Objective This study examines the contribution of income, familial and social support, sense of community, and societal conditional regard to the well-being and self-efficacy of women experiencing intimate partner abuse (IPA) in Israel.Background The prevalence of IPA is a recognized global public health threat. While most research focuses on individual psychological impacts, feminist theory suggests broader community systems play crucial roles in women's experiences.Methods This study analyzed data from Israeli women (n = 124; aged 25-75, M = 40.5, SD = 9.8) who experienced IPA. Path analysis tested a mediation model examining how community factors and income contribute to well-being and self-efficacy.Results Familial and social support mediated relationships between community factors and outcomes. Sense of community and societal conditional positive regard functioned as protective factors, whereas societal conditional negative regard emerged as a risk factor. Economic status influenced support systems, with lower income women receiving less support, negatively affecting well-being and self-efficacy.Conclusion Communities serve dual roles for women experiencing IPA-providing protection through positive regard and connection, while potentially undermining well-being through negative conditional attitudes.Implications These findings highlight the need for community-based interventions alongside individual treatment approaches, emphasizing the connection between private and public spheres in addressing IPA.

Closed religious communities cultivate a robust communal identity, shared faith, values, and norms among their members, providing them with social and emotional support. Deviance carries significant consequences, specifically disintegrating members' sense of belonging. Gambling disorder (GD) is characterized by harmful gambling behaviors that negatively affect individuals' lives. While gambling is a prevalent recreational activity, within closed religious communities, addiction, including GD, is viewed as a violation of religious teachings, values, and communal norms. This study explores GD's impact on the sense of belonging of Jewish Ultra-Orthodox men and their spouses in Israel. This research employed constructivist grounded theory, interviewing twenty-two men with GD and eleven spouses and uncovered two complementary themes. The first, "Depleting versus replenishing of the personal aspects of sense of belonging," elucidates GD's different effects on the men and spouses' sense of belonging. The second, "Paying the toll," illuminates the emotional experiences and actions of the men and the spouses in reaction to societal conditional negative regard directed at them, disintegrating the sense of belonging of the men, but also that of the spouses who did not deviate from communal norms. The paper introduces the novel concept of "an empty pool/pull," portraying these individuals' limbo state. The "empty pool" represents the depletion of faith, adherence to religious commandments, and communal values for the men, while the "empty pull" signifies the inclination of the men and the spouses to conform amid the community's unfulfilled promise of protection. The study advocates for further research and offers clinical insights for therapists.

The Jewish Ultraorthodox community in Israel strongly opposes enlisting in the Israeli military. Young men who violate this norm must cope with negative social consequences such as stigma. In the current study we investigated risk and protective factors (self-esteem, sense of community, positive and negative societal conditional regard, and "tightness of the community") for public stigma against Ultraorthodox former soldiers, both among these young men and among community members. Among soldiers we also examined the determination of self-stigma. The first study comprised 153 participants between the ages of 20 and 55 (M = 29.64, SD = 6.89); the second study comprised 433 participants between the ages of 21 and 75 (M = 36, SD = 10.82). Path analysis models indicated the protective role played by self-esteem and societal conditional positive regard in participants' perception of public and self-stigma, and the risk factor posed by societal conditional negative regard and "tightness of the community." Sense of community was found to be a protective factor only for soldiers; for community members it was found to be a risk factor that increased public stigma. The findings reveal that stigma exacts a price not only from soldiers but also from the community, leading to losses for all involved.

Making sense of the social world is an intricate process heavily influenced by cultural elements. Gambling is a prevalent leisure-time activity characterized by risk-taking conduct. While some individuals who engage in it do so without experiencing any harm, others will develop gambling problems. Judaism tends to perceive gambling negatively since it contradicts fundamental Jewish principles. The current study focuses on the Jewish Ultra-Orthodox community in Israel which is characterized as a cultural enclave with minimal interaction with the secular world. Hence, it provides a unique and novel socio-cultural context to inquire how individuals with gambling disorder (GD) from this community make sense of gambling. Following constructivist grounded theory guidelines, 22 Ultra-Orthodox men with GD were interviewed using a purposeful sampling design. Sixteen Rabbis were also interviewed, illuminating the socio-cultural context of Halachic regulations and norms regarding gambling in this community. An abductive analysis of the data, interwoven with Bourdieu's concept of habitus, yielded an overarching theme that we dub as "sense for gambling," encompassing matrices of Ultra-Orthodox external (e.g., a conservative cultural structure with numerous prohibitions and life marked by poverty) and internal (e.g., feelings of loneliness, dissatisfaction, and deviance) dispositions imprinted onto the body, creating diverse embodied reactions (emotional and sensory) to gambling, and leading to developing GD. We recommend placing the body, as the locus of internalized dispositions, at the core of examination when researching pathways to GD. We propose that this intricate interplay between external and internal dispositions shapes the decision-making regarding gambling, thus mitigating individual responsibility for GD.

