Coping strategies in the narratives of holocaust survivors

Abstract

Although the memories of Holocaust survivors have been explored in a vast number of autobiographical, biographical, and clinical publications, there has been very little application of nomothetic as opposed to idiographic methodology in this area. Group-based research has primarily involved clinical samples. The current study was designed to obtain objective, quantitative data as to how survivors now functioning in the community recall coping with the problems that they had confronted. Content analysis was performed on 30 videotaped autobiographical interviews of Holocaust survivors, comprised of 5 men and 5 women in each of 3 age groups (child, adolescent, or adult at the end of the Holocaust). There were significant time period (pre-Holocaust, Early and Late Holocaust, post-Holocaust) differences in the appearance of 8 coping strategies; age differences in 2 strategies; and 2 significant age x time period interactions. In general, memories of coping during the Holocaust emphasize direct, problem-oriented behavior, although mention of religious faith, superstition, and luck also increased. Seeking social support decreased temporarily during the Holocaust. Purely emotional amelioration strategies did not increase for the Holocaust period. Systematic content analysis of oral history archives can serve as a useful quantitative, nomothetic addition to the predominantly qualitative, idiographic psychological literature of the Holocaust.