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Date: 2024
Abstract: Immersion (tevillah) in a special pool of water (mikvah) is an ancient Jewish ritual act of purification. Rumors of personal healing through mikvah immersion are often presented as Jewish folklore or urban legends. Yet, my research shows that a surprising percentage of immersing respondents –both Orthodox and non-orthodox— have experienced mikvah immersion as either spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, or physically healing. My study investigates what it means to experience mikvah as healing; and whether these experiences correlate with other attitudes and personal practices that signal patterns in how Jews think about Self, purity, wellbeing, and healing. I conducted a survey (N=283) and 34 in-depth interviews in the United States, and an additional survey (N=239) in the United Kingdom –to determine how relevant the U.S. findings could be for the aspiring mikvah organization, Wellspring UK, that plans to incorporate mikvah as a central modality of care in a center for wellbeing in London. I interpret these findings through a ritual ecological analysis –integrating embodiment, ritual studies, history, and religious studies— that centers participants’ sensory-emotional descriptions of their immersion as centering and affirming, in the midst of personal suffering. I then seek to understand how immersers interpret these sensory experiences by framing their mikvah stories in the historical context of new conceptual constructs about body, self, wellbeing, healing, and purity that emerged from multiple Jewish engagements with the American Great Awakening (1960-1990). That sensory experiences of centering and affirmation are identified as healing reflects a holistic self-concept, observed among the majority of participants –immersers and non-immersers alike. Specifically, the contemporary Jewish self is a holistic body-self, integrating physical, spiritual, emotional, psychological, and relational aspects. Such holism means that upset in one aspect of the self produces difficulties in one or more of the other aspects. Thus, maintaining one’s sense of wellbeing requires continual balancing and rebalancing, a self-making project that dovetails with respondents’ high value for an emergent ideal of spiritual purity, defined as the alignment of one’s inner values with one’s outer speech and actions. Together, wellbeing and spiritual purity constitute an ideal state of radical shalom, as experienced during healing mikvah immersions.
Date: 2022
Date: 2013
Author(s): Franklin, Claire E.
Date: 2023
Abstract: No published research to date has investigated the mental health experiences of Orthodox Jewish adolescents in the UK, although anecdotally, the Jewish mental health community is aware of the prevalence of mental health difficulties amongst young people. This lack of research highlights a serious gap in how to best support this population in the community and in mainstream services. As a first step into this field of study, this research explored the experiences of seven London-based Orthodox Jewish female therapists offering talking therapy to strictly Orthodox Jewish (Chareidi) female adolescents in the private sector, using semi-structured interviews. An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the interview data identified several themes: The therapists navigated personal and professional overlap when working within their own community, dealt with blurred boundaries, and managed the complexities of confidentiality within a close-knit community context. Furthermore, their therapeutic practice was culturally informed, and they applied cultural sensitivity with their clients. The therapists talked about how they helped Chareidi Gen Z on their journey to adulthood and how they experienced both feeling connected to their clients, and feeling disconnected when values were at odds with each other. The implications from this study included the need to engage Orthodox Jewish adolescents in future research so that their voices can be captured, the importance of continuing to increase culturally sensitive mental health promotion, education, and provision within the Chareidi community, and for mainstream services to facilitate access for the Chareidi community by prioritising culturally informed practices and community partnership work.
Author(s): Feigin, Elizabeth
Date: 2024
Abstract: This research considers an existential exploration of the experience of coming out in the Orthodox Jewish community. It is grounded in a qualitative, phenomenological and existential methodology. Eight participants were interviewed, all male between the ages of 20-30, who grew up in the Orthodox Jewish community and came out as gay, a minimum of three years ago. The interviews were semi-structured in nature; they were recorded and transcribed. The interview transcripts were analysed using SEA, a phenomenological and existential research tool. It used two specific features of SEA; the four worlds and its paradoxes, and the timeline tool. Accordingly, data was analysed against the four existential worlds, and the four periods of time identified in the timeline tool; with the moments of coming out being the present focus. Key themes, paradoxes and similarities were drawn out from across the analysis. They were then analysed alongside a consideration of relevant literature, also presented in this study. Overall, significant findings were identified, which both resonated with, supported and questioned existing literature. Findings were linked to four particular time periods: before, during and after coming out, and the ongoing state of participants. The findings relating to the time period before coming out mainly linked to matters around identity and findings linked to the actual moments of coming out mainly related to embodiment overall. The findings of the time period immediately after coming out linked to relationships and emotions, whereas the findings linking to the ongoing state of participants were to do with spirituality and meaning. This study concludes by outlining the valuable contribution these findings have made to Counselling Psychology, as well as areas that have been highlighted as ripe for further research.
Date: 2022
Abstract: Aims
Hackney is home to the largest Charedi Orthodox Jewish community in Europe. According to the Census 2011, 7% of the population of Hackney are Charedi. Hatzola is a non-profit, volunteer organisation established in 1979 to provide pre-hospital emergency medical response and transportation to acute hospitals at no cost, to those living in and around the North London Charedi community. Given the large Charedi population served by Homerton University Hospital it is a common occurrence for psychiatry liaison staff to work side by side with Hatzola in delivering care to those in mental health crisis. Our aim was to create and nurture a professional relationship between Homerton University Hospital Psychiatry Liaison Service and Hatzola ambulance. We wanted to gain an understanding of the perception of mental illness within the Charedi community, and identify issues faced by members of Hatzola when working with those with mental illness. We wanted to identify the learning needs of Hatzola around psychiatric illness as well as increasing confidence within team members when called to manage mental health crises.

