Using societal conditional regard to cope with drug use in the ultraorthodox community and the unintended consequences.

Introduction: A developing theoretical framework for the investigation of tight cultures' reaction toward members who violate communal norms is societal conditional regard (SCR). Methods: Using a qualitative interpretive approach, in the current study we investigated the way the Ultraorthodox Jewish community uses SCR to cope with substance use disorders (SUDs), which considered to be a norms violation in closed religious communities. We did so by drawing on in-depth interviews with 14 young men from the Ultraorthodox community in Israel who were diagnosed as having an SUD and were in recovery. Results: (a) The community's socialization process, educating its members to lead a life that is the only right one; (b) The community's use of God as the one whose love and regard are conditional; (c) The SCR emotional and behavioral practices used by the community toward individuals who violate norms, and (d) How, paradoxically, the use of SCR may eventuate in the initiation of drug use, and within the community itself. Discussion: Findings are discussed in the context of self-determination theory and SCR, and shed light on how tight cultures cope with the threat of deviation of communal norms. Implications for intervention and policy are outlined.

"Sense for Gambling" Among Jewish Ultra-Orthodox Men With Gambling Disorder.

Making sense of the social world is an intricate process heavily influenced by cultural elements. Gambling is a prevalent leisure-time activity characterized by risk-taking conduct. While some individuals who engage in it do so without experiencing any harm, others will develop gambling problems. Judaism tends to perceive gambling negatively since it contradicts fundamental Jewish principles. The current study focuses on the Jewish Ultra-Orthodox community in Israel which is characterized as a cultural enclave with minimal interaction with the secular world. Hence, it provides a unique and novel socio-cultural context to inquire how individuals with gambling disorder (GD) from this community make sense of gambling. Following constructivist grounded theory guidelines, 22 Ultra-Orthodox men with GD were interviewed using a purposeful sampling design. Sixteen Rabbis were also interviewed, illuminating the socio-cultural context of Halachic regulations and norms regarding gambling in this community. An abductive analysis of the data, interwoven with Bourdieu's concept of habitus, yielded an overarching theme that we dub as "sense for gambling," encompassing matrices of Ultra-Orthodox external (e.g., a conservative cultural structure with numerous prohibitions and life marked by poverty) and internal (e.g., feelings of loneliness, dissatisfaction, and deviance) dispositions imprinted onto the body, creating diverse embodied reactions (emotional and sensory) to gambling, and leading to developing GD. We recommend placing the body, as the locus of internalized dispositions, at the core of examination when researching pathways to GD. We propose that this intricate interplay between external and internal dispositions shapes the decision-making regarding gambling, thus mitigating individual responsibility for GD.

Enlisting in the army in the Jewish Ultraorthodox community and the consequences for wellbeing.

Israeli law requires citizens to enlist in the army at 18 years old. However, the Jewish Ultraorthodox community has a longstanding agreement with the state that members of this community will not have to enlist in the army, given its spiritual leaders' strong opposition. Still, there are young men who go against the communal norms and enlist. In the current study we investigated these young men and the contribution of their self-esteem (a personal resource), their sense of community (a communal resource), and the community members' attitudes toward them (societal conditional regard, both positive and negative, and stigma) to their wellbeing. The current study consisted of 153 participants between the ages of 20 and 55 (M = 29.64, SD = 6.89). A path analysis model indicated the protective role played by self-esteem and sense of community in participants' wellbeing, and the risk factor posed by societal conditional negative regard and stigma. Moreover, self-esteem was found to mediate between income and wellbeing, whereas sense of community was found to mediate between societal conditional negative regard and wellbeing, and between stigma and wellbeing. The discussion highlights the complexity of the protective role played by sense of community against the risk of experiencing societal conditional negative regard and stigma. It also addresses the importance of promoting intervention programs during the army service of these young men, with a focus on promoting their self-esteem and on the presence of a spiritual leadership that legitimizes working, serving in the army, and yet still being part of the community.

The complex role of the community in the determination of well-being and hope among divorced Muslim women.

Based on social capital theory, in the current study, we examined the contribution of background variables (education and living with/without parents), a personal resource (religiosity), and two communal resources (a sense of community, and both positive and negative societal conditional regard) to the well-being and hope of divorced women from the Muslim community in Israel. The study included 125 women between the ages of 20 and 60 (M = 36, SD = 9.10). A path analysis model indicated a sense of community as a protective factor that directly contributed to well-being and hope and also mediated positively between education and religiosity and between well-being and hope. However, societal conditional negative regard (SCNR) made a negative contribution to well-being and hope, both directly and indirectly via the sense of community. In the discussion, we highlight the conflict experienced by Muslim divorced women: between remaining part of the Muslim community and undergoing SCNR.

