In February 1994, an Israeli settler shot Muslim worshippers at the Ibrahime Mosque at Hebron, West Bank. Fifty-three people were killed, and 200 injured. The Derogatis Symptom Checklist-Revised (SCL-90-R), a 90-item 5-point self-administered discomfort scale was administered to all surviving widows (n=23), daughters (n=12), and sons (n=26). Statistically significant different results occurred in 3 of 9 subscales. Widows scored higher somatization than the daughters, who scored higher than the sons. Daughters scored higher phobia than the widows, who scored higher than the sons. Widows scored higher anxiety than the daughters, who scored higher than the sons. Culturally-and-religiously-proscribed gender and familial roles appear to contribute to the different bereavement response patterns. No respondents sought professional mental health counseling.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Al-AdawiS.BurjoreeR., & Al-IssaI. (1997). Mu-ghayeb: A culture-specific response to bereavement in Oman. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 43(2), 144–151.
2.
Al-IssaI. (1990). Culture and mental illness in Algeria. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 36(3), 230–240.
3.
Al-KrenawiA. (1996). Group work with Bedouin widows of the Negev in a medical clinic. Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work, 11(3), 303–318.
4.
Al-KrenawiA. (1998). Family therapy with a multiparental/multispousal family. Family Process, 37(1), 65–81.
5.
Al-KrenawiA. (1999). Explanations of mental health symptoms by the Bedouin-Arabs of the Negev. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 45(1), 56–64.
6.
Al-KrenawiA. (2000). Ethno-psychiatry among the Bedouin-Arab of the Negev.Tel-Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing (in Hebrew).
7.
Al-KrenawiA., & GrahamJ. R. (1996). Social work and traditional healing rituals among the Bedouin of the Negev. International Social Work, 39(2), 177–188.
8.
Al-KrenawiA., & GrahamJ. R. (2000). Culturally sensitive social work practice with Arab clients in mental health settings. Health and Social Work, 25(1), 9–22.
9.
Al-KrenawiA.GrahamJ. R., & Al-KrenawiS. (1997). Social work practice with ploygamous families. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 14(6), 445–458.
10.
AvisN.BrambillaV., & McKinlayJ. B. (1991). The effect of widowhood on health: A prospective analysis from the Massachusetts women's health study. Social Science and Medicine, 33(9), 1063–1070.
11.
BakerA. (1990). The psychological impact of the Intifatda on Palestinian children in Occupied West Bank and Gaza. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 60, 496–505.
12.
BalkwellC. (1981). Transition to widowhood: A review of the literature. Family Relations, 30(1), 117–127.
13.
BitS. (1991). The warrior heritage: A psychological perspective of Cambodian trauma.El Cerrito, USA: Seanglim.
14.
BruceM. L.KilmK.LeafP. J., & JacobS. (1990). Depressive episodes and dysphoria resulting from conjugal bereavement in a prospective community sample. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 608–611.
15.
CairnsE. (1996). Children and political violence.Oxford: Blackwell.
16.
ClarkeG. N.SackW. H., & GoffB. (1993). Three forms of stress in Cambodian adolescent refugees. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 21, 65–77.
17.
DerogatisL. R. (1977). SCL-90-R administration, scoring and procedure manual for R (revised) version.Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
18.
DerogatisL. R. (1992). SCL-90-R Manual: Administration, scoring and procedures.Baltimore, MD: Clinical Psychometric Research.
19.
DerogatisL.RickelsK., & RochA. (1976). SCL-90 and the MMPI: A step in the validity of a new self-report scale. British Journal of Psychiatry, 128, 280–289.
20.
DiGuilioJ. F. (1992). Early widowhood: An atypical transition. Journal of Mental Health Counselling, 14(1), 97–107.
21.
DinningW. D., & EvanR. G. (1977). Discriminate and convergence validity of the SCL-90 in psychiatric inpatients. Journal of Personality Assessment, 41, 304–310.
22.
DwairyM. A. (1998). Cross-cultural counselling: The Arab-Palestinian case.New York: Haworth Press.
23.
El-IslamM. F., & Abu-DaggaS. (1992). Lay explanation of symptoms of mental health in Kuwait. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 38(2), 150–156.
24.
El-SarrajE.PunamaekiR. L.SalmiS., & SummerfieldD. (1996). Experiences of torture and ill-treatment and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms among Palestinian political prisoners. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9(3), 595–606.