Methods
We scheduled an initial meeting with Hatzola to gain an understanding of their service. We used questionnaires to ascertain their level of knowledge on managing mental health patients. We set out to provide teaching sessions to address Hatzola's learning needs.

We designed interactive teaching sessions based on providing mental health first aid, discussing case studies, considering the legal framework around emergency mental health. We ensured coverage of working with both adults and children with mental health difficulties. We delivered these teaching sessions in person over four consecutive weekly meetings, with the sessions being recorded to serve as an educational resource.

Results
We gathered qualitative evidence reflecting the impact of our intervention. We were able to compare levels of confidence among Hatzola members before and after our teaching programme.

Conclusion
Our training programme was well received by Hatzola, and it was an excellent opportunity to develop links with members of the community.

We have learned that mental health is a taboo subject for members of the Charedi community, and have identified a need for more support to Hatzola in coping with the emotional toll working with mental health patients can take. There may be scope for providing further training on developing reflective practice and more emotional support for Hatzola members in future.
Date: 2018
Abstract: There is consensus that experiences gained during immigration have an impact on health status. However, studies comparing health-related outcomes in homogeneous groups of immigrants living in different host countries are rare. In a sample of Jewish immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) in two different host countries, Germany and Israel, possible predictors of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and satisfaction with life (SWL) were examined. In total, 359 Jewish immigrants from the FSU living in Germany (n = 180) and Israel (n = 179) completed the questionnaire measuring immigration-related and sociodemographic characteristics. HRQoL was assessed via Short Form Health Survey Version 2 (SF-12v2), and SWL via Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). Hierarchical linear regression models were applied for analyzing immigration-related and sociodemographic predictors of HRQoL and SWL. Participants living in Israel scored higher on HRQoL, and no differences were found concerning SWL ratings. However, no direct influences of the host country were detected by predicting HRQoL and SWL scores. In both subgroups, immigration-related factors such as perceived discrimination or level of integration were found as significant predictors. In the face of different immigration waves in the host countries, Germany and Israel, the results display similarities rather than differences between the groups concerning the sociodemographic and immigration-related predictors on HRQoL and SWL. The findings using cross-cultural analysis level underscore the need of much more detailed future research on this issue.
Date: 2018
Abstract: Grundlagen
Die Migrationsforschung ergibt kontroverse Befunde über den Zusammenhang zwischen psychischer Gesundheit und Migration sowie zu den Faktoren, die die psychische Gesundheit von Migranten beeinflussen. Es gibt zwar Hinweise auf Unterschiede zwischen Migrantengruppen aus verschiedenen Herkunftsländern, allerdings wurden bisher fast keine empirischen Studien über einzelne Migrantengruppen in Österreich unternommen.

