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While extensive research has been done on high-school dropouts’ adjustment, there is little data on dropouts from closed religious communities. This study examines the contribution of personal and social resources to the adjustment of high school dropouts in Ultraorthodox Jewish communities in Israel. Using a randomized design, the research population included 261 Ultraorthodox Jewish male youths, ages 14–21 (M = 17, SD = 1.71), who were at different stages of the dropout process. Structural equation modeling was used to explore the direct and indirect effects between the various stages of the dropout process, social and personal resources, and adjustment. Students in high school or in a program for high school dropouts showed higher levels of loneliness and lower levels of involvement and representation in the peer group than did dropouts. However, higher levels of personal and social resources were found among students than among dropouts. Furthermore, sense of community was found to be a protective factor for positive adjustment only for students, while for dropouts it seemed to constitute a risk factor. The findings expose the highly complex situation of at-risk youths in the Ultraorthodox Jewish community. Efforts to keep them in the community’s educational frameworks seem to create pressure and put these youths at risk. At the same time, the poor resources of youths who do not stay in the community`s educational frameworks may lower their positive adjustment. Implications for promoting positive adjustment are discussed.

One consistent finding in the area of school violence is that students that have been victimized at school are more likely to feel unsafe. This finding is based primarily on analysis of dichotomous measures of victimization. Little attention has been given to the effect of repeated victimization experiences on the feeling of safety. We used a nationally representative sample of 2199 Israeli Jewish and Arab students to explore this issue with reference to multiple experiences with the same type of victimization as well as experiences with different types of school violence. Our study confirms that being a victim of school violence decreases the feeling of safety, but suggests that a single experience may be more significant for this relationship than multiple victimizations.

Background Many children who suffer parental maltreatment are unknown to welfare authorities and do not receive any treatment or support. Schools, which serve as a key social resource for child protection and welfare enforcement, also fail to identify these students. Objective The aim of the study was to examine children's willingness to seek help at school for dealing with parental maltreatment and to reveal those factors that enhance students’ willingness to seek help at school. Participants and Setting: A national random sample of 859 Israeli students (56 % girls) in 6th-12th grades participated in the study. Methods Using a sequential mixed-methods research design including both surveys and interviews, the study investigated students' willingness to seek help from their homeroom teacher, school counselor, school teachers, and friends when dealing with neglect, abuse, corporal punishment, and psychological aggression. Results About half of the students who suffer parental maltreatment never sought help in school. Of those who sought help, about 19 % sought from their friends, and 15 % sought help from the school staff in which school counselors (8.2 %) comprised the most common help resource. Three fundamental factors that explained students' willingness to seek help were revealed: An active helper, positive relationship with the helper, and the importance of confidentiality and trust. Conclusions The findings highlight the role of active efforts by school for enhancing students' willingness to seek help and the need to devote more attention to friends who serve as a strong help resource and as a possible bridge between peers and the educational team.

Schools have a significant effect on students' development, and serve as important social agencies for interventions for students facing disasters. However, little is known about the effect of students' school experience itself on their resilience when facing extreme negative events. The present study focused on students who were exposed to terror-related homicide with the aim of investigating the contribution of school climate resources to their resilience. Since resilience is associated not only with fewer negative outcomes, but also with positive change, the contribution of schools was studied as both inhibiting post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTS) and enhancing post-traumatic growth (PTG). A mixed-methods research design was used. The participants included 117 (52% girls) high school students (mean age = 14.54; SD = 1.49). Twenty-five of them were interviewed in addition to responding to the research questionnaires. Different aspects of the school climate were found to be associated with students' PTS and PTG, yielding two overarched factors explaining the school's role as a protective resource: sheltering and supporting. The former is associated with fewer PTS and the latter with higher PTG. The use of different resources for different forms of resilience is discussed.

The importance of students' sense of safety to their well-being has been previously established, yet very little is known about their feeling of safety in schools and in other everyday locations. The present study examined the perceived safety in school, and in six other locations, of 1,110 Israeli adolescents. Feelings of safety were compared in students who lived in an armed conflict zone and in students who lived in a peaceful environment. Controlling for students' exposure to violence both in school and out of school, the findings revealed that students living in a conflict zone perceived schools as very unsafe, whereas students living in other areas perceived schools as very safe. Also, females and students living in a conflict zone reported feeling less safe than males and students living in peaceful areas. Only marginal effects were attributed to direct exposure to either armed conflict or school violence.

