The Impact of Political Conflict on Well-being
The Egyptian Youth Project
The Gaza and Bosnian Youth Project
The Palestine Family Study
The Cross-National Adolescence Project
The Ogden Youth Family Project
The Impact of Political Conflict on Well-being
The Impact of Political Conflict on Well-being
This project, (2009 – 2017), was funded by the Jacobs Foundation, Switzerland. It focused on the cohort of first Palestinian uprising youth, now in their 40s, and was designed to assess the current wellbeing of this cohort and if and how their experiences during that 6-year uprising have impacted them as adults. Group interviews were conducted with 68 males and females, and home interviews including a well-being survey and an event history calendar, with 1,880 males and females in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. To date, finding have included charting patterns of activism and harsh treatment over time, documenting the central role of politics in wellbeing, long-term effects of imprisonment and mobility restrictions, identification of a unique form of mental suffering linked to being under occupation.
The Egyptian Youth Project
The Egyptian Youth Project
This project. (2011 – 2013), was funded by the Jacobs Foundation, Switzerland. It was designed to assess youth activism during the revolution that had begun in January, 2011. Individual and group interviews were conducted every 3-4 months with a set of youth representing the various forms of diversity. Findings include the documentation of varying levels of political activism dependent on social class, religion, and proximity to central nodes of conflict. The project was extended to include providing a youth module for the Population Council’s survey of 12,000 youth in 2013.
The Gaza and Bosnian Youth Project
The Gaza and Bosnian Youth Project
This study, (1998 – 2000), was funded by Brigham Young University and the Social Sciences Research Council. It included group interviews with scores of youth and surveys of approximately 1,000 youth in the Gaza Strip and Sarajevo, Bosnia. The data included thorough assessments of the large variety of types of activism and harsh treatment adolescents experienced during their respective multi-year periods of conflict. Findings showed higher overall functioning of Gazan youth compared to Bosnian youth.
The Palestine Family Study
The Palestine Family Study
This project, (1994 – 1995), was funded by Brigham Young University and was designed to assess the wellbeing of Palestinian parents and youth one year after the end of the first Palestinian uprising of 1987-93. Extensive surveys were administered to a total of 7,000 families (mother, father, adolescent) in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Findings documented high participation in the uprising from youth and parents and showed high levels of competent functioning psychologically and socially.
The Cross-National Adolescence Project
The Cross-National Adolescence Project
This project, (1997 – 2002) was also funded by the National Institute of Mental Health to serve as multi-cultural test of the validity of the parenting model. Group interviews (30 individuals) and surveys (approximately 1,000 individuals) of adolescents in the following cultures were done: Colombia, Germany, Bosnia, Palestine, South Africa (3 racial groups), China, and Bangladesh. Findings gave strong validation for the unique impact of parental psychological control.
The Ogden Youth Family Project