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Community Psychology in Israel
Amiram Raviv
Mira Zeira
Keren Sharvit
Tel Aviv University
Chapter in:
S. Reich, M. Riemer, I. Prilleltensky, & M. Montero (Eds.) International
Community Psychology: History and theories. Kluwer.2007
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Abstract
The chapter reviews activities by Israeli psychologists, in which community
psychology principles are applied. It is argued that despite the small number of
publications using the term “community psychology” and the absence of formal
specialization and training in community psychology, many Israeli psychologists have
internalized the principles of community psychology and implement them in their
work. Specifically, we suggest that the application of community psychology
principles, such as early detection, prevention, mental health consultation, crisis
intervention, and the use of community resources and strengths, is most apparent in
two areas of Israeli psychology: school psychology and crisis intervention in the
context of Israel’s complex security situation. In the main sections of the chapter, we
review and present examples for community-oriented activities in these areas.
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Community Psychology in Israel
Introduction
When asked to review community psychology activities in Israel, we began by
asking whether community psychology (CP) exists in Israel at all. This is a question
of central importance since the concept of CP is rarely found in publications by Israeli
writers, which might lead to the conclusion that CP barely exists in Israel. However,
at the beginning of this chapter we shall argue that despite the small number of
publications using the specific term, Israeli psychologists are familiar with the
principles of CP and apply them extensively. The principles of community
psychology, to which we shall refer throughout the chapter, are based on the
principles delineated by Levine & Perkins (1997), and mainly include early
identification, prevention, mental health consultation, crisis intervention, and the use
of community resources and strengths. We will suggest that the application of CP
principles in Israel is most apparent in two areas: school psychology and crisis
intervention in the context of the security section. Therefore, in the main sections of
the chapter we will review and present examples of community-oriented activities in
these areas.
In Israel, there is no official specialization in CP, no specific training program,
and the psychologists’ law does not recognize a specialization in CP (unlike Division
27 of the American Psychological Association). Furthermore, a search for the term
“community psychology” in the Szold Institute database of publications by Israeli
authors yielded only three publications (Zaki, 1987, 1990, 2000). These publications
refer to school psychology in Israel and the change it went through as it moved
towards models of prevention and consultation. It may therefore seem that CP is
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almost nonexistent in Israel. However, according to Wingenfeld and Newbrough
(2000), authors of a chapter on CP in an international perspective in the Handbook of
Community Psychology, Israel has a strong affinity to community approaches,
beginning in the early days of statehood, and grounded in the socialist and humanist
principles upon which the state was founded. Nevertheless, these authors argue that
due to the fact that CP has never been formalized in Israel, it only provides a general
perspective, and its principles can be found in various areas under different names.
In order to best represent activities conducted in Israel based on CP principles,
we carried out a literature search of multiple databases, in both English and Hebrew
(this enables research to be more available to readers who cannot read Hebrew). We
began by searching the Szold Institute database for such search words as “therapy and
community” (yielding 32 publications), “educational psychology” (73 publications),
“community psychiatry” (40 publications), and “community social work” (24
publications). Next, we searched the Web of Science, Psycinfo, and ERIC databases
for the combination “Community and Psychology”, and retrieved 103 additional
publications. All publications were then screened for relevance. Our search of the
literature supported our view that CP and its conceptual components, which we see as
early detection, prevention, mental health consultation, crisis intervention, and the use
of community resources and strengths, are most apparent in Israel in the areas of
school psychology and interventions related to the security situation, many of which
also take place within school settings. The main sections of our chapter will therefore
review community-oriented activities in these areas. We also came across some
publications, which referred to the application of CP principles in the areas of
community mental health and interventions with poor or underprivileged populations
in Israel. However, we chose not to elaborate on these activities in the present chapter,
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due to the limited involvement of Israeli psychologists in them and their marginal
relevance to CP.