IntroductionA developing theoretical framework for the investigation of tight cultures’ reaction toward members who violate communal norms is societal conditional regard (SCR).MethodsUsing a qualitative interpretive approach, in the current study we investigated the way the Ultraorthodox Jewish community uses SCR to cope with substance use disorders (SUDs), which considered to be a norms violation in closed religious communities. We did so by drawing on in-depth interviews with 14 young men from the Ultraorthodox community in Israel who were diagnosed as having an SUD and were in recovery.Results(a) The community’s socialization process, educating its members to lead a life that is the only right one; (b) The community’s use of God as the one whose love and regard are conditional; (c) The SCR emotional and behavioral practices used by the community toward individuals who violate norms, and (d) How, paradoxically, the use of SCR may eventuate in the initiation of drug use, and within the community itself.DiscussionFindings are discussed in the context of self-determination theory and SCR, and shed light on how tight cultures cope with the threat of deviation of communal norms. Implications for intervention and policy are outlined.

The COVID-19 pandemic has required frontline health care workers to cope with an unexpected and almost unprecedented emergency situation. Community social workers had played a crucial role during the pandemic, working to alleviate its adverse effects on marginalized communities. The present study investigated community social workers' experiences and hardships in coping with the "age of COVID-19." Drawing on in-depth interviews with 30 frontline community social workers in Israel, the findings highlighted three main themes: (a) the hope for recognition and the reality of underutilization; (b) the impact of the dysfunctional state on community social workers; and (c) realizing the core values and activities of community social work practice during the pandemic. Findings pointed to community social workers' professionalism and integrity despite the hardships they endured at the local and national levels. Committing on an altruistic level seemed to be an adaptive coping style, alongside facing "the politics of pandemics." Implications for community practice are outlined. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Based on social capital theory, in the current study, we examined the contribution of background variables (education and living with/without parents), a personal resource (religiosity), and two communal resources (a sense of community, and both positive and negative societal conditional regard) to the well-being and hope of divorced women from the Muslim community in Israel. The study included 125 women between the ages of 20 and 60 (M = 36, SD = 9.10). A path analysis model indicated a sense of community as a protective factor that directly contributed to well-being and hope and also mediated positively between education and religiosity and between well-being and hope. However, societal conditional negative regard (SCNR) made a negative contribution to well-being and hope, both directly and indirectly via the sense of community. In the discussion, we highlight the conflict experienced by Muslim divorced women: between remaining part of the Muslim community and undergoing SCNR.

Israeli law requires citizens to enlist in the army at 18 years old. However, the Jewish Ultraorthodox community has a longstanding agreement with the state that members of this community will not have to enlist in the army, given its spiritual leaders’ strong opposition. Still, there are young men who go against the communal norms and enlist. In the current study we investigated these young men and the contribution of their self-esteem (a personal resource), their sense of community (a communal resource), and the community members’ attitudes toward them (societal conditional regard, both positive and negative, and stigma) to their wellbeing. The current study consisted of 153 participants between the ages of 20 and 55 ( M = 29.64, SD = 6.89). A path analysis model indicated the protective role played by self-esteem and sense of community in participants’ wellbeing, and the risk factor posed by societal conditional negative regard and stigma. Moreover, self-esteem was found to mediate between income and wellbeing, whereas sense of community was found to mediate between societal conditional negative regard and wellbeing, and between stigma and wellbeing. The discussion highlights the complexity of the protective role played by sense of community against the risk of experiencing societal conditional negative regard and stigma. It also addresses the importance of promoting intervention programs during the army service of these young men, with a focus on promoting their self-esteem and on the presence of a spiritual leadership that legitimizes working, serving in the army, and yet still being part of the community.