25.
EisnberuchM. (1991). From post-traumatic stress disorder to cultural bereavement: Diagnosis of Southeast Asian refugees. Social Science and Medicine, 33(6), 673–680.
26.
EriksonE. (1963). Childhood and society.New York: Norton.
FergusonN., & CairnsE. (1996). Political violence and moral maturity in Northern Ireland. Political psychology, 17, 713–725.
29.
FriedmanM. J., & MarsellaA. J. (1996). Posttraumatic stress disorders: An overview of the concept. In MarsellaA. J.FriedmanM. J.GerrityE. T., & ScurfieldR. M. (Eds.), Ethnocultural aspects of posttraumatic stress disorders: Issues, research and clinical applications (pp. 11–32). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
30.
GanS.HillJ. R.PschernigE., & ZillmanD. (1996). The Hebron Massacre, selective reports of Jewish reactions, and perceptions of volatility in Israel. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 40(1), 122–131.
31.
GeorgasJ. (1989). Changing family values in Greece: From collectivist to individualist. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 20(1), 80–91.
32.
HelsingK.SzakloM., & ComstockG. (1981). Factors associated with mortality after widowhood. American Journal of Public Health, 17, 802–809.
33.
HofstedeG. (1986). Cultural differences in teaching and learning. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 10(3), 301–320.
34.
HoliM. M.SammallahtiP. R., & AalbergV. A. (1998). A Finnish validation study of the SCL-90. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 97, 42–46.
35.
Holmes-EberP. (1997). Migration, urbanization, and women's kin. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 28(2), 54–73.
36.
HouseJ., & KahnR. (1985). Measures and concepts of social support. In CohenS. & SymeS. L. (Eds.). Social support and health (pp. 83–108). New York: Academic Press.
37.
JacobsonD. J. (1986). Timing of social support. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 27, 250–264.
38.
JensenS. P., & ShawJ. (1993). Children as victims of war: Current knowledge and future research needs. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32(4), 697–708.
39.
KaferR.HodkinB.FurrowD., & LandryT. (1993). What do the Montreal murders mean? Attitudinal and demographic predictors of attribution. Canadian Journal of Behaviourial Science, 25(4), 541–558.
40.
KaluW. (1990). Bereavement and stress in career women. Women and Therapy, 10(3), 75–87.
41.
KhaldiA. S., & AghaG. H. (1994). After the Hebron Massacre. Palestinian Studies Journal, 17, 2–11 (in Arabic).
42.
KeyesC. F. (1985). The interpretative basis of depression. In KleinmanA. & GoodB. (Eds.), Culture and depression: Studies in the anthropology and cross-cultural psychiatry of affect and disorder (pp. 153–175). Berkeley: University of California Press.
43.
KirmayerL. (1984). Cultural affect and somatization. Part I. Transcultural Psychiatric Research Review, 21, 159–188.
44.
KissaneD. W.BlochS., & McKenzieD. P. (1997). The bereavement phenomenology questionnaire: A single factor only. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 31(3), 370–374.
45.
KleinmanA. (1988). The illness narratives: Suffering, healing, and the human condition.New York: Basic Books.
46.
KleinmanA., & GoodB. (Eds.). (1985). Culture and depression: Studies in the anthropology and cross-cultural psychiatry of affect and disorder.Berkeley: University of California Press.
47.
LongstrethG. F.MasonC.SchreiberI., & Tsao-WeiD. (1998). Group psychotherapy for women molested in childhood: Psychological and somatic symptoms and medical visits. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 48(4), 533–541.
48.
MacksoudM. S., & AberJ. L. (1996). The war experiences and psychosocial development of children in Lebanon. Child Development, 67, 70–88.
49.
MahlerM. (1968). On human symbiosis and the vicissitudes of individuation: Infantile psychosis (Vol. 1). New York: International University Press.
50.
MarsellaA. J., & FriedmanM. J. (Eds.). (1996). Ethnocultural aspects of post-traumatic stress disorder: Issues, research, and clinical applications.Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
51.
MaschioT. (1992). To remember the faces of the dead: Mourning and the full sadness of memory in South-western New Britain. Ethos, 20, 387–420.
52.
MofficH. S., & KinzieJ. D. (1996). The history and future of cross-cultural psychiatric services. Community Mental Health Journal, 32(6), 581–592.