School Psychology
The broadest application of the central aspects of CP can be found in the
operation of school psychology services in Israel. School psychologists in Israel are
subject to three authorities. The school psychology services are provided by municipal
authorities, which are the psychologists’ direct employers. The supervision and
professional development of the psychologists are the responsibility of Shefi – the
psychology and counseling unit of the Ministry of Education, while issues of
licensing and approval of ranks and specializations are handled by the Ministry of
Health (Raviv, Marshak-Pedhatzur, Raviv, & Erhard, 2002).
Shefi was established in the late 1960s, and is currently responsible for
approximately 2,100 psychologists. Shefi sees school psychology as located at the
intersection between the education system, the parents and the municipal community
system, thus enabling the provision of services to children, parents, professional
education teams and the municipal system (see cms.education.gov.il/educationCMS/
units/shefi/gapim/psychology). In line with this view, school psychology services in
Israel emphasize community-oriented approaches of early detection, primary and
secondary prevention, consultation on mental health issues, and system-oriented
approaches. The application of these principles is apparent in the definitions of Shefi's
mission and areas of responsibility. Thus, the list of mandatory services provided by
Shefi, as determined by the Ministry of Education General Manager's Notice
(Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, 2003) includes the provision of
consultation and follow-up services to educational teams and parents regarding
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treatment of students, in order to ensure students' well-being and mental health
through detection and prevention, and crisis intervention at the system and individual
levels
within
educational
institutions
and
in
the
community.
Additional
responsibilities listed by Shefi include, among other things, shaping the community's
policy of individual treatment in the education system through local School
Psychology Service stations and planning committees in the local municipalities and
school psychology counseling for educational institutions and municipal authorities
(see cms.education.gov.il/educationCMS/units/shefi/gapim/psychology). A manager
of the education department of the city of Tel Aviv reflects the community-oriented
approach of school psychologists well, “Psychologists… operate in two occasionally
related spheres: On the one hand they… help individuals in various ways. On the
other hand, they represent ‘society’, and through this role they assist the development
and improvement of educational and social systems” (Levin, 1993, p. 7).
We shall attempt to present a summary of school psychology activities in
Israel, with an emphasis on the application of the above-mentioned principles of CP.
Early research on the activities of school psychologists in Israel revealed little
relationship between these activities and the above-mentioned principles of CP (Raviv
et al., 2002). In the early 1980s school psychologists devoted most of their time to
individual diagnoses, but expressed dissatisfaction with the amount of time devoted to
this task (Ziv, 1980). Within a few years, there was a movement toward greater
application of CP principles with a decrease in the amount of time devoted to
diagnoses and an increase in time spent on primary and secondary interventions, as
well as assistance of students through work with parents and teachers (Raviv, 1984).
Yet this change was slow and in 1984 school psychologists still devoted most of their
time to diagnoses and referrals to special education.
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The last two decades of the 20th century brought significant social changes,
which influenced schools in general, and school psychologists in particular.
Especially salient among these changes was the change in family structure (higher
divorce rate and rising numbers of single-parent families) and the privatization of the
psychology, which resulted in a greater number of psychologists who offered
individual therapy. At the same time, schools became more autonomous and began
searching for more effective methods of teaching. Education for excellence and
parental involvement in schools were emphasized more than ever before. The central
change made in Israeli school psychology during these years was an orientation
towards a community worldview and community work, which included a greater
tendency to assist students through work with parents and teachers. This orientation
was based on the systems approach to education, which emphasizes understanding the
behavior of children in relation to the larger systems (e.g. family, school, community)
of which they are part, and the systems in relation to their contexts (Pianta, 1999).
According to the systems approach, children’s behavior is influenced by multiple
factors such as their families, communities, social processes, cognitive development,
schools, teachers, peers, and poverty. All of these factors must be taken into account if
children’s well-being is to be efficiently promoted. The adoption of the systems
approach led to a greater emphasis on psychological work with parents, with the child
at the center, as a potential way to assist children. Interventions with parents were
based on their importance as agents of childcare and change. The view that the child
exists in two educational systems – the family and the school, which interact with
each other, became prevalent. Thus, it seemed that through the parents there is a
possibility to promote the mental health of both typically-developing and exceptional
children and reduce difficulties and abnormalities. Therefore, these activities involved
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a powerful preventive influence, both at the school level and at the family level
(Tatur, 1993).
