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An Exploration of Artwork by Israeli and Palestinian Children: Examining the Definitions, Experiences, and Graphic Portrayals of Suffering and Trauma
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http://hdl.handle.net/1860/2952
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| Title: | An Exploration of Artwork by Israeli and Palestinian Children: Examining the Definitions, Experiences, and Graphic Portrayals of Suffering and Trauma |
| Authors: | Alexander, Christina Louise |
| Keywords: | Israelis
Palestinians
Children
Art
Trauma
Suffering
Art Therapy |
| Issue Date: | 2-Feb-2009 |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this thesis is to identify and define how suffering and
psychological trauma is perceived, experienced, and portrayed artistically by children
ages 6 to 12 years old who have lived with sustained violence in Israel and in the
Palestinian territory. The research question posed for this study asks: “How are
suffering and trauma defined, experienced, and graphically portrayed by Israeli and
Palestinian children living with sustained political violence?” This study explores the
perception and graphic portrayal of suffering and psychological trauma of children in the
Israeli and Palestinian territories.
The design of this research is a qualitative case study. A qualitative case study is
bounded by time. Therefore the circumscribed time boundaries chosen for this research
included data from 1997 to the 2007. These time boundaries were chosen to represent the
most recent time period wherein children have experienced sustained violence as a result
of ongoing political, religious, cultural, and territorial disagreements for over a decade.
The case in this research was examined by collecting data from the following sources: 1)
literary and research data; 2) published oral narratives, archival interviews, published
case studies; and 3) existing children’s artwork from the public domain. The three data
sources were organized into data collection matrices, coded, categorically aggregated,
and analyzed for emergent themes.
The results of this research indicated that the sustained trauma and/or political
violence seem to produce an increased resilience or tolerance to trauma. This appears to
be reflected in the structural elements of the artwork used for this study. Moreover, the
appropriate structural elements in the artwork appear to reflect a defense against the
violent content of the artwork. Thus, in this study the artwork provides information into
the underlying psychological state of latency age children who have experienced
sustained trauma. Further, external stimuli are influential in shaping the psychological
response of children to trauma exposure. Research also suggests that both the age and
psychosocial developmental level of children informs the capacity to process the effects
of sustained trauma. Finally, to provide comprehensive clinical care, the knowledge of
residual effects of trauma, external stimuli, psychological factors, artwork analysis, and
indicators are beneficial for effective treatment.
Clinical applications suggest the development of preemptive therapeutic treatment
to strengthen the internal resources of children during times of sustained trauma. Art
therapy intervention in a safe, stable, and consistent manner in order to process traumatic
material in the mist of sustained exposure to trauma is considered. Further, the use of
family art therapy in order to enhance external resources for children during times of
traumatic stress is recommended. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/1860/2952 |
| Appears in Collections: | Health Sciences Theses and Dissertations
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