BJSW Advance Access originally published online on December 22, 2006
British Journal of Social Work 2008 38(3):462-475; doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcl368
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Community Intervention with Jewish Israeli Mothers in Times of Terror
Professor Haya Itzhaky, Ph.D., is a full Professor and Director at the School of Social Work at Bar-Ilan University. She is a senior researcher and lecturer in the areas of community work, terrorism, empowerment, immigrants and social work supervision. Professor Itzhaky has published many articles and books in these areas and has gained national and international recognition. In the past, she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Society and Welfare, and, for years, has been serving as consultant to decision and policy makers in governmental ministries and various municipalities.
Rachel Dekel, Ph.D., is a senior lecturer in the School of Social Work at Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel. Her broad area of interest is coping with traumatic stress. More specifically, she has been studying the immediate reactions and long-term adjustment of both military veterans and civilians who have been exposed to war and terror. She is also involved in studies examining the topic of secondary traumatization among family members of military veterans with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). In the last few years, she has been part of a Trauma Clinic in Meir General Hospital, assisting terror victims.
Correspondence to Rachel Dekel, School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel. E-mail: dekell{at}mail.biu.ac.il
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Abstract |
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The article examines the effectiveness of a community programme designed for Jewish Israeli mothers who have been exposed to terrorism. The aim of the intervention was to empower the women and increase their sense of belonging to the community, and to reduce stress symptoms, mainly by encouraging and facilitating their participation in community activities. Thirty-eight women, all residents of the same terror-ridden community, participated in intensive workshops over a six month period designed to help them to become active in the community. The workshops provided the women with the information and skills required for activity in the community projects in which they were interested. A qualitative evaluation reveals that, at the end of the programme, most of the women reported that they felt better and more secure, and all of the women were participating in at least one activity in the community. The quantitative evaluation revealed lower levels of distress, higher levels of empowerment and no change in the feelings of belonging to the community. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of the persistence of terror and theories of community intervention.
Keywords: community intervention, terror, empowerment, belonging to the community