In general, these changes in perspective led to a decrease in the amount of
time psychologists devoted to individual diagnoses and an increase in the amount of
time dedicated to primary and secondary prevention. In addition, school psychologists
gained new clients – the regular students (rather than solely those with special needs).
It is at this point we can observe a growing emphasis on principles of community
work, such as prevention, mental health consultation and crisis intervention.
School Psychology as community work.
A relatively new survey of school psychologists (Raviv et al., 2002) reveals a
continuing trend toward community work in school psychology. The survey found
that psychologists devote about three fifths of their time to system oriented activities,
such as consulting with other professionals like principals and teachers, meetings,
observations, and administrative work. The other two fifths of the time are devoted to
more clinical activities such as therapy with individual children, counseling parents,
and diagnoses. Below are descriptions of some of these system oriented activities.
One representative example of community fieldwork by school psychologist is
a project of psychological and educational work with groups of preschool parents
(Tatur, 1993). This intervention, which was the first of its kind with Arab parents in
Jaffa, promoted greater involvement of parents in their children's preschools and
direct communication with them, which continued even after the group work ended.
The intervention, which started a process of greater parental involvement in decisions
regarding their children, led parents of children with special needs to be more
receptive to guidance, and helped them with finding a support system. It also helped
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parents feel empowered, all of which reflect principles of empowerment and use of
community resources, which are central to CP.
Other examples of work with parents include programs that assist parents in
developing skills of effective communication with their children. These include
parenting schools operated by an organization with branches throughout the country,
which provide group and individual guidance to parents and train non-professionals to
assist parents with child-rearing problems (Abramson, 1982). Additional programs
specialize in enrichment for children of low socio-economic status. One such program
is “the challenge” (Lombard, 1981), which combines guidance at home by semiprofessional tutors and group work with mothers and parents.
An example for the application of another central principle of CP, the primary
prevention principle, can be found in a study by Klingman (1985). This study found
that groups of normal children that were provided with information regarding the
treatment they were about to receive and taught techniques for coping with stress,
experienced less fear and coped more effectively with the stress caused by the
medical procedure.
Another principle of CP is an ecological approach, which involves
communication with multiple systems with which the person interacts. This principle
is applied in school psychology through consultation with teachers and school staff,
with an emphasis on achieving optimal classroom climate (Erhard, 2001; Raviv,
Raviv, & Reisel, 1990, 1993). A good example of this principle’s application can be
found in a program implemented in Jerusalem (Benur, 1993), in which teachers were
trained to conduct structured simulation activities in the classrooms (6th grade),
intended to improve self-esteem and interpersonal relations among children. It was
shown that within a short period of time, the program led to improved interpersonal
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relations among the children and with their teachers, decreased need for
defensiveness, and increased openness. Furthermore, the program stimulated multidirectional communication in the classroom and improved children's attention in
class. Another conclusion was that teachers’ activities could be expanded to include
direct and intentional coping with social and emotional problems, so that teachers
could operate as agents and mediators of change.
Community approaches to child and adolescent violence. One of the greatest
concerns in Israeli society in general, and the education system in particular, is the
prevalence of violent behaviors among children and adolescents. Violence has been a
central concern of the education system for many years, but in recent years interest in
this issue has grown and become more consistent (Benbenishty & Astor, 2005).
Several studies have been conducted in order to assess the extent of youth violence
and the factors which may contribute to it (Khoury-Kassabri, Benbenishty, Astor, &
Zeira, 2004; Laufer & Harel, 2003). The studies have found that child and adolescent
violence is related to family, school, and community factors. Accordingly, many
interventions aimed at coping with violence and reducing it, have taken a communityoriented approach which includes working with parents and other agents in the
community. In addition, interventions aimed at improving classroom climate, which
also apply CP principles, contribute to violence reduction indirectly (Erhard, 2001).
