Search

The aim of research is to investigate high school students who have moved to Israel from the Palestinian Authority in order to study. We used qualitative research based on semi-structured interviews. The research participants of this study were students and teachers affiliated with a high school in the North of Israel. The paper discusses those students’ experiences of identity crisis between their self-identity and their national identity. The paper also voices the students’ feelings of alienation and disconnection to their school community, leading to gaps in the academic, social, and familial difficulties. This study shows that these difficulties lead to a conflict of identity between their original identity – the Palestinian Authority – and their new identity as students in an Arab school in Israel. This situation might lead to feelings of disconnection and alienation, that must be addressed by the entire school community [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundResearch supports the importance of sports for people with intellectual disability (ID); however, the unique experience of the Special Olympics (SO) World Games has rarely been examined. The aim of this study was to examine how the SO World Games have affected athletes with ID, their parents and siblings, and the relations between their family members. MethodTwenty-three semistructured interviews were conducted with athletes, parents, and siblings within 9 families upon their return from the World Games held in Athens in 2011. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. ResultsFour themes were found. The first theme dealt with the World Games’ role in developing the athletes’ self-identity. The second theme related to the World Games’ positive impact on their family's quality of life. The third theme related to the World Games’ positive impact on siblings, and the fourth theme related to the importance of participation in the World Games in improving community awareness and inclusion for the 3 groups: athletes, parents, and siblings. ConclusionsThe results are discussed and practical implications are highlighted, including the need to increase knowledge and awareness of the SO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the contribution of others in the workplace to the self-identity and job integration of persons with severe mental health problems. Thematic content analysis of in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted in 2009 with 15 Israelis with severe mental health problems who work in a variety of frameworks (protected and supported employment and open market) revealed three main themes: (i) dissatisfaction with the protected work settings in which they were initially employed; (ii) the importance they attributed to their relationships with others in their workplace; and (iii) the change in self-identity they underwent from persons defined by their mental health problems to persons who had worth, abilities and being beyond their illness. The findings underscore the important role of managers and colleagues in integrating persons with mental health problems at work and in strengthening the self-identity of those individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A careful analysis of the Qumran "sectarian" texts reveals a consistent preference for self-identification as "Israel" rather than "Judah." In fact, they contain no unambiguous identifications of the community as "Judah" or its members as "Judeans". Like most biblical texts and unlike Josephus and the authors of 1–2 Maccabees, the Qumran community does not equate Israelite with Judean. They regard themselves as the vanguard of the eschatological restoration of the twelve tribes; for them, the Judean state is not the sole heir of biblical Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]