Methodik
In der vorliegenden populationsbasierten Untersuchung wurden Depressivität und Ängstlichkeit von 96 jüdischen Migranten aus der ehemaligen UdSSR mit einem nach Alter und Geschlecht gematchten Sample mit 101 Österreichern verglichen. Weiters wurde der Einfluss von Akkulturationseinstellung und Religiosität auf die psychische Verfassung der Migranten untersucht. Depressivität und Ängstlichkeit wurden mit dem Beck-Depression-Inventory (BDI), dem State-Trait-Anxiety-Inventory (STAI) und dem Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) erhoben. Die Akkulturationseinstellung wurde mit dem Vancouver Index of Acculturation (VIA) gemessen, die Religiosität mit einer selbstentwickelten Skala erfasst.

Ergebnisse
Die Juden aus der ehemaligen Sowjetunion waren signifikant depressiver und ängstlicher als die gebürtigen Österreicher, jedoch nicht häufiger von klinischen Depressionen betroffen. Integration als Akkulturationsstrategie (d. h. Interesse sowohl an der Herkunfts- als auch an der Aufnahmekultur) ging mit der niedrigsten psychischen Belastung einher. Die Religiosität wirkte sich protektiv auf Depressivität, nicht jedoch auf Ängstlichkeit aus.

Schlussfolgerungen
Die vorliegende Untersuchung erlaubt erste Rückschlüsse auf die psychische Gesundheit einer bis dato kaum untersuchten Migrantengruppe und weist auf einen Bedarf nach größerer Öffnung der österreichischen Mehrheitsgesellschaft den Migranten gegenüber hin.
Date: 2022
Abstract: Research about the relation between migration and mental health as well as factors influencing the mental health of migrants has been growing because challenges of migration can constitute a significant mental health burden. However, its divergent findings seem to reflect group-specific differences, e.g., regarding country of origin and receiving country. Almost no empirical studies about individual migrant groups in different receiving countries have been undertaken so far. The present population-based study explores symptoms of depression, anxiety, and somatization as well as quality of life in an Austrian and a German sample of ex-Soviet Jewish migrants. We mainly investigate the relationship of religiosity and perceived xenophobic and anti-Semitic discrimination to the psychological condition of the migrants. Standardized self-report scales, specifically the Beck-Depression-Inventory-II (BDI), State-Trait-Anxiety-Inventory (STAI), Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), and WHO Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF), were used to measure mental health. Ex-Soviet Jewish migrants in Austria showed significantly more depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms than those in Germany. Regression analyses support a protective effect of religiosity on mental health in the sample in Germany and an adverse effect of perceived discrimination in the sample in Austria. The present study reveals a less favorable situation for ex-Soviet Jewish migrants in Austria, in terms of income, residence status, and xenophobic attitudes in the local population, compared to the group in Germany. Furthermore, our data suggest that the receiving country matters for the mental health of this migrant group. However, further research is needed to support these conclusions.
Date: 2023
Date: 2018
Date: 2021
Abstract: Cultural factors are influential in the prevalence, diagnosis and treatment efficacy of mental health conditions. Although the literature has advanced substantially towards the development of cultural adaptations of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for various minority cultural groups, research into cultural adaptations of CBT for the Orthodox Jewish community has been scarce. This qualitative study interviewed five CBT therapists about their experiences working with clients from the London Orthodox Jewish community and uncovered several key practical implications for the clinical practice of CBT with this client group. This study indicates that CBT is a culturally appropriate psychological treatment for this client group that accords with Orthodox Jewish teachings and religious beliefs. CBT therapists are encouraged to become familiar with Orthodox Jewish cultural practices and beliefs and adopt a culturally sensitive approach to treatment. Despite the reduced mental health stigma within the community, this study recommends that CBT therapists normalise mental health conditions and therapy with Orthodox Jewish clients. Due to the close-knit nature of the community, it is suggested that CBT therapists display heightened confidentiality with this client group. To overcome the mistrust of their Orthodox Jewish clients, CBT therapists are advised to display cultural sensitivity and genuine respect for the Orthodox Jewish way of life, in addition to building a strong therapeutic alliance. Further qualitative research exploring different perspectives is necessary to produce evidence-based guidelines for the cultural adaptation of CBT for the Orthodox Jewish