However, research and publications regarding the effectiveness of these interventions
are still unavailable (Benbenishty & Astor, 2005).
Psychological interventions in the context of the security situation
Crisis intervention is considered a prominent aspect of CP. People who are
involved in crises become vulnerable to prolonged psychopathology if they are left
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untreated (Caplan, 1964; Lindemann, 1944). This highlights the importance of early
detection and intervention, as well as the identification and development of support
systems. The history of the state of Israel, as a country involved in a protracted
conflict, contributes to the salience of this issue. Milgram (1978) even claimed that
Israel could be thought of as a natural laboratory for the study of stress induced by
external factors such as war. In this section we shall attempt to briefly review the
research and practice activities of Israeli psychologists in the area of crisis
intervention in the context of the security situation, with an emphasis on community
aspects. We shall begin by presenting activities conducted within the educational
system, mainly by school psychologists, and then present different community and
military organizations, which are also involved in crisis interventions in communities.
We will not be able to address all of the abundant and diverse activities conducted in
this area. Therefore, we will only present some of the most salient and typical
activities in order to illustrate the processes and developments in the field.
Early developments in war-related crisis intervention
It should first be pointed out that until 1974, only very little fieldwork and
research on war-related stress were conducted in Israel, mainly due to the shortage of
human resources and the fact that most of the state’s efforts in its early years were
devoted to the integration of immigrants from various countries and the rehabilitation
of holocaust survivors (Milgram, 1978). One of the few studies conducted following
the 1967 Six Day War examined children’s reactions to the war and concluded that on
first impression, most of them seem to have adapted to the state of war with no
unusual difficulties or traumas (De Shalit, 1970).
The positive results of the Six Day War for the Israeli side and the economic
prosperity in its aftermath enabled allocation of resources to the rehabilitation of those
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harmed by the war: the physically and mentally wounded, their families, and the
families of those who lost their lives: widows, orphans, and bereaved parents.
Although there was some awareness of the fate of psychological casualties of war in
these early years, it was not until the Yom Kipur War in 1973 that the severity of the
problem was fully recognized. The suddenness of the attack, the initial success of the
Syrian and Egyptian armies, the large numbers of casualties, and the conclusions
drawn regarding the future of the middle east, led to the attribution of higher
importance to war-related stress and effective coping with it (Milgram, 1978). One of
the first studies on this issue (Teichman, Spiegel, & Teichman, 1978) examined crisis
intervention conducted by volunteers with the families of soldiers who were missing
in action. The intervention was organized by the Israeli psychologists and the guiding
principles were mainly of passive intervention, which included listening and showing
interest and empathy, without offering advice. The study found that reactions to crisis
did not vary with cultural or age differences. The most frequent reaction was a search
for information which was interpreted as a manifestation of the need for social
affiliation. With regard to the intervention, the findings showed that the volunteers
were well accepted by the families and became involved in emotional interactions
with them. Both the families and the volunteers were satisfied with the intervention.
However, the authors do not report whether the intervention led to reduces stress and
improved coping.
The center of community work in crisis intervention – school psychologists and the
education system
Shortly after the Yom Kipur War, the education system and the school
psychology services discovered that they lacked a theoretical doctrine, knowledge,
and organized procedures for crisis intervention. Initial attempts by school
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psychologists to provide the education system with opportunities to study and practice
crisis intervention were met with avoidance and denial (Raviv, 2003). Based on the
work of American psychiatrists Caplan (1964) and Lindemann (1944), the
Psychology and Counseling Service at the Ministry of Education (Shefi) created
programs for raising teachers’ and parents’ awareness of the importance of early
intervention in crises. These interventions were meant to prevent the development of
psychopathology in response to crises. Later, primary prevention methods were
developed, with the intention of providing the education system with the means to
prepare for crises before they occur (Raviv, 2003). As a part of Shefi’s efforts to
promote the development of intervention programs, an anthology was published in
1980, which provided professionals with up-to-date information on crisis intervention
(Raviv, Klingman, & Horowitz, 1980). In order to circumvent the resistance to the
issue of war among the educational community, the anthology emphasized everyday
stress and crisis situations unrelated to the security situation, such as diseases,
accidents, and the like (Raviv, 2003).
