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The Intergenerational Aftermath of War Captivity: The Israeli Experience

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An International Perspective on Disasters and Children's Mental Health

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Abstract

This chapter is devoted to an examination of the aftermath of war captivity as implicated in the next (second) generation. Capitalizing on findings from a nearly three-decade and four-wave longitudinal study, we present cumulative evidence regarding the psychological and interpersonal ramifications of war captivity for Israeli former prisoners of war (ex-POWs) and underscore the intergenerational effects of the fathers’/ex-POWs’ experiences on their adult offspring. Taking into consideration the relational context of the family system, the chapter addresses post-traumatic phenomena manifesting among the offspring as impacted by their fathers’ trauma and post-traumatic stress symptoms, their mothers’ secondary traumatic stress, and the complex interaction of familial subsystems, such as the marital and the parental relationships. Clinical and societal implications are drawn, and directions for future research in the field are discussed and encouraged.

The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.

(Ezekiel 18:2)

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Notes

  1. 1.

    According to attachment theory (Bowlby 1973, 1982), healthy parenting cultivates a healthy and secure attachment style within the child. Such parenting involves care and emotional attunement to the child’s needs. In contrast, a pathological pattern of parenting is characterized by mal-attunement, emotional neglect, and a failure to match the child’s developmental needs and fosters insecure children and adults. Such insecurities, it is argued Mikulincer and Shaver (2007), are driven by the conviction that relationships may be dangerous and that they harbor potential hurt, and the resulting behaviors may be characterized by both avoidance and anxiety. Attachment avoidance involves the belief that relationships are better avoided than engaged in because they will never be benevolent, whereas attachment anxiety is manifested in the ambivalent pursuit of relationships while maintaining a constant fear that these relationships will become abusive or end (i.e., separation anxiety).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. I-CORE Research Center for Mass Trauma, Bob Shapell School of Social Work at Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Jacob Y. Stein, Roy Aloni, Laura Crompton & Zahava Solomon

  2. Department of Behavioral Sciences, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel

    Gadi Zerach

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  1. Jacob Y. Stein
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  2. Roy Aloni
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  3. Laura Crompton
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  4. Gadi Zerach
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  5. Zahava Solomon
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Christina W. Hoven

  2. New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Lawrence V. Amsel

  3. Tel Aviv University School of Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Sam Tyano

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Stein, J.Y., Aloni, R., Crompton, L., Zerach, G., Solomon, Z. (2019). The Intergenerational Aftermath of War Captivity: The Israeli Experience. In: Hoven, C., Amsel, L., Tyano, S. (eds) An International Perspective on Disasters and Children's Mental Health. Integrating Psychiatry and Primary Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15872-9_16

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