"No matter what, I will not give up": Community practice on the front lines of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has required frontline health care workers to cope with an unexpected and almost unprecedented emergency situation. Community social workers had played a crucial role during the pandemic, working to alleviate its adverse effects on marginalized communities. The present study investigated community social workers' experiences and hardships in coping with the "age of COVID-19." Drawing on in-depth interviews with 30 frontline community social workers in Israel, the findings highlighted three main themes: (a) the hope for recognition and the reality of underutilization; (b) the impact of the dysfunctional state on community social workers; and (c) realizing the core values and activities of community social work practice during the pandemic. Findings pointed to community social workers' professionalism and integrity despite the hardships they endured at the local and national levels. Committing on an altruistic level seemed to be an adaptive coping style, alongside facing "the politics of pandemics." Implications for community practice are outlined. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

"They didn't have any idea what drugs were": Pathways to substance use disorders among ultraorthodox Jewish males.

BACKGROUND: Substance use disorders (SUDs) are a worldwide phenomenon with very negative consequences, and belonging to a religious community is considered to be a protective factor against them. The pathways to SUDs have been investigated in many studies with the aim of helping us better understand this phenomenon and promoting effective intervention programs to prevent and manage it. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding SUDs in closed religious communities such as the Ultraorthodox Jewish community. METHOD: To fill this gap, in the current study we investigated the pathways to SUDs among 14 young men from the Ultraorthodox Jewish community in Israel who were diagnosed as having an SUD in the past and who had been in sustained remission for at least a year. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews consisting of open-ended questions were conducted. RESULTS: The findings highlighted two main themes: (a) A lack of support and attention from various systems, where participants reported sense of otherness or lack of belonging to family, educational institutions and community; a lack of responsiveness from those systems; a sense of rejection or exclusion; and a longing for belonging, and (b) A light in the darkness - someone who cares, in which the interviewees received some assistance, either in the period before or during drug use. CONCLUSION: Findings point to the unique experience of Ultraorthodox young men in their addiction process and shed light on the failure of the abovementioned systems to help these young men cope. Findings are discussed in the context of the theoretical perspectives of social capital theory and exclusion. Implications for intervention and policy are outlined.

Community social workers' perspectives on the challenges and opportunities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has required public social services departments to cope with an unexpected and unprecedented emergency situation. As community social workers work on the macrolevel and deal with entire communities in emergency situations, the present study investigated the challenges they face as well as the factors that promoted they are coping during the "age of COVID." Drawing on in-depth interviews with 20 managers of community social work departments in Israel, findings highlighted three main themes: (a) organizational politics, which impeded community social workers' work; (b) the mobilization of both professional community social work staff as well as civilians; and (c) the perception of the crisis as an opportunity. Findings pointed to the challenges, promotive factors, and perceptions of community social workers in public social services departments who have had to cope with the pandemic. We discuss these findings in light of the theoretical perspectives of "the politics of pandemic" pandemic, social support, and resilience. Implications for community practice are outlined. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Risk and protective factors among at-risk ultraorthodox Jewish youth in Israel: A contextual model of positive adjustment.

This study examined the role of personal (mastery), familial (relationship with parents), and communal (sense of community and sense of belonging to a youth centre) aspects for at-risk youths' adjustment. Specifically, we investigated their role as protective and risk factors for behavioural adjustment (risk behaviour) and psychological adjustment (hope). The study, conducted among Ultraorthodox Jewish males, included 80 participants, ages 14-24 (M = 16.8, SD = 2.33), who attended youth centres designed especially for Ultraorthodox at-risk youth, in five cities with a high percentage of Ultraorthodox population. Findings indicated a significant contribution of mastery to lower levels of risk behaviour and to higher levels of hope. The youth/parent relationship made a significant contribution only to lower levels of risk behaviours, while sense of community made a significant positive contribution only to hope. Surprisingly, the sense of belonging to a youth centre was found to be a risk factor for higher levels of risk behaviours. In contrast, a mediation model revealed an indirect positive contribution of sense of belonging to a youth centre to hope via mastery. The discussion highlights the unique phenomena of at-risk youth in the Ultraorthodox community and suggest carefully and thoroughly checking whether youth centres in this context should actually be discouraged. It also addresses the importance of recognising the unique protective and risk factors for positive adjustment among at-risk Ultraorthodox youth.

Predictors of High-School Dropout Among Ultraorthodox Jewish Youth.

Focusing on the unique social characteristics of closed communities, the current study examined the predictors of high-school dropout among Ultraorthodox Jewish youth, focusing on background variables [i.e., individual's age, family's religious group affiliation, and other high-school dropout(s) in family]; social resources (i.e., self-esteem and mastery); and parental conditional regard (PCR) and societal conditional regard (SCR), with reference to both positive regard and negative regard. The study was conducted in Israel with the participation of 261 Ultraorthodox Jewish males, ages 14-21 (M = 17, SD = 1.17), who were at different stages in the dropout process. Path analysis modeling indicated that being a member of a newly religious family, or of a family in which another member had already dropped out of school, was a predictor of dropout. Surprisingly, personal resources were not found to be a predictor of dropout, whereas parental conditional regard and societal conditional negative regard (SCNR) were found to be the most significant predictors. Findings highlight the unique predictors of high-school dropout among youth from the Ultraorthodox Jewish community, and the role of PCR and SCR in this process.