This anthology already gave much emphasis to the importance of preventive
work. Israeli authors, Klingman and Ayalon (1980), wrote about the importance of
preparation in advance and of teachers’ involvement. They listed several key
characteristics of preventive work in the community, which included teachers'
knowledge of various intervention techniques and proficiency with their
implementation, as well as a preference for the use of internal school-based resources,
rather than external clinical resources.
Unfortunately, the security situation remained unstable after the publication of
this initial anthology (Raviv et al., 1980). Therefore, over the years following its
publication, further knowledge has been attained, new techniques developed, more
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books written, and additional fieldwork conducted (Raviv, 2003). During this time,
intervention programs were developed based on the assumption that it is important to
“vent” feelings related to traumatic events and prepare teachers to deal with such
issues in the classroom, with the assistance of mental health professionals. Over time
it also became apparent that crisis situations should be addressed from a broad
community approach, which would enable coordination between various community
services, such as health and welfare, utilization of the available resources of the
community, and the creation of an increased sense of security (Klingman, Raviv, &
Stein, 2000).
Klingman (2000) developed a typological model of crisis intervention. This
model gives special emphasis to antecedent preparations, which are an integral part of
the crisis intervention process. Antecedent preparations take place in calm times,
before the occurrence of a crisis, when planning and simulations of crisis situations
may be conducted without time pressure. Preparations include training in crisis
interventions, setting up crisis intervention networks, and planning emergency
procedures. The model also takes a community approach to intervention, which
argues that appropriate and efficient organization, along with the use of a systems
model, allows for an effective, multi-dimensional, and synchronous preventive
intervention. Intervention at the level of the organization or group enables the location
of major stress factors, systematic early identification of extreme and unusual
responses of individuals and/or groups, and rapid mobilization of support resources
and community reservoirs at a time of crisis. Furthermore, the model uses the
continuity principle (Omer & Alon, 1994) as a theoretical base. According to this
principle, trauma and disaster lead to an acute interruption of the functional continuity
in the lives of individuals and communities. Therefore, crisis intervention is geared
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towards maintaining functional, historical, and interpersonal continuities, at the levels
of the individual, family, organization, and community. The continuity principle
relates to Salmon’s (1919) known principles for the treatment of combat stress
reactions – proximity, immediacy, and expectation – and makes them clearly relevant
to civilian populations during disasters. Immediacy prevents the interruption of life’s
continuity and deepening of the disturbance created by the disaster. Proximity
maintains individuals’ connections to the place where they ordinarily live and
function and to their interpersonal networks. And expectation preserves the victims’
social roles, and prevents them from assuming the role of “patient”, which may lead
to chronic disorders. These principles are also strongly related to the ideas of CP,
which refer to the utilization of existing individual and community resources.
Klingman's (1988) model consists of four stages: the anticipatory preparation
stage, the impact stage, the short-term adaptation stage, and the long-term adaptation
stage (see also Klingman, 1989). Thus, many schools have taken on the responsibility
for crisis intervention, and especially preventive intervention. Emergency teams have
been formed, emergency plans prepared, and many counselors and psychologists have
expanded their skills in this area.
In summary, it may be argued that the importance of proper organization and
leadership at a time of crisis has led many communities to establish emergency teams
that come into action as soon as a crisis occurs. This development reflects a gradual
transition in the definition of the school psychologist’s role. From the traditional role
of focusing on “problematic” children, evaluating students for placement purposes,
and consultation with the educational system, school psychologists turned to the role
of community psychologists, in the broad sense of the term. In times of crisis, their
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guidance is sought by school personnel as well as the political and professional
leadership of the community (Klingman et al., 2000).