Author(s): Flax, Maya
Date: 2019
Abstract: Records of antisemitic incidents in the UK have reached an all-time high in the last 3-5 years. I have used antisemitism to mean in this study: any form of hostility or prejudice towards Jews based on their identity. The main objective of this study is to explore a section of the Jewish community, which has been marginalised in research on antisemitism: The Orthodox Jewish community. Being most visible, as identifiable Jews, within the Jewish community, they are also the ones most frequently targeted. Drawing on qualitative data resulting from 28 interviews with Orthodox Jewish individuals as well as five focus groups with key stakeholder, this thesis explored the lived experienced of antisemitism within the Orthodox Jewish community. It investigated the types of antisemitic incidents, the impacts and meaning which participants attached to these incidents, the perceptions of antisemitism, the coping mechanisms which were adopted in order to respond to the climate of antisemitism and the perceptions of agencies which respond to antisemitism. The thesis generated four main findings. First, the pervasive nature of antisemitism and its prevalence within the lives of Orthodox Jews. Second, the awareness that there is a resurgence of antisemitism and that there has been a shift in its manifestation, making it more institutionalised and therefore powerful. Third, that despite the high prevalence rate of incidents among the community, most respondents chose to normalise and accept the victimisation. My thesis proposes that the reasons respondents were able to show agency and to accept the incidents is due to their strong religious identity and their close 3 community ties. Finally, this study offers recommendations to support the Orthodox Jewish community; to address in a practical way some remediable issues uncovered by this study.
Date: 2020
Abstract: Erinnern oder Vergessen? Auch Jahrzehnte nach der Shoah sind die Erfahrungen, die Bilder und die Leiden, die sich mit der Erinnerung an die nationalsozialistischen Verbrechen aufdrängen, keineswegs Geschichte geworden. Die Formen und Praktiken des Gedenkens in Deutschland haben sich mit dem Abstand zum historischen Geschehen verändert und lassen einen Übergang vom sozialen Gedächtnis zu einem kulturellen Gedenken erkennen. Gleichwohl unterscheiden sich die Formen deutscher Gedenkkultur von der jüdischen Erinnerungspraxis. Die vielfältigen traumatischen Erlebnisse der jüdischen Überlebenden der Shoah bestimmen deren Lebenswelt, haben Auswirkungen auf ihre jeweiligen Identitätskonzepte und Handlungsmuster und übertragen sich auf die nachfolgenden Generationen.
Die hier versammelten Beiträge geben unter anderem Einblicke in den wissenschaftlichen Diskurs über die Konsequenzen des individuellen und gesellschaftlichen Verarbeitens der Erinnerungen an den Nationalsozialismus und die Shoah sowie der daraus resultierenden Traumata; thematisieren den professionellen Umgang mit Überlebenden mit Blick auf deren Selbstkonzepte und ihre jeweiligen biografischen Narrative; fragen nach der Praxisrelevanz des Wissens um Prozesse des Erinnerns und Vergessens in der Betreuung von Überlebenden und deren Angehörigen; weisen auf den Zusammenhang zwischen den erlittenen Traumata, den Lebensumständen nach der Befreiung und den jeweiligen biografischen Erzählungen hin; schließlich verdeutlichen sie, was das gesellschaftlich bedingte kollektive Vergessen oder die Umdeutung der Geschichte für die Überlebenden und ihre Familien bedeutet.

Mit Beiträgen von: Katja von Auer ǀ Julia Bernstein ǀ Jackie Feldman ǀ Kurt Grünberg ǀ Tilmann Habermas ǀ Jens Hoppe ǀ Ulrike Jureit ǀ Doron Kiesel ǀ Salomon Korn ǀ Norma Musih ǀ Miriam Victory Spiegel ǀ Noemi Staszewski ǀ Gabriel Strenger ǀ Moshe Teller ǀ Ricarda Theiss ǀ Susanne Urban ǀ Lukas Welz ǀ Lea Wohl von Haselberg

