An exploration of artwork by Israeli and Palestinian children: examining the definitions, experiences, and graphic portrayals of suffering and trauma

Christina Louise Alexander

doi:10.17918/etd-2952

The purpose of this thesis is to identify and define how suffering andpsychological trauma is perceived, experienced, and portrayed artistically by childrenages 6 to 12 years old who have lived with sustained violence in Israel and in thePalestinian territory. The research question posed for this study asks: "How aresuffering and trauma defined, experienced, and graphically portrayed by Israeli andPalestinian children living with sustained political violence?" This study explores theperception and graphic portrayal of suffering and psychological trauma of children in theIsraeli and Palestinian territories. The design of this research is a qualitative case study. A qualitative case study isbounded by time. Therefore the circumscribed time boundaries chosen for this researchincluded data from 1997 to the 2007. These time boundaries were chosen to represent themost recent time period wherein children have experienced sustained violence as a resultof 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, publishedcase studies; and 3) existing children's artwork from the public domain. The three datasources 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 politicalviolence seem to produce an increased resilience or tolerance to trauma. This appears tobe reflected in the structural elements of the artwork used for this study. Moreover, theappropriate structural elements in the artwork appear to reflect a defense against theviolent content of the artwork. Thus, in this study the artwork provides information intothe underlying psychological state of latency age children who have experiencedsustained trauma. Further, external stimuli are influential in shaping the psychologicalresponse of children to trauma exposure. Research also suggests that both the age andpsychosocial developmental level of children informs the capacity to process the effectsof sustained trauma. Finally, to provide comprehensive clinical care, the knowledge ofresidual effects of trauma, external stimuli, psychological factors, artwork analysis, andindicators are beneficial for effective treatment. Clinical applications suggest the development of preemptive therapeutic treatmentto strengthen the internal resources of children during times of sustained trauma. Arttherapy intervention in a safe, stable, and consistent manner in order to process traumaticmaterial in the mist of sustained exposure to trauma is considered. Further, the use offamily art therapy in order to enhance external resources for children during times oftraumatic stress is recommended.

An exploration of artwork by Israeli and Palestinian children: examining the definitions, experiences, and graphic portrayals of suffering and trauma

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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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