This study examined the contribution of parental conditional regard (PCR) and societal conditional regard (SCR) - divided into positive and negative regard - to high school dropouts' adjustment (i.e., well-being, loneliness, and future orientation) along the different stages of the dropout process. Specifically, the current study focused on dropouts from a traditional community, where dropping out was accompanied by various social repercussions. The study, conducted in Israel among Ultraorthodox Jewish males, included 261 participants, ages 14-21 (M = 17, SD = 1.17), who were at different stages in the dropout process. Structural equation modeling indicated a negative contribution of parental conditional negative regard to adjustment, while societal conditional positive regard made a positive contribution to adjustment. Moreover, dropouts indicated higher parental and societal conditional regard than students at other stages of the dropout process. Findings highlight the importance of SCR and PCR in understanding the adjustment of dropouts in traditional communities.

The Katz-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Judaism was developed to extend to the Jewish community a growing body of international research concerned to map the correlates, antecedents, and consequences of individual differences in attitude toward religion as assessed by the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity. The internal consistency reliability and construct validity of the Katz-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Judaism were supported by data provided by 284 Hebrew-speaking female undergraduate students attending Bar-Ilan University. This instrument is commended for application in further research.

In recent years, Israeli youth have been exposed to ongoing missile attacks in the southern region of the country. One of the outcomes of exposure to this kind of stress situation is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Based on an ecological approach, the study focused on examining the contribution of adolescents’ environmental resources to PTSD, with particular emphasis on the contribution of place of residence. In addition, the contribution of the adolescents’ personal resources and background variables was examined, as well as the contribution of the perceived threat for loss of resources. The findings revealed that levels of PTSD were higher among adolescents living in low socioeconomic status (SES) localities than among those living in high SES localities. In addition, the findings revealed that the adolescent's age, participation in the community and perceived danger contribute positively to PTSD, whereas sense of mastery contribute negatively to PTSD.

The role of motivation to participate in peace encounters was examined against the popular claim that such programs mainly benefit those who already espouse peace-movement ideas. The self-determination theory served as the theoretical framework for the study. Jewish and Arab high-school students (N = 330) were randomly assigned to research and control groups based on their motivation to participate in peace encounters. The findings revealed that those who benefited most and whose social relationships were significantly enhanced by participation in the program were participants who were extrinsically motivated. Those who were amotivated gained nothing but did not deteriorate, whereas their counterparts in the control group deteriorated. Those who were intrinsically motivated did not gain much from their participation but did not deteriorate, even without the encounters (in the control group). Theoretical and pedagogical implications of the findings are discussed.

The contribution of students’ relationships with their homeroom teachers to their ability to cope with terror and specifically to posttraumatic stress disorder and posttraumatic growth was studied. Participants consisted of 1101 Israeli high school students who lived under constant terror attacks. Positive relationships with homeroom teachers were found to be linked to higher posttraumatic growth though not to lower posttraumatic stress disorder. In addition, girls were found to have higher levels of posttraumatic stress disorder and posttraumatic growth than boys, and both posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic stress disorder were found to be positively correlated with exposure to terror. The contribution of student–homeroom teacher relationships to students’ well-being when living under terror is discussed.

The relation between students’ social goals and their willingness to seek help for school violence was examined. Four hundred and sixty-two students from sixth, eighth, and tenth grades responded to vignettes used to assess willingness to seek help from teachers and friends for dealing with relational and physical violence. Intimacy goals enhanced the willingness to seek help from friends and social status goals suppressed the willingness to seek help from teachers. Sex and grade differences were also found, and are discussed with reference to the negative psychological costs of seeking help in school.

School violence disproportionately occurs in disadvantaged schools. Most research focuses on understanding the causes and correlates of this violence based on schools in a single country. We extend this work by taking a cross-national approach to examine an important repercussion of this violence—students' fear. Our study compares students attending disadvantaged schools in the United States and Israel. To explore this issue, we utilize existing federal data in the United States and an original data collection in Israel. Our study highlights the relationship between bullying and fear in both countries. We also discuss issues arising in cross-national research involving students.

