Is My Home My Castle? Place Attachment, Risk Perception, and Religious Faith

Abstract

This study dealt with place and home attachment of Jewish settlers in the Gaza region affected by hostilities incurring risk to the settlers’ lives. It evaluated the variables related to the settlers’ risk perception and their tendency to stay or leave their homes in a sample consisting of 156 of 947 households interviewed by telephone. The researchers evaluated how risk perception and the tendency to stay were related to demographic characteristics such as gender and length of time living in the region and to cultural characteristics such as place and home attachment, ideology, and religious faith. In spite of the dangerous environment, the settlers were found to have a strong tendency to stay in the area, related to their firm ideology of holding on to the land, profound religious faith, strong place and home attachment, and low risk perception of their situation.