Inhalt

Kurt Grünberg: Danach – Vergessen, Erinnern, Tradieren. Extremes Trauma und Kultur im postnationalsozialistischen Deutschland
Tilmann Habermas: Die Veränderung von Lebensgeschichten im Laufe des Lebens
Jackie Feldman/Norma Musih: Kollektive Erinnerung, digitale Medien und Holocaust-
Zeugenschaft
Jens Hoppe: Erinnern und Vergessen bei Überlebenden der Shoah. Anmerkungen
eines Historikers zu „Holocaust Oral Histories“
Salomon Korn: Kultur der Erinnerung
Gabriel Strenger: Erinnerung und Vergessen im biblischen Kontext
Susanne Urban: Fließende Erinnerungen. Reflexionen über die Befassung mit Zeitzeugen
Miriam Victory Spiegel: Nicht geheilte Wunden: Die Rolle von Erinnerung und Denkmälern
Julia Bernstein/Katja von Auer „Sie reagieren nur so, weil Sie jüdisch sind“. Diskursive Auseinandersetzungen mit den Auswirkungen der Shoah im Bildungskontext der Sozialen Arbeit
Moshe Teller: Papa, mir geht’s heute nicht besonders gut … Holocaust-Überlebende
und ihre Kinder: eine klinische Perspektive
Noemi Staszewski/Ricarda Theiss: Zeitzeugentheater. Potenziale transgenerationaler Projekte
Lukas Welz: Erinnern und Vergessen verantworten. Über die Notwendigkeit einer emanzipierten Erinnerung an die Shoah für die Betroffenen und die Gesellschaft
Lea Wohl von Haselberg: Zwischen Erinnern und Vergessen – Notizen zu Shoah und Film
Ulrike Jureit: Einsichten und Erkenntnisse
Author(s): Jong-min, Jeong
Date: 2017
Abstract: What have those living with dementia lost? If they have lost aspects of their mind and self, who are they now? Are they 'normal'? Prevailing medical, therapeutic and sociopsychoanalytic interventions and studies on dementia, largely influenced by Tom Kitwood's person-centred approach, have focused mainly on revealing and evaluating the remaining intact bodily abilities and functions beyond loss. In contrast to this predominant understanding of dementia, my decade-long involvement in a Jewish Care Home as a volunteer and researcher has raised ontological, epistemological and practical critiques, acknowledging that we are never beyond loss but always alongside it, and that we simply do not know how to dwell well with it. Although the expressive and performative words, gestures and behaviours of those with dementia are often regarded as inarticulate, repetitive and nonsensical, these are the lived worlds of dementia that those affected feel, experience and live through, whilst continuously making relations and familiarising themselves with people, things, and their surroundings. This demands a paradigm shift in the ontological, epistemological and practical horizon within the study of dementia. Critically developing Canguilhem's notion of the normal and the abnormal, Ingold's dwelling perspective and Deleuze's concept of becoming, I redefine dementia not as a fixed mode of being but as a continuous process of becoming-dementia through an attentive engagement with one's immediate surroundings. In more detail, this study explores the ways in which people challenge the taken-for-granted concepts of loss and abnormality in five different dementia contexts: ethics, repetition, time, agency and emplacement. By rejecting medical preconceptions or categorisations, this study focuses on uncovering what loss does in everyday life rather than asking what loss means or what people lose. In particular, this study emphasises bodily movement, sensory perception and affect, not because of the language deterioration during dementia trajectories but because of a new way of understanding and new reality that those affected practise in daily life. Consequently, this study illustrates the immanent potential of the anthropological view for thinking and dwelling with those living with dementia alongside their limits and implications. This study is thus an autobiographical ethnographic testimony of my past decade living, learning, volunteering, studying and most importantly co-dwelling with those living with dementia. This is a collaborative co-production created with those involved, as without the participation of those affected and the co-presence of significant others, my work could not be done. Accordingly, there is neither a beginning nor end to this study, but a moving forward and generating dementia becoming as the lives of those affected and those who care for them unfold.
Date: 2020
Abstract: JPR’s COVID-19 survey looks at how Jews have been impacted by the pandemic in terms of their health, jobs, finances, relationships and Jewish lives. The findings are being shared in a series of short reports looking at key policy issues, and this one focuses on the issue of how comfortable Jews feel about attending Jewish activities and events in person.