53.
NohS., & AvisonW. R. (1992). Assessing psychopathology in immigrants. Journal of Psychiatry, 37, 640–645.
54.
ObeyesekereG. (1990). The work of culture.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
55.
O'DeaT. (1966). The sociology of religion.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
ParkesC. (1972). Bereavement studies of grief in adult life.London: Tavistock.
58.
ParryJ. K., & Shen RyanA. (Eds.). (1995). A cross-cultural look at death, dying and religion.Chicago: Nelson-Hall Publishers.
59.
PinheyT. K., & EllisopnC. G. (1997). Gender differences in outcomes of bereavement in an Asian-Pacific population. Social Science Quarterly, 78(1), 186–195.
60.
PunamakiR. L. (1996). Can ideology commitment protect children's psychological well-being in situations of political violence?Child Development, 67, 55–69.
61.
QoutaS.PunamakiR., & El-SarrajE. (1997). House demolition and mental health: Victims and witnesses. Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, 6(3), 203–211.
62.
QoutaS.PunamakiR., & E-SarrajE. (1995). Relations between traumatic experiences, activity, cognitive and emotional responses among Palestinian children. International Journal of Psychology, 30, 289–304.
63.
RacyJ. (1980). Somatization in Saudi women. A Therapeutic challenge. British Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 212–216.
64.
RiefW., & FichterM. (1992). The symptom check-list SCL-90 and its ability to discriminate between dysthymia, anxiety disorders and anorexia nervosa. Psychopathology, 33, 128–138.
65.
RosenblatP. C. (1993). Grief: The social context of private feelings. In StroebeM. S. & HanssonR. O. (Eds.), Handbook of bereavement: Theory, research, and intervention (pp. 91–101). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
66.
RosenblatP. C.PatriciaW., & DouglasA. J. (1976). Grief and mourning in cross-cultural perspective.New Haven: Human Relations Area File Press.
67.
RosaldoR. (1989). Introduction: Grief and the headhunter's rage. In RosaldoR. (Ed.), Culture and truth: The remaking of social analysis (pp. 1–24). Boston: Beacon Press.
68.
SackH. W.ClarkeC.HimC.DicksonD.GroffB.LanhamK., & KinzieD. (1993). A 6-year follow-up study of Cambodian refugee adolescents traumatized as children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32(2), 431–437.
69.
SavayaR. (1998). The under-use of psychological services by Israeli Arabs: An examination of the role of negative attitudes and the use of alternative sources of help. International Social Work, 41, 195–209.
70.
SawaR. J. (1986). Widowhood. Canadian Family Physician, 32, 2659–62.
71.
Scheper-HughesN. (1992). Death without weeping: The violence of everyday life in Brazil.Berkeley: University of California Press.
72.
SolomonZ. (1989). A three year prospective study of post traumatic stress disorder in Israeli combat veterans. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 2, 101–103.
73.
StroebeM. S. (1998). New directions in bereavement research: Exploration of gender differences. Palliative Medicine, 12(1), 5–12.
74.
SueD., & SueD. (1990). Counselling the culturally different: Theory and practice (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
75.
SwagmanC. F. (1989). Fija: Fright and illness in highland Yemen. Social Science and Medicine, 28(4), 381–388.
76.
TerrL. C. (1983). Chowchilla revisited: The effects of psychic trauma four years after a school-bus kidnaping. American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 1543–1550.
77.
TriandisH. C. (1985). Collectivism vs. individualism: A reconceptualization of a basic concept in cross-cultural social psychology. In BagleyC. & VermaG. K. (Eds.), Personality, cognition, and values.London: Macmillan.
78.
VitebskyP. (1993). Dialogue with the dead.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
79.
VonkM. E., & BruceT. (1999). Evaluating the effectiveness of short term treatment at a university counselling center. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55(9), 1095–1106.
80.
WikanU. (1988). Bereavement and loss in two Muslim communities: Egypt and Bali compared. Social Science and Medicine, 27(5), 451–460.
81.
WilkersonR. (1987). The influence of religion on the subjective well-being of the widowed. In LopataH. Z. (Ed.), Widows, vol. II: North America (pp. 95–108). Durham: Duke University Press.
82.
ZivcicI. (1993). Emotional reaction of children to war stress in Croatia. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32(4), 709–713.