The social work profession emphasises the importance of social workers' involvement in community practice, which aims to promote social policy and social change via peoples' organising and acting. The current qualitative study compares between the perceptions and everyday experiences of governmental and non-governmental community social workers. Drawing on in-depth interviews with twenty-six community social workers in the public social services and non-governmental organisations in Israel, findings highlight similarities and differences along three main themes: (i) community social workers' constructions of their professional role, referring to soft community practice verus radical community practice and to aspects of influence; (ii) the tension between the professional freedom they hold and the limitations imposed on them; and (iii) professional position within the organisation and the field of community social work. We discuss these findings in light of the theoretical perspectives of perception of organisational politics and emotional labour. Implications to community practice are outlined.

From the earliest days of the Covid-19 pandemic, which disproportionately affected marginalised communities around the world, community practice had assumed a critical role on the front lines of the social services' response to the pandemic. While scholars have devoted growing attention to community practice in normal and crisis times, little is known about the emotions of community practitioners and how they deal with them in order to do their job well. Drawing on Hochschild's concept of 'emotional labour,' this study examines how community social workers confronted the emotions they felt during the Covid-19 pandemic so as to meet the requirements of their job. We address this question by drawing on in-depth interviews with 30 community social workers in the public social services in Israel. Our research shows that community social workers experienced a wide range of interrelated negative emotions, including helplessness, frustration, disappointment, and anger. In response, workers developed four distinct coping mechanisms: emotional distancing;sharing of emotions;self-soothing;and politization. Building on Foucault's notion of 'technologies of the self,' our analysis reveals that Covid-19 produced what we call 'pandemic subjectivity' among human service professionals.

BACKGROUND:Substance use disorders (SUDs) are a worldwide phenomenon with very negative consequences, and belonging to a religious community is considered to be a protective factor against them. The pathways to SUDs have been investigated in many studies with the aim of helping us better understand this phenomenon and promoting effective intervention programs to prevent and manage it. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding SUDs in closed religious communities such as the Ultraorthodox Jewish community.METHOD:To fill this gap, in the current study we investigated the pathways to SUDs among 14 young men from the Ultraorthodox Jewish community in Israel who were diagnosed as having an SUD in the past and who had been in sustained remission for at least a year. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews consisting of open-ended questions were conducted.RESULTS:The findings highlighted two main themes: (a) A lack of support and attention from various systems, where participants reported sense of otherness or lack of belonging to family, educational institutions and community; a lack of responsiveness from those systems; a sense of rejection or exclusion; and a longing for belonging, and (b) A light in the darkness - someone who cares, in which the interviewees received some assistance, either in the period before or during drug use.CONCLUSION:Findings point to the unique experience of Ultraorthodox young men in their addiction process and shed light on the failure of the abovementioned systems to help these young men cope. Findings are discussed in the context of the theoretical perspectives of social capital theory and exclusion. Implications for intervention and policy are outlined.

Based on self-determination theory this study examined the contribution of background variables (age and economic status) as well as personal (religiosity and optimism), environmental (presence of supportive figure), and psychological (fulfillment of basic needs) resources to life satisfaction among Ultraorthodox Jewish young women who left care. The study, conducted among Ultraorthodox young women in Israel, included 95 participants between the ages of 18 and 27 (M = 21.8, SD = 2.18), who left a care framework designed especially for Ultraorthodox at-risk young women. A path analysis model indicated the significant role played by the fulfillment of three basic needs - competence, relatedness, and autonomy - which directly contributed to life satisfaction and also mediated between optimism and presence of supportive figure on the one hand, and life satisfaction on the other. Moreover, economic status was found to make a direct significant positive contribution to life satisfaction. Surprisingly, religiosity made no contribution to life satisfaction. The discussion highlights the importance - given their affiliation with a close, collectivistic community - of the fulfillment of basic needs of Ultraorthodox young women who left care. It also addresses the importance of promoting intervention programs while these young women are still in care, focusing on economic opportunities and on the presence of a supportive figure in their lives after they leave care.