Drawing on survey responses from July 2020, it finds that whilst Jews situate themselves across the full length of the ‘comfort scale’ (running from very comfortable to very uncomfortable), there is a clear leaning towards the uncomfortable end.

Unsurprisingly, those who are uncomfortable are likely to be in older age bands and/or suffering from health conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to the virus. Similarly, those who have had the virus and continue to suffer from secondary symptoms (i.e. ‘Long COVID’) also tend to be uncomfortable about attending events in person.

However, there are some interesting exceptions. The most elderly appear to feel more comfortable than average, and the youngest age bands (those aged 16-24) feel more uncomfortable than average. Those who have had COVID-19 and recovered feel more comfortable than those who have not. And those who have experienced job losses, or have been furloughed, are rather less comfortable than those whose working loves have remained reasonably stable.

It is also very striking to see that, denominationally, the Strictly Orthodox feel most comfortable about attending in-person events, whereas non-synagogue members feel most uncomfortable. Members of other ‘mainstream’ denominations cluster together in between. However, people’s level of religiosity is actually a slightly better predictor than denomination of how comfortable they feel about attending community activities or events in person – those with strong religiosity are most likely to feel comfortable, and those with weak religiosity most likely to feel uncomfortable.

Perhaps most interestingly, there is an important relationship between how comfortable people feel about attending community activities and events in person, and their general state of mental health. Those showing signs of psychological distress feel notably less comfortable than others.

Brief details about the methodology used in the survey are contained in the report. A more detailed methodological is being prepared and will be available shortly.
Date: 2018
Abstract: Jede Vertreibung, Migration oder Flucht hinterlässt ihre Spuren in den Biografien der betroffenen Individuen und in der Geschichte ihrer Familien.
Psychosoziale Dienste berichten demzufolge, dass eine stetig wachsende Zahl von ratsuchenden Shoah-Überlebenden und deren Angehörige unter psychischen Problemen leidet, die mit ihren migrationsbedingten Erfahrungen in einen Zusammenhang gestellt werden können.
Unter welchen Umständen und mit welcher Intensität sich einschneidende biografische Erfahrungen traumatisierend und mit auffälligen Symptomen auswirken, hängt sowohl von der Persönlichkeitsstruktur und den affektiven Reaktionsmustern des Individuums ab als auch von den gesellschaftlichen Bedingungen des Landes, in dem sich die Betreffenden niederließen, um einen biografischen Neuanfang zu wagen.
Die vorliegende Dokumentation versammelt die zentralen Beiträge einer internationalen Konferenz, auf der unterschiedliche Narrative und historische Rahmenbedingungen der verschiedenen Flucht- und Migrationswellen von jüdischen Überlebenden der Shoah nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg aufgearbeitet und deren Auswirkungen auf die aktuellen Lebensbedingungen im Alter beleuchtet wurden.

Aus dem Inhalt

Gad Arnsberg Wer sind wir? Die Vielfalt jüdischen Selbstverständnisses in Deutschland nach 1945. Ein historischer Überblick | Jens Hoppe Erfahrungen von deutschen Juden, die die NS-Verfolgung in Deutschland oder im Exil überlebt haben. Eine historische Einbettung | Hans Jakob Ginsburg Doppelte Fremde: Jüdische Zuwanderer aus Osteuropa in der Bundesrepublik nach 1945 | Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber Leben nach der Shoah: Psychoanalytische Überlegungen ausgehend von der Autobiografie des Psychoanalytikers und Traumaforschers Henri Parens | Gerda Netopil und Klaus Mihacek Psychotrauma im Alter. Eine Analyse des psychosozialen Modells ESRA | Amit Shrira Altern im Schatten transgenerativer Weitergabe der Holocaust-Erfahrungen | Julia Bernstein Multiple Traumatisierung ex-sowjetischer Juden vor und nach der Immigration | Martin Auerbach, Elise Bittenbinder und Lukas Welz Ein Zwiegespräch über Trauma, Flucht und Migration gestern und heute als Fortführung des Dialogs aus dem „PresentPast“-Projekt von AMCHA | Esther Weitzel-Polzer Chaos und Muster. Die Entwicklung einer transkulturellen Organisation am Beispiel eines jüdischen Altenpflegeheims in Deutschland | Andrea Schiff Stolpersteine im Umgang mit traumatisierten alten Menschen. Pflegewissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse für die Pflegepraxis | Jim Sutherland Shoah, Flucht und Migration aus britischer Perspektive. Die Arbeit des Vereins Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) | Sara Soussan „Ehre Vater und Mutter“ — Der Anspruch des fünften Gebots im Spannungsfeld von Altwerden, Krankwerden und Verletztwerden | Doron Kiesel „Schnee von gestern“ — ein Film von Yael Reuveny | Christian Wiese Einsichten und Erkenntnisse

