The victim and the psychologist: Changing perceptions of Israeli holocaust survivors by the mental health community in the past 50 years.

Abstract

The article focuses on the changing themes of psychological theory in regard to posttraumatic effects of the Holocaust on its survivors in the course of the past 50 years. An examination of pertinent changes in the Israeli society during that time period helps clarify these themes. Three stages of change have been identified, each with its different concerns, key issues, consensual answers, and attitudes toward Holocaust survivors. These concerns are (a) who survived? (b) are survivors psychologically healthy or sick? and (c) have the posttraumatic effects extended beyond the survivors (e.g., to their families)? The analysis reveals similarity between the concerns that guided the development of psychological theory and those that governed social discourse on the Holocaust and its survivors in Israeli society. The implications of this analogy for the development of psychological theory and the understanding of societal coping with massive social traumas are discussed. The analysis draws on psychological literature on posttraumatic stress and on sociohistorical analyses of Israeli society.