Citation

Békés V, Perry JC, Starrs CJ. J. Aggression Maltreat. Trauma 2017; 26(10): 1072-1089.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10926771.2017.1320344

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

There is extensive literature examining the psychological adaptation of survivors after the Holocaust, including studies of Holocaust narratives (HN). As a measure of psychological adaptation, defense mechanisms (DM) have been studied in various clinical samples, however, to date, not in Holocaust narratives. Using a standardized observer-rated measure, we assessed DM in Holocaust versus pre/post Holocaust narratives (other narratives [ON]) in 20 in-depth survivor interviews. Regarding individual DM, isolation of affect and self-assertion were statistically more frequent in the HN than the ON. High adaptive (mature) level defenses were more frequent in the HNs than the ON. Furthermore, the overall defensive functioning (ODF) was higher in the HN than the ON, contradicting previous findings showing lower defensive functioning in life-threatening situations. Possible explanations include differences in the nature of trauma, the time elapsed between the trauma and the interview, and the specificity of the sample. A qualitative overview with several examples from the narratives are also presented.

Language: en

Keywords

Defense mechanisms; Holocaust; narratives; survivor; trauma