Exploring the correlations between personal and communal resources, post-traumatic symptoms and the sense of community belonging, among "Gush Katif" evacuees.

This study deals with the connection made between the "individual and his community resources" to the development of a "Sense of Belonging" and "Post-Traumatic Symptoms" among the Gush Katif evacuees. At the center of this research stands the theory of "Conservation of Resources" (Hobfoll, 1988, 1998, 2007), which deals with the associations between loss or retention of "Individual and Communal Resources", and the relation of traumatic events with psychological and behavioral reactions of an individual towards himself as well as his community. This research focuses on the population of the Gush Katif evacuees, ten years after being forced evacuated during the disengagement in the summer of 2005. As a result of the forced removal, many emotional symptoms were observed among people of Gush Katif. Several studies have been conducted in the period after the evacuation, depicting high levels of distress among the evacuees. The uprooting had a great impact on the involved individual and family circles. Due to the new situation, many families dealt with mental stress. This temporary situation, accompanied by lack of privacy, made it difficult to manage a normal family life and led to tension between spouses, parents and children (Shoham, 2007). Apart from the impact of forced eviction on the individual and family circles, the influence on the community and social circle is noticed as well. At the community level, studies have shown that when environmental disasters forced people to evacuate their homes, disruption in "Place Attachment" occurred and threatened communal aspects, including self-understanding, communal defining, and the coping with common threats, (Brown & Perkins, 1992). In light of this, it can be assumed that all of the factors listed above could affect support and security levels provided by the community for its members and vice versa, while dealing with crisis and stress, and specifically with the forced evictions.

The goals of the current study are: first, to examine the relationships between the "Personal Resources" - "A sense of Mastery" , "Self-Esteem" and "Community Resources" - "Social and Family Support", "Sense of Involvement" and the variable "Post-traumatic symptoms" and the variable a "Sense of Belonging to the Community." Second, to examine the relationship between background variables: gender, age, education, income and employment, including the differences between communities (communities that remained united or that were fragmented after the original community was evacuated), and the variable "Personal Resources" , "Communal Resources", "post-traumatic symptoms and "Sense of Belonging to the Community".  This study focuses on two types of Gush Katif evacuee populations between the ages of 20 and 79.  One type is the residents of “united communities” - those that even after the evacuation continued to live together in a communal structure similar to that of the pre- Gush Katif evacuation mother settlement (Ganei Tal and Netzer Hazani).  The second type are the residents from the “fragmented communities” where the residents of the Gush Katif mother settlement were dispersed and scattered after the evacuation (Nitzan and others that did not remain attached to the original Gush Katif grouping).This study used a number of research tools: a demographics questionnaire, 'Sense of Belonging to the Community' questionnaire (Bavli, 1990), 'Social Support and Family questionnaire' (Zimet et al., 1988), "Sense of  Mastery Scale" (Pearlin & Schooler, 1978 ), 'Self-Esteem' questionnaire (Rosenberg, 1965), "Sense of Involvement" questionnaire (Itzhaky & York, 1994) and a "Post-Traumatic Symptoms" questionnaire (Pynoos, Frederick, Nader & Arroyo, 1987).

The hypotheses of the research are:

1.  Background variables will be connected to "Personal Resources" - "Self-Esteem" and "Sense of Mastery" as well as to "Community Resources" – "social and family support" and "standard of cooperation".

2. Background variables will be connected to the dependent variables- "post-traumatic symptoms and "Sense of Belonging to the Community."

3. There is a connection between the "Personal and Community Resources" and the dependent variables- "Post-Traumatic Symptoms" and "Sense of Belonging to the Community"

4.  "Post-Traumatic Symptoms" will be negatively connected to "Sense of Belonging to the Community".

The study examined the connections between the background variables - gender, age, income, education, employment and differences between community- type "United Communities" and "Fragmented Communities" to the sources of the individual and community". The findings show a positive correlation between the level of income, and self-esteem. As higher is the income, so is the self-esteem increases, and accordingly, so is the "Sense of Mastery ". The findings also point to the differences between different communities. Among Unified community, social and familial support is higher than in the Fragmented community. Furthermore, among the united communities, unlike in the fragmented community, a higher sense of  Involvement was found . Differences between men and women were found in relation to the variable "Sense of Involvement", as, it was found to be higher for men. Additionally, the associations between background variables and "Post-Traumatic Symptoms" and "Sense of Belonging to the Community." The research findings suggest that those who worked, reported fewer symptoms of post-traumatic stress. The study also found that those with higher education report higher scores of post-traumatic stress. The association between the level of education, and a "Sense of Belonging to the Community" reflects that people with higher education, have less sense of belonging to the community. The results also points gender differences between men and women regarding their sense of "Belonging to the Community". According to this finding, it is higher among men.

The study examined the relationship between "Individual and Communal Resources" and the appearance of "Post-Traumatic Symptoms and sense of "Belonging" to the Community". The findings suggest that the higher the scores of self-esteem, the level of symptoms of PTSD will be lower. Moreover, the results of the study expose that high sense of "Mastery of life" is linked to less "Post-Traumatic Symptoms". Another variable which was found to be linked to lower "Post-Traumatic Symptoms" is "Social Support". A positive association was found between sense of "Mastery of Life" and "Sense of Belonging to the Community", and between "Sense of Involvement" and "Sense of Belonging to the Community". The study found that "Sense of Involvement" significantly increases "Sense of Belonging to the Community". The last one was found to be increased also by higher levels of "Social Support". A negative correlation was found examined between "Symptoms of PTSD" and" sense of "Belonging to the Community, as the higher the level of post-traumatic symptoms, the lower the " "Sense of Belonging" to the community is.

The important contribution that arises from this research is that providing the individual with instrumental tools, such as finding a job, and providing mental tools such as strengthening "Self-esteem and sense of Mastery over Life" are helpful. Providing these tools will help bring back the lost resources to the evacuees, and care to preserve them. The return of the lost resources and preventing further loss of resources may be a significant factor essential and valuable in reducing the implications and consequences of the forced evacuation. The study adds to the understanding of the complexity of withdrawal and its consequences on the dynamic of communities. The study shows the importance to strengthen a "Sense of Involvement" and a "Sense of Community".

The study also suggest that there is a meaningful advantages to "United Community" compared to "Fragmented Community", in dealing with the forced eviction incident and its consequences. Research theoretical importance is in terms of knowledge on the subject of forced eviction processes, and mobilization of local population to a temporary place, and the various implications of the withdrawal on the evacuated residents, as a part of a community, family and individuals.

National importance in understanding the complexities of the state of Israel is attributed to this research. This research is likely to bring a practical contribution in the future, by way of a scholarly evaluation by building a therapeutic and supportive arrangement for those populations which will be evacuated from their homes against their will. The research will help those policy makers, who may face similar events in the future of people being forced from their homes against their will. In addition, this research will contribute to the scholarly evaluation of different emergency scenarios for evacuating populations as a result of different emergency situations, such as earthquakes, wars, ecological disasters and mass-casualty incidents.