Despite increased interest in studying school violence, much less attention has been given to examining students’ fear of experiencing this violence. A better understanding is important, because fear of victimization can generate negative academic consequences for the individual student and larger school environment. To explore students’ fear, our study takes a cross-national approach and compares the United States and Israel. Previous victimization experience is universally associated with fear at school. With regard to other correlates, greater similarities are found between U.S. and Israeli-Jewish students than for either group with Israeli-Arab students. Our study also examines students’ fear while traveling to school. Here, similarities are found among all students. Girls and students victimized at school report being fearful more often while traveling to school than boys and students who were not victimized. Explanations for our findings are discussed as well as possible implications for future poli...

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to examine the efficiency of SMS based cell‐phone vocabulary learning as compared to email vocabulary delivery and snail mail vocabulary delivery at the university level.Design/methodology/approachA total of 241 first year university students studied English vocabulary in their mandatory English foundation course. Students were divided into three groups: study via cell‐phone based SMS messages, via email messages and via snail mail delivery. Vocabulary lists were delivered weekly to students via the three delivery strategies during course. Students in the three groups were tested on English vocabulary and responded to a questionnaire that examined their attitudes toward flexibility of the learning strategy; user friendliness of the learning strategy; learner control of the learning process, learner motivation; and learner autonomy.FindingsResults of the study indicate that there were no significant differences for achievement attained by the three groups on the vocabulary test. However, there were significant differences on students' attitudes toward flexibility of learning; user friendliness of the learning strategy; learner control of the learning process, learner motivation; and learner autonomy. The students who received SMS messages had most positive attitudes on all five factors, followed by attitudes of students who received email messages, who were followed by attitudes of students who received vocabulary via snail mail.Practical implicationsIt appears that SMS based vocabulary delivery is perceived as more effective than email delivery which is felt to be more efficient than snail mail learning. Results of the study indicate the potential for university vocabulary learning via cell‐phone based SMS messaging.Originality/valueThis paper indicates the value of SMS messaging for vocabulary learning at the university level.

The effects of living under long-term bombardment were studied among 1,004 adolescent students in Israel. The study was based on the theoretical framework of the conservation of resources and examined differences between boys and girls who live in high and low socioeconomic environments. The findings revealed that students from a low socioeconomic status (SES) and girls present more negative symptoms than high SES students and boys, while concomitantly exhibiting greater posttraumatic growth. The contribution of social resources for coping and the relationship between positive and negative symptoms as result of exposure to terrorism are discussed.

Religion could play a positive role in intergroup relations. However, this potential is usually overlooked and religion is often perceived as divisive and polarizing, perhaps even a source of intergroup conflict. This study examined religion as a possible tool for achieving positive intergroup encounters. A randomized control trial research design was used to study the contribution of religion to the enhancement of positive relations between Jewish and Arab high school students in Israel. The 255 eleventh‐grade students were randomly assigned into three groups: encounters based on religious content, encounters based on social content, and a control group. Findings revealed that the religion‐based intervention was more effective than the social‐based one, which merely slowed down the deteriorating relationships between the groups. The results suggest that religion can serve as a common denominator for different national and social groups and be used for enhancing tolerance and understanding between conflic...

Students’ willingness to seek help from a teacher to deal with four different forms of violence (physical, relational, verbal, and use of weapon) was studied. The role of positive teacher–student relationships and whether such relationships mediate students’ perceptions of the teacher’s ability to assist were assessed. Findings pointed to only partial mediation in physical, relational, and verbal violence and no mediation in the case of weapon use. Girls and younger students were more willing to seek help for all forms of violence. The importance of relationships with teachers for dealing with school violence is discussed.

While previous research suggests that students feel safe at school, little attention has been given to studying adolescent feelings of safety in various locations. Such direct comparisons would provide a context for evaluating and better understanding students' perceptions of safety at school. The present study examines this issue by comparing Israeli students' feelings of safety in school with seven locations outside school frequented by adolescents. While all students perceived school to be the safest place and walking in the street at night the least safe, boys and Jewish students reported feeling safer than girls and Arab students. Of all groups, Arab girls consistently reported feeling the least safe in every location. In addition, the neighborhood where a school is located was more influential on students' feelings of safety at school than the school's own characteristics. These findings support the need to take an ecological perspective to assessing school safety and provide a foundation for future...

