UNDERSTANDING POLITICAL TRAUMA AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE PERPETRATION: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACTS, RISKS AND PROTECTIVE FACTORS AMONG FEMALES IN PALESTINE

Political trauma was strongly associated with both GBV victimization and perpetration, with self-concept and coping strategies playing crucial mediating roles between GBV and mental health distress and outcomes. Addressing these factors could help mitigate the negative mental health effects and reduce GBV among populations in areas affected by war. This research provided a comprehensive understanding of how political trauma influenced both GBV victimization and perpetration, while also highlighted the associated risk and protective factors in the Palestinian context.

This dissertation aimed to investigate and understand the potential role of political trauma on gender-based violence (GBV) from the perspectives and perceptions of females, males, and mental health care providers in the Palestinian context, by applying an exploratory mixed method approach; it also sought to identify factors that could help in developing conceptual models to enhance mental health status of Palestinian females who have suffered from political trauma and gender based violence in upcoming research. Within the mainstream literature, it was found that exposure to political violence often increases the risk of GBV by intensifying social tensions and weakening protective societal frameworks (Manjoo & McRaith, 2011; Sigsworth, 2008). The increase in GBV is strongly connected to the harmful impact of political violence on mental health, highlighting the importance of examining these dynamics within the wider context of conflict and its consequences (Cougle, Resnick, & Kilpatrick, 2009; Iverson et al., 2011; Krause et al., 2006). With the present work, I tried to fill the gap in literature, as despite previous research suggesting that suffering from political trauma increases the risk of experiencing violence among females (Heath et al., 2013; Cougle et al., 2009), there is still a notable gap in research attempting to understand the relationship between political trauma and GBV in the Palestinian context, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Most reviewed articles have focused on examining the association between political violence and GBV, primarily from the perspective of females (Coker et al., 2002; Giacaman, 2010; Manjoo & McRaith, 2011; Sousa, 2013). An exploratory mixed-method design was adopted to investigate the relationship between political violence, political trauma, and GBV among Palestinian adults. The qualitative phase, guided by grounded theory, aimed to explore the types of political violence experienced by Palestinians and its impact on mental health, as well as the relationship between this impact and GBV victimization and perpetration. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 27 adult Palestinians (14 females and 13 males) and 11 mental health care providers, leading to the identification of key variables that were tested on 1,038 Palestinian adults (371 males and 667 females) in the subsequent quantitative phase using self-reported questionnaires. Two conceptual models were developed. The first model examined the associations between exposure to political violence, political traumatic symptoms, GBV victimization , and mental health outcomes and distress among Palestinian females. It also explored the mediating role of self-concept and coping strategies. The second model focused on political trauma, political violence, and aggression among Palestinian males, investigating the association between aggression, mental health outcomes and distress, as well as the mediating role of self-concept and coping strategies. The research findings highlighted the significant impact of political trauma on GBV victimization and perpetration among Palestinians. Five key themes and several subthemes related to GBV were detected from the perspectives of females, males, and mental health care providers. The quantitative analysis supported the two models; the first identified GBV as a predictor, with self-concept and coping strategies as mediators, and mental health distress and outcomes as an outcomes. The second model identified aggressiveness as a predictor, with self-concept and coping strategies as mediators, and mental health distress and outcomes as an outcomes.