The Cultural and Methodological Factors Challenging the Success of the Community-Based Participatory Research Approach When Designing a Study on Adolescents Sexuality in Traditional Society
Raaifa Jabareen
Abstract
Youth growing up in traditional cultures are split between the messages that they receive on sexuality from their families and those they receive via the internet depicting values of Western culture. The Palestinian-Israeli community, a national, ethnic, and linguistic minority, is an example of this situation. The purpose of this community-based participatory research study is to describe the challenges and lessons learned about launching a community advisory board (CAB) in studies on the taboo topic of adolescent sexuality. Using content analysis, we identified two necessary conditions to convene a CAB on adolescent sexuality in a traditional community: (a) an insider academic researcher, fluent in the native language, able to discuss the linguistic difficulties of sexual terminology and (c) the recruitment of motivated, community activists who were knowledgeable on the topic. The mostly traditional society of Palestinian-Israelis shuns discussions on sexuality; but with these two conditions, the study was a success.
Self-Efficacy and Collective Efficacy as Moderators of the Psychological Consequences of Exposure of Palestinian Parents in Israel to Community Violence
Raaifa Jabareen
Abstract
This study examined the rates of exposure to community violence (ECV; that is, witnessing and directly experiencing violence) as well as the detrimental consequences of such exposure as reflected in posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and a decline in psychological well-being (PWB ) among parents. In addition, the study examined whether self-efficacy and collective efficacy moderate these consequences. A self-administered questionnaire was filled out by a systematic random sample of 760 Palestinian parents in Israel. The findings indicate that most of them had witnessed such violence, and almost half of them had directly experienced such violence in their lifetime. The rates of ECV were higher for the fathers than the mothers. ECV was found to predict high levels of PTSD and low levels of PWB among parents. In addition, collective efficacy was found only to moderate the relationship between witnessing community violence and PTSD. There is a need to identify adults who are exposed to community violence, as well as to develop culturally adapted and sociopolitically sensitive therapeutic and preventive interventions and projects for the provision of assistance following exposure to such violence.
Israeli Palestinian Adolescents’ Exposure to Community Violence and their Academic Achievements: The Indirect Effects of Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms and Parental Psychological Well-Being
Neveen Ali-Saleh – Darawshy
Abstract
Rates of exposure to community violence (CV) are alarmingly high for youth in many countries and associated with negative consequences. The present study examines the rates and consequences of exposure to community violence among Palestinian adolescents from Israel, age 14–18 years. Specifically, it examines whether exposure to community violence is indirectly related to academic achievement through internalizing and externalizing symptoms among adolescents; and whether the impact of internalizing and externalizing symptoms on academic achievements depends on parental levels of psychological well-being (PWB). A semi systematic random sample of 760 Palestinian adolescents in Israel, (320 boys, and 440 girls) completed a self-administration questionnaire. Most of the adolescents had witnessed community violence during the last year and during their lifetime; more than one third had directly experienced lifetime violence compared with 19.6% during the last year. Path analysis was used to examine a moderated mediation model, with internalizing and externalizing symptoms as a mediator of the relationship between exposure to CV and academic achievement, and PWB as a moderator of the path between internalizing / externalizing symptoms and academic achievement. Externalizing, but not internalizing, symptoms mediated the association between exposure to CV and academic achievement. Moreover, parental psychological well-being (PWB) moderated the relationship between externalizing symptoms and academic achievements. Findings highlight the importance of targeting adolescent externalizing symptoms and academic achievement following exposure to community violence. Study limitations, implications for practice, and recommendations for future research are discussed.