Date: 2003
Abstract: Background: Jewish culturally supported beliefs may discourage drinking and drunkenness as ways of socialising and coping with stress. Thus Jewish men under stress may be relatively more likely to become depressed, and less likely to use and abuse alcohol. This study is the first qualitative comparison of Jews and Protestants, men and women. It examines whether alcohol-related beliefs are consistent with the alcohol-depression hypothesis, i.e. that positive beliefs about alcohol use and effects are associated with high alcohol use and low depression.

Material and discussion: A thematic (interpretive phenomenological) analysis on open-ended question responses, from 70 Jews and 91 Protestants, and on semi-structured interviews with five Jews and four Protestants, identified three salient themes: the importance of retaining self-control; the pleasures of losing inhibitions; and the relations of alcohol-related behaviour to identity. Compared to Protestants, Jews described alcohol-related behaviour as threatening to self-control, loss of inhibition as unenjoyable and dangerous and distinguished between the kinds of drinking behaviours appropriate for Jews and others. Sub-themes for Protestant men were denial that drinking threatens self-control, and appropriateness of going to the pub.

Conclusions: The themes identified are not measurable using published research instruments. Alcohol-related behaviour may be a feature of Jewish identity. The beliefs identified are consistent with the alcohol-depression hypothesis.
Date: 2003
Date: 2000
Date: 2001
Date: 2004
Date: 1997
Abstract: This paper examined stress among two groups of orthodox Jews suggested to differ in the strength of the boundary of their religious group. Comparisons were made between the two groups, and with urban and rural groups studied by other researchers. Proportions of boundary-maintenance events (events whose threat had been caused or exacerbated by Jewishness) and of severe events, and proportions and rates of regular, irregular and disruptive events were examined. Boundary-maintenance events were higher among the more religiously orthodox affiliated group, and among whom religious observance was indeed reported to be higher. It was suggested that conditions of higher boundary maintenance would be associated with higher rates and proportions of regular events and with lower rates and proportions of irregular and disruptive events. Generally, the analyses supported this expectation. Boundary-maintenance events themselves were somewhat less severe, though not less likely to be irregular or disruptive than other events. Depression was shown to be unrelated to boundary-maintenance events and (surprisingly) unrelated to contextual threat when the effects of irregularity-disruption were controlled. Depression was, however, strongly related to irregular and disruptive events. The results are compared with those of related work, and suggest that the general lowering effect of affiliation to a religious group may be partly explained by the effects of boundary maintenance, which involves stress, but of a less depressogenic kind than the disruptive stress associated with conditions of low/no boundary maintenance. The findings have implications for understanding the relations between culture and mental disorder.
Author(s): Kasstan, Ben
Date: 2022
Author(s): Rowland, Gemma
Date: 2016
Abstract: Previous research suggests that children of minority groups may be underserved by
mainstream services (Elster, Jarosik, VanGeest & Fleming, 2003). There has been
an identified need for research that focuses on barriers to accessing services faced
by minority groups, such as the Orthodox Jewish community (Dogra, Singh,
Svirdzenka & Vostansis, 2012). Given that parents are often the gate-keepers to
care (Stiffman, Pescosolido & Cabassa, 2004), understanding their help-seeking
behaviour is crucial to ensure that Orthodox children and families are given the same
opportunities to access services as their majority group peers. To date there is
extremely limited research on the help-seeking behaviours of Orthodox Jewish
parents. The current study sought to consider the experiences of Orthodox Jewish
parents who have accessed Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
in order to seek help for their families.

