"Living with" the past: Coping and patterns in families of Holocaust survivors

Julia Chaitin

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    25 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    This exploratory study looks at how families of Holocaust survivors work through the traumatic past by considering the coping patterns adapted by family members. Life-story interviews (Rosenthal, 1993) with 57 individuals from 20 families, in which there were two to three generations, were used in order to learn about the significance they attach to the Holocaust past. The interviews were analyzed using Rosenthal's methods and Danieli's (1988) typology of post-war adaptation (victim families, fighter families, those who made it, and numb families). Results showed that in order to differentiate between the coping styles exhibited by the families, two new categories had to be added to Danieli's typology. These were entitled "life goes on" and "split families." It was concluded that survivor families exhibit heterogeneity in the ways in which they cope with the Holocaust past.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)305-322
    Number of pages18
    JournalFamily Process
    Volume42
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 1 Jun 2003

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Social Psychology
    • Clinical Psychology
    • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

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