Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T04:18:31.537Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Life in a continuous traumatic situation: perspective of the older population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2017

ORIT NUTTMAN-SHWARTZ  and
IRIT REGEV
ORIT NUTTMAN-SHWARTZ*
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, Sapir College, D.N. Hof Ashkelon, Israel.
IRIT REGEV
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, Sapir College, D.N. Hof Ashkelon, Israel.
*
Address for correspondence: Orit Nuttman-Shwartz, School of Social Work, Sapir College, D.N. Hof Ashkelon, 7915600, Israel E-mail:[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The literature is divided with regard to how older persons cope with traumatic situations of war and terror, and few studies have focused on continuous exposure to traumatic situations. To fill the gap in existing knowledge, the present study examined how older people cope with a continuous security threat which includes periods of intensive attacks. Three focus groups were conducted among older residents of rural localities situated near the Israeli border with Gaza. Content analysis of transcripts from the group sessions revealed four main aspects that concern the older participants when they cope with situations of war: (a) moral issues; (b) emotional issues; (c) intergenerational issues; and (d) resilience and future challenge. The analysis revealed that the older participants’ coping patterns derive from a combination of their stage of life, the changing lifestyle in their communal rural localities, and the ways that the older residents and younger residents of the communities cope with exposure to a continuous security threat. The theoretical framework for discussion of the findings is based on social theories of trauma and resilience. In addition, recommendations are provided for interventions at the individual and community levels.