As current study of contact between groups is somehow limited and self‐referential, the present study joins other studies that suggest a deeper examination of intergroup contact in wider social processes which recognize the complex nature of intergroup relationships. A qualitative multiple‐methods approach, supported by quantitative measures, was used to study a voluntary dialogue group of religious and secular students in Israel, to reveal its underlying force‐driving processes and study its contribution to the enhancement of positive relationships between the groups. The findings reveal the strengths and weaknesses of such voluntary encounters and point to four fundamental factors for the formation and enhancement of this new venue for intergroup contact intervention programs: motivation, cooperation, meeting coordinator and group facilitator, and enjoying the meetings. Possible implications for school pedagogy and for the enhancement of positive intergroup relations are discussed.

Privatisation of the state religious education in Israel raises controversy within Israeli society. It is argued that privatisation leads to the abolishing of equality between students, and accusations are heard about the use of religious arguments to create elitist and selective schools. Questions regarding privatisation, the extent and importance of religious versus science studies were examined. Two of the major findings were that almost one‐third of the students who comprise the religious educational system in Israel came from non‐religious households and a gap was found between parents’ demands for privatisation and their educational goals. Social economic status rather than religious demands were found as enhancing school segregation. The need for reorganisation of the religious public education in Israel is discussed.

Synopsis This study aimed to reveal gender differences in willingness to participate in peace encounters with two different types of conflict groups — national and religious. Most previous studies focused on Western countries, measured public opinion, and used a negative definition of peace, usually in support of the use of power. The study employed a longitudinal research design, a positive definition of peace, and a more self-committed perspective towards peace. A national sample of Jewish Israeli students were asked, over a period of 16 months, about their willingness to participate in peace encounters with Arabs and religious or secular Jews in Israel. While no gender differences were found in regard to willingness to participate in such peace encounters, differences emerged in the consistency of attitudes towards peace. Women were more positively consistent in their attitudes towards peace than men. Implications for peace negotiations are discussed.

Peace education programmes have become part of the school curriculum all over the world, as a way to enhance positive relationships between conflict groups. However, although gender differences are being taken into account when planning various educational programmes, this is usually not the case with peace education. The present study aimed to reveal gender differences regarding peace and peace pedagogy. One hundred and eighty Israeli Jewish and Arab high school students participated in a peace contact education programme. Gender and group differences were examined both before and after participation in the programme. The findings revealed that the Jewish and Arab female youths were more dovish than the males both before and after participating in the programme, and gained more from the encounters. Implications for conflict resolution and peace pedagogy are discussed.

In this study we examined possible advantages of the Internet as a medium for help and support for victims of school violence in Israel. Students in sixth, eighth, and tenth grades were asked about their willingness to seek help on the Internet for dealing with various forms of school violence, and the underlying force-driving processes of such approach was examined. Findings revealed that students are most willing to seek help for relational violence, followed by sexual, physical, and verbal forms of violence. The anonymity that the Internet can provide and the availability of help via Internet are the two foremost contributing factors to the willingness of students to seek help. In addition, the common gender differences in help-seeking behavior were mostly dismissed. Other situational variables and individual characteristics are discussed and possible implications are suggested.

The authors describe practitioners' professional development, the challenges and dilemmas that they confront, and the support they receive in their work. They focus on examples of supervision sessions and describe typical dilemmas and solutions that come up during these sessions. These examples reflect four main themes that were identified as receiving much attention from practitioners over the years: boundaries and role definitions; relationships with students, teachers, and parents; extent of responsibility; and professional questions. Finally, the authors present an interview with a RALLY supervisor that illustrates typical dilemmas and conflicts that practitioners face during their work.

Contact intervention programs are being used as the main vehicle to enhance positive relationships between conflict groups. Current research seeks to reveal the force driving processes that lead to positive contact between conflict groups, and points to the importance of emotional modification. Acknowledging the centrality of emotional modification, the present study points to the importance of defining the desired goals of contact interventions. It aimed to reveal which of the emotional, cognitive, motivational or behavioural components of intergroup relations were most enhanced in peace intervention programs for Israeli Jewish and Bedouin Arab high‐school students in Israel. The findings indicate the cognitive realm as the most enhanced. These findings raise the question of the relevance of emotional modification in regions of persistent conflict, and suggest that intervention methods and desired outcomes must be closely linked. Finally, implications for moral education are discussed.

In regions of intractable conflicts, daily circumstances and overall reality allow very narrow opportunities to bring members of conflict groups together in order to modify their social relationships. Internet-based communications were the backbone of a three-month program designed to address the Jewish-Arab conflict between Israeli Jewish youth and Arab youth to enable students to discuss issues such as equality, democracy, tolerance, and peace.

