Growing Up in Israel: Lessons on Understanding the Effects of Political Violence on Children

This chapter summarizes a multifaceted program of research on youth in Israel and Palestine. It outlines a model for the study of the effects of political violence on children and presents a summary of data derived with the use of this paradigm, which includes contrasting effects for Israeli and Palestinian youth. This political life events model enables the examination of the differing severity of exposure for children divided along different demographic categories such as age, gender, residential location, and religious adherence. Further, the scale used allows for the study of the consequences to children's mental health from exposure to differing levels of severity and for the detection of those factors that enhance resilience in coping with exposure to political violence.