of the literature, this paper proposes three general principles for spiritual accompaniment of people who offended: mindful non-doing, being and acting; love and compassion; and compassionate inclusion. These principles can be applied by combining several practices: renouncing control over knowledge, process and outcomes; creating a moral atmosphere that includes forgiveness and nonjudgment; and self-modeling. SC is shown to contribute to the rehabilitation of people who offended and also to crime prevention.
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Abstract
The controversy over vaccines has recently intensified in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic, with calls from politicians, health professionals, journalists, and citizens to take harsh measures against so-called “anti-vaxxers,” while accusing them of spreading “fake news” and as such, of endangering public health. However, the issue of suppression of vaccine dissenters has rarely been studied from the point of view of those who raise concerns about vaccine safety. The purpose of the present study was to examine the subjective perceptions of professionals (physicians, nurses, researchers) involved with vaccines through practice and/or research and who take a critical view on vaccines, about what they perceive as the suppression of dissent in the field of vaccines, their response to it, and its potential implications on science and medicine. Respondents reported being subjected to a variety of censorship and suppression tactics, including the retraction of papers pointing to vaccine safety problems, negative publicity, difficulty in obtaining research funding, calls for dismissal, summonses to official hearings, suspension of medical licenses, and self-censorship. Respondents also reported on what has been termed a “backfire effect” – a counter-reaction that draws more attention to the opponents’ position. Suppression of dissent impairs scientific discourse and research practice while creating the false impression of scientific consensus.
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Abstract
The emergence of COVID-19 has led to numerous controversies over COVID-related knowledge and policy. To counter the perceived threat from doctors and scientists who challenge the official position of governmental and intergovernmental health authorities, some supporters of this orthodoxy have moved to censor those who promote dissenting views. The aim of the present study is to explore the experiences and responses of highly accomplished doctors and research scientists from different countries who have been targets of suppression and/or censorship following their publications and statements in relation to COVID-19 that challenge official views. Our findings point to the central role played by media organizations, and especially by information technology companies, in attempting to stifle debate over COVID-19 policy and measures. In the effort to silence alternative voices, widespread use was made not only of censorship, but of tactics of suppression that damaged the reputations and careers of dissenting doctors and scientists, regardless of their academic or medical status and regardless of their stature prior to expressing a contrary position. In place of open and fair discussion, censorship and suppression of scientific dissent has deleterious and far-reaching implications for medicine, science, and public health.
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Abstract
Trauma and its consequences, such as PTSD, have been thoroughly researched in recent years. Spirituality, religious and non-religious alike, has been used for a variety of purposes by humanity, including recovery from trauma and its consequences. However, spirituality’s role in maintaining the recovery of people with PTSD has not yet been sufficiently researched. This qualitative study attempts to fill the gap through interviews with 50 individuals from different backgrounds who recovered from PTSD and who attributed their recovery to spirituality; however, each of them went through their own traumas, had different piety levels, and used different recovery methods. The results show that spirituality can serve as recovery capital for those dealing with trauma and PTSD: the transition between spiritual deprivation and active spiritual yearning initiates a process of recovery and the acquisition of ‘spiritual recovery capital.’ Spiritual recovery capital has unique characteristics, accumulates as recovery progresses, and was even found among those who did not see themselves as spiritual before their trauma(s) and PTSD diagnosis. The research shows that spirituality can be useful for trauma survivors and therapists at all stages of recovery and can also promote maintaining recovery.
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Abstract
The research literature on the recovery and growth processes of the homeless population is limited and lacking—particularly with regard to the recovery and growth potential of that population, and its recovery capital (RC) dynamics. This qualitative study fills the research gap by examining the recovery process on its various manifestations, the formation of RC, the patterns of coping with distress, and the growth processes experienced. Ten semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with participants from a homeless hostel. The results show how a population with low or depleted RC, in a state of extreme distress, and in the throes of a bottom-up experience, succeeds in developing RC on a personal, social, and spiritual level—and through it, also reaching post-crisis growth. This study yields innovative terminology to describe the coping patterns and their development in three stages—economical coping, liminal stage of resources mustering, and resourceful coping—and a model to explain the phenomenon, and re-conceptualize it.
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Abstract
T he controversy over vaccines has persisted since their introduction in the eighteenth century. While many studies have addressed the concerns and motivations of the general population regarding hesitation and resistance to vaccination (especially parents, concerning routine childhood immunization), the present study was designed to examine this issue among professionals from a victimological perspective, thus its uniqueness. Study participants were researchers and practitioners involved with vaccines who hold a critical position on vaccines and their ways of dealing with what they perceived as suppression of dissent in the field of vaccination. The motivations identified among the researchers and practitioners in our study referred to ethical aspects of professional obligation to patients, patient rights, freedom of choice, and lack of trust in the medical establishment. The participants also perceived themselves as victims of suppressive tactics due to their critical position, to which they responded in two contrasting ways: continuing to dissent while insisting on their right to have their voices heard or abandoning their public dissent due to the reactions and repercussions they faced. The article discusses the implications of these findings in the context of scientific integrity, violation of democratic and ethical values, freedom of speech, and its impact on the public’s trust in science and medicine.