A sample of 203 male Hebrew speaking undergraduate students completed the Hebrew translation of the Oxford Happiness Inventory together with the Katz–Francis Scale of Attitude toward Judaism and the short form of the Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The data demonstrate that Eysenck's dimensional model of personality provides significant prediction of individual differences in both attitude toward Judaism and happiness. After taking personality into account there is a small but statistically significant positive correlation between religiosity and happiness.

Online university courses have become popular in many universities and colleges throughout the world. In addition to the relative cost‐effectiveness of online learning, there are studies that indicate that students reach satisfactory achievement levels in these courses. The major aim of the present research was two‐fold: to examine students’ academic performance in a mandatory first‐year university Internet‐based “Introduction to statistics” course and to investigate psycho‐pedagogical variables which contributed to students’ online learning, compared to learning of students who participated in a traditional lecture‐based “Introduction to statistics” course. Results of the study indicate that students who participated in the mandatory online course reached similar academic performance levels to those achieved by students who participated in the traditional lecture‐based course. In addition, the findings indicate that participation in the online course improves psycho‐pedagogical attitudes towards online learning despite the initial misgivings of the participants in the course.

Objectives: The airleak test is measured with a manometer as the pressure necessary to generate an audible airleak around the endotracheal tube. Our objectives were to determine whether the airleak test predicts postextubation stridor in children and if age affects its sensitivity and specificity. Design: A retrospective study. Setting: Pediatric intensive care unit. Patients: We studied all intubated patients admitted to our pediatric intensive care unit between July 1998 and December 1999. Patients were excluded if they had acute viral croup, tracheal surgery, hypotonic airway, or vocal cord paralysis or if they died before extubation. Interventions: Medical records were reviewed for patient demographics, presence of an airleak on the day of extubation, airleak values, presence of postextubation stridor, and extubation failure secondary to upper airway obstruction. Measurements and Main Results: One hundred and five patients met our inclusion criteria and had an airleak test at the time of extubation. In children 20 mm Hg (50% vs. 67.7%; p >.05) with a sensitivity of 65.6% (95% confidence interval, 46.9-80.8). In children ≥7 yrs of age, the incidence of postextubation stridor was greater in patients with an airleak at >20 mm Hg (55.5% vs. 5.8%; p =.01) with a sensitivity of 83.3% (95% confidence interval, 36.8-99) in predicting postextubation stridor. Conclusions: Our study suggests that the airleak test has a low sensitivity when used as a screening test to predict postextubation stridor in young children (

With the rapid development and implementation of e-learning and Internet-based university courses throughout the academic world, a major question as to the effectiveness and efficiency of the ICT-based courses has arisen. In order to promote effectiveness and efficiency, the Bar-Ilan University School of Education introduced a mandatory Internet-based 'Introduction to Statistics' course for all first-year students. In contrast, the Bar-Ilan University School of Social Work provided all first year social work students with a traditional lecture-based 'Introduction to Statistics' course. The major aim of the present study was to compare the expectations of the education and social work students from their differentially organized 'Introduction to Statistics' courses and to assess their satisfaction after attending one semester in each course. Initial results indicated that the education students had lower expectations from the Internet-based course in comparison to the expectations of the social work studen...

This study describes how the Internet-based group communications was used as the major strategy to promote the societal values of understanding, equality, tolerance and peace between Israeli Jewish and Bedouin high school students. The Internetbased communications project formed the backbone of a project designed to confront one of the major conflicts in Israeli society, which focuses on the Jewish-Arab axis. Israeli Jews and Arabs are wary of each other and latent hostility permeates the atmosphere between the two societal groups and is directly related to the Israeli-Arab conflict. In the project the societal values of understanding, equality, tolerance and peace were intensely promoted through the medium of three different complementary educational strategies. Students participated in workshops conducted by experts trained in the art of mediation and bridge building, and participated in two day-long face-to-face meetings. The major strategy was an Internet-based weekly chat-room and e-mail session whic...

Contact intervention programs are being used as a main vehicle to enhance positive relationships between members of multicultural societies all over the world. Often, such programs are part of the school curriculum, and students first interact with members of other faiths as part of their studies. The proposed paper will be based on empirical quantitative and qualitative results of interactions between Israeli Jewish and Arab high-school students, and would have two aims: To illustrate the role that religious culture might play in enhancing dialog between conflict groups, and the place of religion-based intervention programs in enhancing Jewish-Arab relationships in Israel.