Keywords

continuous traumatic stressolder peoplefamily relationslocation-based communityresilienceterror
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 38 , Issue 5 , May 2018 , pp. 954 - 973
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Atchley, R. C. 1989. A continuity theory of normal aging. The Gerontologist, 29, 2, 183–90.Google Scholar
Band-Winterstein, T. and Koren, C. 2010. ‘We take care of the elder but who takes care of us?’: professional workers with elders in a shared reality of war. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 29, 6, 772–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Besser, A., Weinberg, M., Zeigler-Hill, V. and Neria, Y. 2014. Intrapersonal resilience moderates the association between exposure-severity and PTSD symptoms among civilians exposed to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict. Self and Identity, 14, 1, 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Billig, M. 2013. Loyalty under stress: the communal psychology of loyalty to a place. In Miller, L. D. and Moore, W. C. (eds), Psychology of Loyalty. Nova Science Publishers, New York, 67–90.Google Scholar
Bleich, A., Gelkopf, M., Melamed, Y. and Solomon, Z. 2005. Emotional impact of exposure to terrorism among young-old and old-old Israeli citizens. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 13, 8, 705–12.Google Scholar
Bonanno, G. A. 2004. Loss, trauma, and human resilience: have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events? American Psychologist, 59, 1, 20–8.Google Scholar
Bonanno, G. A., Romero, S. and Klein, S. 2015. The temporal elements of psychological resilience: an integrative framework for the study of individuals, families, and communities. Psychological Inquiry, 26, 2, 139–69.Google Scholar
Carstensen, L. L. 1995. Evidence for a life-span theory of socioemotional selectivity. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 4, 5, 151–6.Google Scholar
Chaitin, J., Sternberg, R., Arad, H., Barzili, L., Deray, N. and Shinhar, S. 2012. ‘I may look 75, but I'm really a pioneer’: concept of self and resilience among Israeli elder adults living in a war zone. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14, 5, 1601–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahan, D. and Schwartz, E. 2014. Ezrahim vatikim beyishuvim ktanim [Senior Citizens in Small Localities]. Israel Gerontological Data Center, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem.Google Scholar
Dekel, R. and Nuttman-Shwartz, O. 2009. Posttraumatic stress and growth: the contribution of cognitive appraisal and sense of belonging to the country. Health and Social Work, 34, 2, 87–96.Google Scholar
Diamond, G. M., Lipsitz, J. D., Fajerman, Z. and Rozenblat, O. 2010. Ongoing traumatic stress response (OTSR) in Sderot, Israel. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 41, 1, 19–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickstein, B. D., Schorr, Y., Stein, N.Krantz, L. H., Solomon, Z. and Litz, B. T. 2012. Coping and mental health outcomes among Israelis living with the chronic threat of terrorism. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 4, 4, 392–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eshel, Y., Kimhi, S., Lahad, M. and Leykin, D. 2016. Individual, community, and national resiliencies and age: are older people less resilient than younger individuals? The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24, 8, 644–7.Google Scholar
Finklestein, M. 2016. Risk and resilience factors in families under ongoing terror along the life cycle. Contemporary Family Therapy: An International Journal, 38, 2, 129–39.Google Scholar
Fossion, P., Leys, C., Kempenaers, C., Braun, S., Verbanck, P. and Linkowski, P. 2015. Beware of multiple traumas in PTSD assessment: the role of reactivation mechanism in intrusive and hyper-arousal symptoms. Aging & Mental Health, 19, 3, 258–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gelkopf, M., Berger, R., Bleich, A. and Cohen Silver, R. 2012. Protective factors and predictors of vulnerability to chronic stress: a comparative study of 4 communities after 7 years of continuous rocket fire. Social Science & Medicine, 74, 5, 757–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gould, R. 1978. Transformation: Growth and Change in Adult Life. Simon & Schuster, New York.Google Scholar
Hantman, S., Solomon, Z. and Horen, Y. 2002. Hashpaata shel hasifa hozeret leeruim traumatiim: Hitmodedutam shel nitzolei shoa [The impact of recurring exposure to traumatic events: how Holocaust survivors cope]. Gerontology, 29, 3, 11–36.Google Scholar
Hayslip, B. and Smith, G. C. (eds) 2012. Annual Review of Gerontology & Geriatrics: Emerging Perspectives on Resilience in Adulthood and Later Life. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Hobfoll, S. E. 1998. Stress, Culture and Community: The Psychology and Philosophy of Stress. Plenum, New York.Google Scholar
Hsieh, H. F. and Shannon, S. E. 2005. Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15, 9, 1277–88.Google Scholar
Itzhaky, H. 2003. Kehila bemavoh: Haoved hasoziali bekibbutz hamishtane [A Community in Maze: The Social Worker in a Changing Kibbutz]. Yad Tabenkin, Ramat Efal, Israel.Google Scholar
Johnston, J. H., Bailey, W. A. and Wilson, G. 2014. Mechanisms for fostering multigenerational resilience. Contemporary Family Therapy, 36, 1, 148–61.Google Scholar
Kahana, E. and Kahana, B. 1996. Conceptual and empirical advances in understanding aging well through proactive adaptation. In Bengtson, V. L. (ed.), Adulthood and Aging: Research on Continuities and Discontinuities. Springer, New York, 18–40.Google Scholar
Kitzinger, J. 1995. Qualitative research: introducing focus groups. British Medical Journal, 311, 7000, 299–302.Google Scholar
Lahad, M. and Leykin, D. 2010. Ongoing exposure versus intense periodic exposure to military conflict and terror attacks in Israel. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 23, 6, 691–8.Google Scholar
Lavretsky, H. 2012. Resilience, stress, and mood disorders in old age. Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 32, 1, 49–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M. and Saldana, J. 1994. Qualitative Data Analysis. Second edition, Sage, Thousand Oaks, California.Google Scholar
Norris, F. H., Friedman, M. J., Watson, P. J., Byrne, C. M., Diaz, E. and Kaniasty, K. 2000. 60,000 disaster victims speak: Part 1. An empirical review of the empirical literature, 1981–2001. Psychiatry, 65, 3, 207–39.Google Scholar
Nuttman-Shwartz, O., Dekel, R. and Regev, I. 2015. Continuous exposure to life threats among different age groups in different types of communities. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 7, 3, 269–76.Google Scholar
Nuttman-Shwartz, O. and Shoval-Zukerman, Y. 2016. Continuous traumatic situations in the face of ongoing political violence: the relationship between CTS and PTSD. Trauma, Violence and Abuse, 17, 5, 562–70.Google Scholar
Pagorek-Eshel, S. and Dekel, R. 2015. Parental self-efficacy and paternal involvement in the context of political violence. Clinical Journal of Social Work, 43, 4, 388–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palgi, Y., Gelkopf, M. and Berger, R. 2015. The inoculating role of previous exposure to potentially traumatic life events on coping with prolonged exposure to rocket attacks: a lifespan perspective. Psychiatry Research, 30, 2/3, 296–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patton, M. Q. 1990. Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods. Sage, Newbury Park, California.Google Scholar
Pfefferbaum, B., Doughty, D. E., Gurwitch, R. H., North, C. S., Fullerton, C. S. and Kyula, J. 2003. Posttraumatic stress and functional impairment in Kenyan children following the 1998 American embassy bombing. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 73, 2, 133–40.Google Scholar
Price, J. P. 2007. Cognitive schemas, defence mechanisms and post-traumatic stress symptomatology. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 80, 3, 343–53.Google Scholar
Raufman, R. and Weinberg, H. 2015. Three metaphors of motion and mobility: working with a multicultural group in times of war. In Friedman, R. and Doron, Y. (eds), Tipul Kvuzati Anality Beeretz Halav Udvash [Group Analysis in the Land of Milk and Honey]. Ach Book, Kfar Bialik, 271–85.Google Scholar
Shechory-Bitton, M. and Laufer, A. 2015. Pinui beikvot yeri tilim vehakesher lemetzuka veba'ayot hitnahagut bekerev yeladim beyishuvei hadarom [Evacuation following exposure to a continuous security threat and the relationships with measures of distress among children in southern Israeli communities]. Hevra Urevaha [Society and Welfare], 35, 2, 203–30.Google Scholar
Sneed, J. R. and Whitbourne, S. K. 2005. Models of the aging self. Journal of Social Issues, 61, 2, 375–88.Google Scholar
Solomon, Z. 1995. Coping with War-induced Stress: The Gulf War and the Israeli Response. Plenum, New York.Google Scholar
Spector-Mersel, G. 2008. Tzabarim lo mizdaknim: Sipurei hayim mektzinim behirim midor 5708 [Sabras Don't Age: Life Stories of Senior Officers from the 1948 Generation]. The Hebrew University Magnes Press, Jerusalem.Google Scholar
Terr, L. C. 1991. Childhood traumas: an outline and overview. American Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 1, 10–20.Google ScholarPubMed
Ungar, M. 2013. Resilience, trauma, context, and culture. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 14, 3, 255–66.Google Scholar
Unrau, Y. and Coleman, H. 1997. Qualitative data analysis. In Grinnell, M. (ed.), Social Work Research and Evaluation: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. Peacock, Itasca, Illinois, 512–4.Google Scholar
Whitbourne, S. K. 1985. The psychological construction of the life span. In Birren, J. E. and Schaie, K. W. (eds), Handbook of the Psychology of Aging. Second edition, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 594–618.Google Scholar