Coping Resources and Extra-Curricular Activity as Explanatory Factors of Exposure to Violence: Comparing Jewish and Arab Youth in Israel

Violent behavior is a well-known social phenomenon among youth around the world including Israel. Adolescence is a crucial developmental period in which youth experience various developmental tasks while being exposed to many risks. Previous studies have shown that community involvement could be an asset for reduced violence among youth. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore the level of participation in extra-curricular activities as well as individual and community coherence and exposure to or victimization by violence among Jewish and Arab youth living in southern Israel. The links between these variable were explored as well. Six-hundred-and-twenty-two adolescents (265-Jews; 357-Arabs) completed self-reported questionnaires which investigated demographics, sense of coherence, sense of community coherence, participation in extra-curricular activities, and exposure to violence. Results show that Jewish adolescents report a significantly stronger sense of coherence and sense of community coherence, they participate more in extra-curricular activities and they are more exposed to and victimized by violence. Moreover, while sense of coherence is reported to be an asset in both groups, participating in extra-curricular activities is an asset only for the Arab youth. Results will be discussed with regard to the salutogenic theoretical foundation as well as the different cultural backgrounds of the groups.