Semi-structured interviews were completed with nine Orthodox Jewish parents with
regards to their experiences of accessing tier 2 CAMHS for their child. A thematic
analysis was conducted. Four themes were found: ‘The Orthodox community as
unique’, ‘Pathways to help’, ‘Attitudes towards mental health’ and ‘The parental
journey’.

Participants described a number of significant cultural barriers to seeking help.
Stigma was identified as occurring in relation to mental health and also in relation to
the process of help-seeking, as suggested by previous research within adult
Orthodox populations (Feinberg & Feinberg, 1985). These stigmas relate to
concerns regarding labelling and future matchmaking for the child and their siblings.
Parents experience emotional and practical strains in parenting a child with mental
health difficulties and in accessing psychological support for their children. The
implications for service level change and clinical practice are considered.
Date: 2017
Abstract: Background: The English National Health Service (NHS) has significantly extended the supply of evidence based
psychological interventions in primary care for people experiencing common mental health problems. Yet despite
the extra resources, the accessibility of services for ‘under-served’ ethnic and religious minority groups, is considerably
short of the levels of access that may be necessary to offset the health inequalities created by their different exposure
to services, resulting in negative health outcomes. This paper offers a critical reflection upon an initiative that sought
to improve access to an NHS funded primary care mental health service to one ‘under-served’ population, an
Orthodox Jewish community in the North West of England.

Methods: A combination of qualitative and quantitative data were drawn upon including naturally occurring data,
observational notes, e-mail correspondence, routinely collected demographic data and clinical outcomes measures, as
well as written feedback and recorded discussions with 12 key informants.

Results: Improvements in access to mental health care for some people from the Orthodox Jewish community were
achieved through the collaborative efforts of a distributed leadership team. The members of this leadership team
were a self-selecting group of stakeholders which had a combination of local knowledge, cultural understanding,
power to negotiate on behalf of their respective constituencies and expertise in mental health care. Through a process
of dialogic engagement the team was able to work with the community to develop a bespoke service that
accommodated its wish to maintain a distinct sense of cultural otherness.

Conclusions: This critical reflection illustrates how dialogic engagement can further the mechanisms of candidacy,
concordance and recursivity that are associated with improvements in access to care in under-served sections of the
population, whilst simultaneously recognising the limits of constructive dialogue. Dialogue can change the dynamic of
community engagement. However, the full alignment of the goals of differing constituencies may not always be
possible, due the complex interaction between the multiple positions and understandings of stakeholders that are
involved and the need to respect the other’-s’ autonomy.
Author(s): Law, Lisa
Date: 2003
Abstract: Much research recognises the clinical value of considering clients' cultural context. 'Cultural competence' may be considered the balance between sensitive practice and an awareness about particular cultural groups. 'Jewishness' is a powerful influence on the majority of Jewish people, regardless of religiosity. Jewishness incorporates more than Judaism, for example, it includes Jewish history, ethnicity and culture. This research aims to help therapists work with Jewish families by familiarising them with aspects of Jewishness, in order to gain insight to the 'lived experience' of contemporary, British, Jewish families, so as to consider the potential clinical implications of Jewishness and develop cultural competence. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight British-born, culturally, rather than religiously, Jewish mothers aged between 30 and 39. The interview transcripts were analysed using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis methodology. Ten themes (^entity', Tradition and Culture', 'Characteristics', 'Family', 'Community', 'Continuity', 'Difference and Similarity', 'Fear', 'Feelings' and 'Services') were derived from the analysis and considered in terms of clinical implications. For example, the women spoke about a (sometimes) inexplicable 'bicultural' identity and the significant impact of Jewish history. These issues may inhibit Jewish clients from speaking about the relevance of their Jewishness with non-Jewish therapists. Suggestions were made for developing a Jewish cultural, historical and political perspective, so that beliefs, behaviours and characteristics are not misinterpreted and 'therapeutic safety' for Jewish clients is maximised. Other recommendations included using cultural consultants and adopting a systemic framework. Issues that may be particularly difficult for Jewish families were discussed and recommendations for future research made.