This book explores the psychological trauma affecting soldiers and civilians who have encountered the violence of war or terrorism, arguing that the enigmas surrounding war trauma are rooted in culture, collective memory and social norms. Focusing primarily on a large-scale sociological study in Israel, chapters detail the ideological, political, historical and economic factors that shape the multifaceted connection between individual and collective trauma, probing the exterior layers of Israeli society and exposing the complex relationship between society and emotionally scarred individuals everywhere. Divided into three main parts, particular attention is paid to the treatment of soldiers and civilians, and the tension between the medical and societal approaches to PTSD, shedding light on the intricate relationships between war trauma and society worldwide. Part 1 looks at traumatized soldiers and the changing attitudes towards CSR and PTSD; Part 2 explores civilian trauma and shock, including the first published research on the implications of war trauma in Israeli Arab society; and Part 3 analyses the deficiencies and contradictions in current international definitions and discourses of trauma, and the profound consequences of war trauma in society as a whole. Psychological War Trauma and Society will be of key value for academics and postgraduate students in the fields of psychology, sociology, history, Jewish studies, military studies, social work, terrorism studies and political science, as well as professionals who work with traumatised individuals, either directly or indirectly, including psychologists, psychotherapists and social workers. The Hebrew edition of the book was the winner of the 2012 AIS (Association for Israel Studies) Shapiro Award for Best Book in Israel Studies.

This book explores the psychological trauma affecting soldiers and civilians who have encountered the violence of war or terrorism, arguing that the enigmas surrounding war trauma are rooted in culture, collective memory and social norms. Focusing primarily on a large-scale sociological study in Israel, chapters detail the ideological, political, historical and economic factors that shape the multifaceted connection between individual and collective trauma, probing the exterior layers of Israeli society and exposing the complex relationship between society and emotionally scarred individuals everywhere. Divided into three main parts, particular attention is paid to the treatment of soldiers and civilians, and the tension between the medical and societal approaches to PTSD, shedding light on the intricate relationships between war trauma and society worldwide. Part 1 looks at traumatized soldiers and the changing attitudes towards CSR and PTSD; Part 2 explores civilian trauma and shock, including the first published research on the implications of war trauma in Israeli Arab society; and Part 3 analyses the deficiencies and contradictions in current international definitions and discourses of trauma, and the profound consequences of war trauma in society as a whole. Psychological War Trauma and Society will be of key value for academics and postgraduate students in the fields of psychology, sociology, history, Jewish studies, military studies, social work, terrorism studies and political science, as well as professionals who work with traumatised individuals, either directly or indirectly, including psychologists, psychotherapists and social workers. The Hebrew edition of the book was the winner of the 2012 AIS (Association for Israel Studies) Shapiro Award for Best Book in Israel Studies.

This book deals comprehensively with different aspects of collective victimhood in contemporary Israel, but also with the wider implications of this important concept for many other societies, including the Palestinian one. The eight highly-diverse, scholarly chapters included in this volume offer analysis of the politics of victimhood (viewing it as increasingly dominant within contemporary Israel), assess victimhood as a focal point of the Jewish historical legacy, trace the evolution and changes of Zionist thought as it relates to a sense of national victimhood, study the possibility of the political transformation of victimhood through changing perceptions and policies by top Israeli leaders, focus on important events that have contributed to the evolvement of the victimhood discourse in Israel and beyond (e.g. the 1967 Six-Day and 1973 Yom Kippur wars in the Middle East), examine the politics and ideology of victimhood within the Palestinian national movement, and offer new ways of progressing beyond national victimhood and toward a better future for people in the Middle East and beyond. The insights of the eight authors and their conceptualization of Israeli victimhood are of immediate relevance for numerous other national groups, as well as for a variety of disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences. This volume has been inspired by the universality of victimhood among humans, reflected in King Lear's words ("I am a man more sinned against than sinning"), as well as by the words of the late Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, telling the Knesset in Jerusalem: "No longer is it true that the whole world is against us". While the book sums up the state of the field in regard to collective victimhood, it invites the readers to engage in contemplating the far-reaching implications of this important concept for our lives.

This book deals comprehensively with different aspects of collective victimhood in contemporary Israel, but also with the wider implications of this important concept for many other societies, including the Palestinian one. The eight highly-diverse, scholarly chapters included in this volume offer analysis of the politics of victimhood (viewing it as increasingly dominant within contemporary Israel), assess victimhood as a focal point of the Jewish historical legacy, trace the evolution and changes of Zionist thought as it relates to a sense of national victimhood, study the possibility of the political transformation of victimhood through changing perceptions and policies by top Israeli leaders, focus on important events that have contributed to the evolvement of the victimhood discourse in Israel and beyond (e.g. the 1967 Six-Day and 1973 Yom Kippur wars in the Middle East), examine the politics and ideology of victimhood within the Palestinian national movement, and offer new ways of progressing beyond national victimhood and toward a better future for people in the Middle East and beyond. The insights of the eight authors and their conceptualization of Israeli victimhood are of immediate relevance for numerous other national groups, as well as for a variety of disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences. This volume has been inspired by the universality of victimhood among humans, reflected in King Lear's words ("I am a man more sinned against than sinning"), as well as by the words of the late Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, telling the Knesset in Jerusalem: "No longer is it true that the whole world is against us". While the book sums up the state of the field in regard to collective victimhood, it invites the readers to engage in contemplating the far-reaching implications of this important concept for our lives.