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Examples of preventive interventions in the context of the security situation
The first example to illustrate the preventive approach to intervention in the
context of the security situation is a program that addressed Katyusha missile attacks
on Israel’s northern border and Kiryat Shmona in particular, before and after the 1982
war in Lebanon (Ayalon & Lahad, 1990). Since 1979, several projects have been
operating in these communities, with the purpose of dealing with the situation by
means of primary and secondary prevention. Among other things, these projects
include programs for emergency action, such as the formation of emergency teams,
bomb shelter entrance drills, and stress inoculation activities in schools during calm
times as primary prevention. The assumption underlying these activities is that with
adequate preparation and acquisition of coping skills, people would know what to
expect and how to act in times of emergency, and as a result, anxiety and panic would
be reduced and long-term pathology prevented. Studies by Ayalon and Lahad (1990)
on the reactions of children in places being bombed reveal the effectiveness of stress
inoculation programs. The studies found a decrease in anxiety and an increase in
social cohesiveness and organization following a therapeutic-educational intervention
among participants who spent extended periods of time in bomb shelters.
Population-based prevention and intervention programs. Klingman (1992)
lists several other ways in which psychologists, mainly school psychologists, have
conducted primary prevention interventions targeted at the entire population. These
include the writing and distribution of self-help materials, translated into different
languages and adapted to different ages (e.g., written materials on coping skills
practice) and appearances by psychologists on radio and television (Raviv, 1993).
Another example of community intervention in crisis, which reflects
developments in the area, is the crisis readiness program by the Tel-Aviv-Jaffa
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municipality (Spearman, Buchner, & Friedman, 1997). Unlike the clear front-lines
and combat along the borders, which characterized Israel’s past wars, the Gulf War
and second Intifadah have led to a blurring of the distinction between front-lines and
the home front. This blurring required the municipalities to make special preparations
for emergencies. We describe the program enacted by the Tel-Aviv-Jaffa municipality
in order to illustrate preparation activities. A central feature of this program was the
assembly of all relevant units and resources, while coordinating efforts and
appropriately allocating tasks. The program operates on two levels: the policy-making
level and the field intervention level. Both levels involve professionals from various
disciplines. The field intervention units include teams that provide immediate physical
and mental assistance at the scene of an attack, a hospital connection unit, a unit of
teams that inform the victims’ families, an emergency public information unit, which
includes information centers and a telephone hotline for psychological assistance, and
more. The program was formed at a time of relative calm, which allowed the
professionals involved to receive support, backing, and resources from the city
management and enabled the systematic formation of a multi-professional
organization. These early preparations proved efficient when the program was
activated during several emergencies such as terror attacks and enabled the
mobilization of professionals, who were available, motivated, prepared in advance,
acquainted with each other, and had the appropriate knowledge and skills to give an
integrative response to citizens’ needs. School psychologists have been involved both
in the initiation of this program and its operation.
A final example, which demonstrates the use of CP principles such as primary
and secondary prevention, crisis intervention and empowerment, is the activity of the
Israel trauma center for victims of terror and war, called Natal. Terror attacks against
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civilians have led to the establishment of Natal as a non-profit organization, with the
realization that victims of political terror are distinct from other trauma victim. The
purposes of the organization are to provide multi-professional treatment to victims of
trauma resulting from politically motivated violence, to provide training and
preventive interventions for professionals and endangered populations, and to
promote knowledge and awareness with regards to trauma resulting from politically
motivated violence in the entire Israeli society. The clinical division of Natal provides
various treatment services including several types of psychotherapy while the
community division provides preventive services. In addition, Natal operates a social
club, which emphasizes activities that facilitate empowerment of victims and
interactions among them, and a telephone hotline, which provides assistance to
victims (www.natal.org.il).