The matter of the role of the social worker within religious communities has occupied researchers and professionals during the last several years. One of the religious communities discussed in the literature is the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, as a result of its insular nature, the distance it keeps from society at large and the growing need for professional treatment within this sector. To date, the literature regarding religious communities has focused mainly on individual and group interventions. The current article, however, focuses on the unique task of community social workers in the ultra-Orthodox community and the challenges of conducting macro-level interventions. Focusing on core issues of community social work, the current study aims to shed light on community development (including building trusting and cooperative relationship, empowerment and leadership) and promoting social change. The article focuses on challenges and opportunities in community social work in a closed religious community and provides principles for each of the above points of intervention. Finally, with reference to community social work’s goals, the article conceptualises the main goal of the community social worker in these kinds of communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has required public social services departments to cope with an unexpected and unprecedented emergency situation. As community social workers work on the macrolevel and deal with entire communities in emergency situations, the present study investigated the challenges they face as well as the factors that promoted they are coping during the "age of COVID." Drawing on in-depth interviews with 20 managers of community social work departments in Israel, findings highlighted three main themes: (a) organizational politics, which impeded community social workers' work; (b) the mobilization of both professional community social work staff as well as civilians; and (c) the perception of the crisis as an opportunity. Findings pointed to the challenges, promotive factors, and perceptions of community social workers in public social services departments who have had to cope with the pandemic. We discuss these findings in light of the theoretical perspectives of "the politics of pandemic" pandemic, social support, and resilience. Implications for community practice are outlined. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

The COVID-19 pandemic has had the greatest negative impact on marginalised populations, and public social services have been called upon to provide solutions for a wide range of problems at the community level. As an integral part of public social services, community social workers have been expected to play an essential role in coping with the pandemic, due to their expertise in working at the community level. The study's findings reveal that whilst confusion and a feeling of being overwhelmed reigned amongst other municipal staff, community social workers-who have resilience factors as well as organisational and leadership skills-were able to function creatively and efficiently, and were a significant factor in social services' ability to cope with the effects of the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has required health care professionals to cope with an unexpected emergency situation, and to provide solutions for a wide range of problems at the community level. As community social workers work on the macro level and deal with entire communities in emergency situations, the current study examined how well they functioned during the first wave of the pandemic in Israel. The study included in-depth interviews with twenty community social workers who work as managers of community social work departments in Israel. It utilised a qualitative-constructivist perspective. Three main themes were highlighted regarding the managers' coping with the pandemic: (i) creative thinking, which was reflected in their development of solutions and fundraising, both in general and for special groups in particular; (ii) functional flexibility; and (iii) communal networking with community members and organisations. The unique qualities and personal resources of community social workers in public social services played an important role in their coping with the pandemic, and community practice is critical for dealing with emergency situations. Findings are discussed in light of the theoretical perspectives of resilience. Implications for community practice are outlined.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the contribution of the process of becoming less religious (BLR), compared with that of the dropout process, to youths' well-being. The study focused on high school dropouts from Ultraorthodox Jewish communities, where dropout is accompanied by various social repercussions. On the basis of the conservation of resources theory, the study also focused on the loss of social resources-that is, sense of community, involvement and representation in the peer group, societal conditional positive regard (SCPR) and societal conditional negative regard (SCNR)-with respect to BLR and to dropout. The study, conducted in Israel among Ultraorthodox Jewish males, included 261 participants, ages 14 through 21 years (M = 17. SD = 1.17). A mediation analysis indicated a significant negative direct and indirect relationship via SCNR between BLR and subjective well-being. Becoming less religious was also correlated with low levels of the following social resources: sense of community and involvement and representation in the peer group. However, only a significant negative indirect effect of dropout stages on well-being via SCNR was observed. Dropouts reported higher levels of SCPR and SCNR than youth from the other groups, but there was no correlation with the other social resources. Findings highlight BLR as a greater risk factor for religious dropouts' well-being, and for loss of social resources, than the dropout process. Implications for promoting positive well-being are discussed.

Focusing on the unique social characteristics of closed communities, the current study examined the predictors of high-school dropout among Ultraorthodox Jewish youth, focusing on background variables [i.e., individual's age, family's religious group affiliation, and other high-school dropout(s) in family]; social resources (i.e., self-esteem and mastery); and parental conditional regard (PCR) and societal conditional regard (SCR), with reference to both positive regard and negative regard. The study was conducted in Israel with the participation of 261 Ultraorthodox Jewish males, ages 14-21 (M = 17, SD = 1.17), who were at different stages in the dropout process. Path analysis modeling indicated that being a member of a newly religious family, or of a family in which another member had already dropped out of school, was a predictor of dropout. Surprisingly, personal resources were not found to be a predictor of dropout, whereas parental conditional regard and societal conditional negative regard (SCNR) were found to be the most significant predictors. Findings highlight the unique predictors of high-school dropout among youth from the Ultraorthodox Jewish community, and the role of PCR and SCR in this process.