Late psychosocial consequences in concentration camp survivor families.

Abstract

A study of 3 4 concentration camp survivor families treated for a six-month period in family therapy describes the effects of this traumatic experience on the second generation, and discusses the possible consequences for future generations. Results of various styles of therapeutic interventions are reported, and implications are discussed.• Two families dropped out just prior to the "six-months therapy" cut-off point. This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

A Descriptive Demographic and Personality Study of Second-Generation Jewish Holocaust Survivors

“…The sample did rate the early discussions of the Holocaust with family and friends as "a little." This tends to agree with Russell's (1974) finding relative to these children's inability or incapacity to discuss the Holocaust experience with their parents. Of course, it is not known whether t h s communication breakdown was fostered by the children themselves, by the parents, or by both.…”

“…Early studies of individual cases of adolescents and families in psychoanalytical treatment showed that children of Holocaust survivors evidenced symptoms of academic failure, depression, psychosomatic problems, identity crisis, delinquency, and sexual dysfunction (Aleksandrowicz, 1970;Lipkowitz, 1973;Rakoff, 1966;Russell, 1974;Rustin & Lipsig, 1972). Trossman (1968) depicted interactional patterns based on a small number of these children studied in c h c a l treatment.…”

“…It was proposed that high parental expectations led to feelings of guilt and shame in the children, who responded with disruptive behavior to the parents' difficulty with limit-setting. Also, there are several studies of this population's difficulty with separation and individuation (Lipkowitz, 1973;Rakoff, 1966;Russell, 1974;Sonnenberg, 1974). What seems to emerge from these studies of second-generation Jewish Holocaust survivors is a set of common characteristics and thematically grouped malfunctions.…”

“…On the other hand, Nadler, Kav-Venaki, and Gleitman (1985) found that externalized aggression was less likely to occur in children of survivors. Psychoanalytic concepts were sometimes invoked to explain why these children might feel the need to give meaning to the parents' empty lives or gave up completely and dropped out (Rakoff, 1966;Russell, 1974;Sigal, 1971;Trossman, 1978). It was proposed that high parental expectations led to feelings of guilt and shame in the children, who responded with disruptive behavior to the parents' difficulty with limit-setting.…”

The anorexic patient as a survivor: The denial of death and death themes in the literature on anorexia nervosa

“…They feared that someone would kill or steal their children. Later on, these mothers became incredibly overprotective, and warned their children constantly of hidden dangers; they regaled them with tormenting memories, endlessly reliving a past that loomed so large that they were eternally pre-occupied with it" (Russell, 1974).…”