Other applications of community psychology principles in Israel
We have described the two main areas where community oriented activities by
Israeli psychologists are most frequently observed: school psychology and crisis
interventions in the context of the security situation. It should be pointed out that in
addition, Israeli psychologists perform community-oriented activities in areas related
to community mental health. Examples of such activities include the operation of day
centers, counseling and psychiatric outpatient care for children and adults through
family and community services, therapeutic clubs, hostels, social clubs, and self-help
groups (Elitzur, 1998; Farbstein & Hidesh, 1997). Given the narrow scope of the
current chapter and the relatively less dominant involvement of psychologists in such
activities, compared to psychiatrists and social workers, we chose not to elaborate on
them further.
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Another area where CP principles are applied in Israel is interventions with poor
and underprivileged populations, which emphasize principles of empowerment and
social change (Aram, 1999; Kaufman & Mensbach, 2002; Pecker, 2000). However,
Israeli psychologists are rarely involved in these activities, and research into their
efficiency is scarce. We therefore chose not to include these activities in our review.
A relatively new development in Israel and in the world is the use of the internet
for psychological counseling and operation of self-help groups (Barak & Fisher, 2001;
Chen-Gal & Raviv, 2001). The recent growth in internet use has extended the concept
of community to include virtual communities. Psychological counseling and self-help
through the internet often apply principles of CP such as community support and
empowerment. It therefore appears that extended use of the internet as a source of
advice and support may be a new frontier for future developments in CP applications,
in Israel and the world at large.
Conclusion
In sum, it appears that CP in Israel did not prosper or receive a special
standing as much as was expected when Israeli psychology began to develop. Yet like
Moliere’s hero who was not aware that he was speaking prose, when we examine the
work of all school psychologists and many other mental health professionals in Israel,
it becomes apparent that they have internalized and extensively apply many principles
of CP. We can only hope that in the future, more attention will be given to the
community approach in the academic socialization process of new professionals and
that basic and applied research in the area will expand.
The present chapter's analysis of the application of community-psychology
principles in Israel is based on the definition of these principles as developed by
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various scholars, mainly in the United States (see Angelique & Culley, this volume).
These principles were imported to Israel and adapted to the local needs and to the
knowledge and skills of local professionals. Yet as mentioned above, CP has never
been officially formalized in Israel, and in this sense its standing is more similar to
that of CP in Britain (see Burton, Boyle, Harris, & Kagan, this volume).
Unlike the political orientation of CP in the United States, in Israel political
involvement as part of the role of school and other psychologists is rare. Some school
psychologists are involved in activities related to the Arab-Israeli conflict, but this is
usually done on voluntary basis and in a rather sporadic fashion. Due to the political
schism that exists in Israel between hawks and doves with regards to the views of the
Arab-Israeli conflict, many psychologists are politically active according to their
views, but these activities are usually unrelated to their work as psychologists. More
official political involvement of Israeli psychologists has recently been observed in
relation to the execution of the "disengagement", which involved the evacuation of
Israeli settlements from the Gaza strip and the north West Bank. Many of the
psychological interventions in this context were based on CP principles. Specifically,
the early preparation of military personnel for the task of evacuation and the
recruiting of professionals to assist the evacuees reflected principles of prevention
(Galili, 2005). In addition, attempts were made to keep communities of evacuees
together, in order to maintain community support systems.
It should be noted that the present chapter focused on the activities of
psychologists, not those of social workers and psychiatrists, who also frequently apply
principles of CP in areas of mental health, psychiatric hospitalization and
rehabilitation, and work with arriving immigrants and marginal populations.
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If we go back to the introduction of this chapter, we may consider the state of
CP in Israel, reflected by the literature review, as one of failure. But as optimistic
community psychologists (and we believe that CP cannot exist without optimism), we
can find the internalization and use of CP principles in almost every intervention by
mental health professionals in Israel.
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